History

The origins of the business go back to 1947, when two engineers, E. R. Ponsford and L. B. Copestick, based in Kingston on Thames, United Kingdom, started to do subcontract work for the GPO (General Post Office) and the Admiralty Research Laboratory, which was based at Teddington. In 1948 they registered the company name, Solartron, and started the manufacture of pulse generators, power supplies and oscillators. They also designed and introduced an oscilloscope to the product range. Anniversary Logo Small
During the 1950's the company expanded significantly under the leadership of Mr. John Bolton, developing a wide range of scientific instruments including radar simulator devices, X-ray spectrometers, cybernetic teaching machines and a range of analog computers. In 1958 the growing company moved to a purpose-built facility on a 15 acre site at Farnborough, Hampshire, UK.

In 1962 Solartron Electronic Group was acquired by the Schlumberger Group of Companies as a wholly owned subsidiary. The business structure used earlier, in which subsidiary companies had been created to develop and market individual product lines, was consolidated into a single business with common marketing and R&D functions. Under Schlumberger's ownership, Solartron was able to access technology platforms owned by other Schlumberger companies, as well as benefit from the established sales and distribution channels that it offered.

In 1977 Schlumberger Measurement Control (UK) was created as a new holding company, one of its subsidiaries being Solartron Electronic Group. The Solartron products were then reorganized into four separate product divisions.

Measurement Group:

Producing digital instruments, data loggers, digital voltmeters and dynamic analysis systems, which were the forerunners of today's Frequency Response Analyzers.

Weapons Simulation Group:
Producing the Simfire devices for weapons training exercises.

Radar Simulation Group:
Producing radar systems for training air traffic controllers etc.

Transducer Group:
Producing aerospace gas pressure and fuel density sensors for use in air data computers and engine management systems, industrial gas and liquid density sensors used in process and fiscal measurement of fossil fuels, protective systems used for energy control in the electricity power production industry.

In October 1993, the Solarton businesses were sold by Schlumberger to a management buyout, which in May 1994 was then acquired by The Roxboro Group PLC. Roxboro was a holding company and over the following ten years acquired and divested a number of other businesses. The former measurement group became Solartron Analytical, and concentrated on developing a range of frequency response analyzers, supporting electrochemical interfaces, and digital voltmeters.

In July 2000 Solartron Analytical's head office function, including product development and marketing, was relocated to our current facility in Farnborough, while production moved to other Roxboro locations. In September 2005 four of the Solartron group companies (Solartron Analytical, Solartron Metrology, Solartron ISA and Arun Technology) were acquired by AMETEK, a leading global manufacturer of electronic instruments and electric motors with annual sales of more than $1.6 billion. At the same time production and service of Solartron Analytical products was transferred to the current facility in Farnborough, so that once again all key business functions are located on the same site.

Since 2005, Solartron Analytical has been part of AMETEK Advanced Measurement Technology, which also sells products under the ORTEC, SIGNAL RECOVERY and PRINCETON APPLIED RESEARCH brand names. Solartron Metrology and Solartron ISA are parts of other companies within the AMETEK Electronic Instruments Group, while Arun Technology has been divested.

We are proud of our history under the Solartron name and look forward with confidence to continuing to meet the needs of our customers.

The Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive

The European Parliament passed the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive in 2002 (2002/95/EC) to "protect human health and the environment by restricting the use of certain hazardous substances in new equipment" and to complement the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (Producer Responsibility) Regulations ("the WEEE regulations" 2002/96/EC). The directive took effect from 1st July 2006, and covers the same scope of equipment as the WEEE regulations, except that Category 8, Medical Devices, and Category 9, Monitoring and Control Instruments, are excluded from the RoHS directive. 

Products from Solartron Analytical fall under Category 9 of the RoHS directive and so are outside its scope. We recognize, however, that designing products that do not use hazardous substances is of benefit not only to the environment but also to our customers and employees. We are therefore working towards producing products which are fully RoHS compliant. Initially work is focused on new products in development, but we are also taking the opportunity when updating existing instruments to use RoHS compliant components and techniques wherever possible. 

Solartron Analytical instruments are used in various applications that may affect customer requirements for RoHS compliance. Normally, our customers do not require RoHS compliant products, including customers using our products for development or production of their end products, as well as customers who embed one of our instruments in an end product that is itself classified as either Category 8 or Category 9. A Solartron Analytical product will require RoHS compliance only if a customer sells an end product that falls within the RoHS directive's scope. If you are one of these customers then please contact us for further advice.