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San Dimas Technology & Development Center performed the validation tests. The intent was to verify certain claims made by the manufacturer of the device (see: Manufactures Specifications for the ike 304 ) as is typically performed by SDTDC on mobile computing devices.

(Click here for test performed by SDTDC on mobile devices other than the ike 304.)

The software installed to perform the battery consumption tests is called Battery Monitor 1.2 and Battery Monitor 2.0. This software records the percentage of battery life over time, displays it graphically to the user, and creates a table of data that can be saved and exported.

The purpose of this test is to determine how long the ike 304's Internal Rechargeable Li-Polymer battery would last given a certain amount of power consumption. The manufacture's claim is that the ike will operate for about 5 hours with all instruments streaming, about 9 hours with only the GPS streaming, and about 8 hours of typical field operations (see: ike "Battery Life" information from Surveylab).

We tested the ike 304 with the "backlight on" and "backlight off". The "backlight on" test is intended to simulate a "worst case" scenario of high power consumption. In this test, the backlight setting of the ike was set to the highest possible setting. Power-save (which turns off the handheld device after a specified time) was disabled in order for the handheld device to stay on throughout the entire test.

We tested the device with the backlight turned off (a simulated "best-case" scenario) to determine how long the battery would last with minimal power requirements.

No programs were running and there was no user interaction with the device during the tests. When the battery life reached 10%, the information was saved and recorded. This test was repeated three times and the average of the total times were calculated and recorded.

With the backlight on and all other accessories off, the ike 304 held a charge for over 12 hours. With the backlight off, the battery lasted 15 hours. These numbers will drop significantly if accessories such as the GPS system are left on during use.

The purpose of this test is to verify the manufacturer’s claim of the height at which the device can fall or be dropped without causing damage to the unit.

Surveylab suggested a drop test of 40 cm onto concrete with the device in its protective canvas case. We conducted drop tests on all sides of the device. (See videos of Drop Test: Video 1, Video 2, Video 3, Video 4.)

The ike did not suffer any damage during this test.

We conducted environmental testing in our environmental chamber at either end of the ike 304’s operating range.

For the cold test we brought the environment -10°C. The ike's programs and files performed exactly as it had at room temperature.

In the environmental chamber at 40°C, the ike also operated normally.

(Note: test of other handheld mobile computing devices indicates that performance is typically affected at the bottom end of their operating range.)

At these temperature extremes, the ike was not affected and would be a good choice for a I&M tool if it is operated at this range.

The objective of this test is to verify the manufacturer’s claims of the handheld unit’s ability to resist water.

Most devices are given a rating based on an international rating system which assigns an Ingress Protection or IP rating. In the IP system the first number represents the degree of protection against solid objects and the second number represents the degree of protection against water.

The manufacturer's claim is that the ike 304 has an IP rating of 64. The rating of "6" means that the device is totally protected against ingress of any dust; the rating of "4" means the device is not harmed by water splashed (or sprayed) from any direction (but not submerged).

For the water test the unit was placed in a device that projected water towards the unit from all directions. The strength of the projected water coincided with its IP rating. The unit was examined by turning the device on and running various programs. The keypad and touch screen was also checked to confirm if they function properly.

No water made its way into the ike’s internals during the water test. The only inconvenience during the test was that the protective cover collected water and had to be shaken out at the end of the test.