Tributaries TX500 & TX1000 Power Managers

 Tributaries is launching two new products: the TX-500 and the TX-1000. They're power conditioners, power controllers and surge protectors. They handle power conditioning, power controlling and surge protection, so Tributaries is dubbing them "power Managers". The units are UL-certified, which ensures that the TX500 and TX1000 are safe to operate and in compliance with the National Electrical Code. The balanced technology utilized in the units is designed to reject noise coming down the line. So anything riding on the AC line, from home appliances is automatically removed because of the way the filter works. It looks at both sides of the AC line and whatever's common is automatically removed. So it's only seeing the pure sine waves.

Surge protection is accomplished using silicon avalanche diodes. It's a new technology that's different than traditional MOVs. The MOV type of product takes surges, but over a period of time they fail because as they take an over-voltage they lose some of their capabilities. It doesn't take too many over-voltages before the MOV circuit fails. And when it fails, the circuit opens, which means the unit doesn't work as a surge protector anymore. The silicon avalanche diode technology takes an over-voltage and spins it to ground. If that over-voltage goes over 15 amps it'll blow the fuse, so it's just a fuse replacement. Once the user replaces the fuse, the unit is back in service, and there's no deterioration of the silicon avalanche diode.

There are 10 outlets on each of the two units, and they are set up so that each pair can be programmed with a simple dipswitch combination, which allows the power switch or the trigger circuit to activate with either a five- or ten-second delay. This means for those units that have to be left on, like a VCR, a satellite tuner, or a TiVo, they can always be left on.

Tributaries gave these units a retro look. They used a brush treatment on the front; horizontal heat sinks on top and on the bottom, and utilized meters with soft blue lights inside. There are blue LEDs on the front panel that indicate when the corresponding outlet pairs are on. It's a very simple and elegant front panel without much clutter.

Inside look at some of the filters in these power centers.