DIPOL Weekly Review - TV and SAT TV, CCTV, WLAN

Who has the fastest Internet in the world?

According to the www.netindex.com website, the fastest access to the Internet have residents of South Korea. The average throughput is 34.18 Mb/s.
The second place in this category takes Latvia with average throughput of 24.43 Mb/s. Czech Republic occupies the rank 21 (11.23 Mb/s), Hungary - 22 (10.8 Mb/s), Slovak Republic - 25 (10.52 Mb/s), Poland - 40 (6.55 Mb/s).
Taking into consideration cities, the residents of Seoul (South Korea) enjoy the fastest connection in the world, with an average of 34.66 Mb/s. The next city in this ranking is Riga (Latvia), with the average speed of data transmission 27.9 Mbps, the third is San Jose, California - in the heart of Silicon Valley - where the average throughput is 15.03 Mb/s.

The general trend is a rapid increase in bandwidth. In New York, the end user can obtain download speeds up to 100 Mb/s, with the service based on DOCSIS 3.0 technology. For $100 a month, the subscriber of Optimum Online Ultra service gets up to 101 Mb/s download speed and up to 15 Mb/s upload speed. This offer is available from Cablevision - the fifth-largest cable TV network in the US.
Also in the US, ViaSat company tests a new satellite to be launched early next year, with overall capacity of 130 Gb/s. The main recipients of its services are to be villages located east of the Mississippi River and along the West Coast of the US, which do not have access to the cable networks.
The development of telecommunications technologies, including Internet access, is considered by many governments as a driving force that will help overcome the crisis.

Arab countries remain largely underdeveloped in the field of Internet access.
Saudi Arabia takes the 65th place in the ranking, the next - Morocco - is 95th.

Engagingly about Antennas - 9th DIPOL's Summer Holiday Contest 2010.

We invite you to send your pictures to the "Engagingly about Antennas" contest. The entries can be sent until September 30, 2010. The winners of the competition and their works will be presented in DIPOL Weekly Review on October 4, 2010.
The photos will be adjudicated by well known photographer from Krakow, Mr. Pawel Zechenter. The prize for the first place is DVB-S/T Ferguson Ariva HD combo receiver A99381.
Below - some of the first pictures sent for this contest.

Constellation diagram - the indicator of DVB-T signal quality.

In the case of analog TV antenna systems the key parameter measured in addition to the levels of input signals (antenna) and output signals (subscriber outlets) is C/N (carrier to noise) ratio. This parameter, however, carries no information about phase noise, equally important in typical digital modulations. A professional installer who wants to know and analyze the sources of noise and interference in the reception/distribution network, should choose for this purpose the constellation diagram.

Below there are examples of constellation diagrams of DVB-T signals and their interpretation.

Constellation diagrams of DVB-T signals - good signal on the left, poor signal on the right
[Sunrise Telecom Broadband]

The MER (Modulation Error Ratio: MER[dB]= 10log (P signal vector / P error vector)) is a measure used to quantify the quality of transmission in a communications system using a digital modulation (such as Quadrature Amplitude Modulation - QAM). A signal sent by an ideal transmitter and received by an ideal receiver would have all constellation points located precisely on the theoretical positions. However, being a combination of amplitude and phase modulation, QAM is susceptible to implementation imperfections and various factors in the transmission path (such as amplitude and phase noise, low image rejection ratio, distortion, etc.). Analysis of the constellation diagram allows to diagnose and locate the sources of problems.

Two signals in one cable.

Is it possible to transmit the channel received by a sat receiver to other TVs in the home with the same coaxial cable that connects LNB?
Yes, employing two DC-009 R85300 TV/SAT combiners (diplexers) one can avoid the necessity of laying additional cable. The cable linking the two combiners carries SAT IF from the LNB to the sat receiver (TUNER) and - in opposite direction - the currently received channel converted into the RF signal by the modulator Signal R95175 (or R95176 ). The combiner does not pass the DC voltage from the IF input of the sat receiver to the terrestrial TV circuit.

Video surveillance at an apartment complex.

To ensure safety and security, Edgewater Court, the residential complex located in the center of Fort McMurray (Idaho), has been equipped with modern video surveillance system.
The complex consists of 75 apartments and 25 townhouses. The main guidelines for the video monitoring system included high quality and reliability of the service, so the designer chose the equipment and software solutions from ACTi.

The architecture of the video surveillance system

The complex is monitored by 64 ACM-3401 K1314 cameras, installed in the appropriate locations. The IP dome cameras are both versatile (can be installed on the ceiling or on the wall) and offer good value for money. 1.3 megapixel resolution and f 4.2 mm lens ensure superb image detail. The video streams from the cameras are recorded on dedicated PC (ACTi NVR server using ACTi NVR Enterprise software).
The application provides live monitoring of any camera site, playback of the recorded material and user management. E-map feature allows to mark the locations of the cameras on the settlement map, which greatly facilitates the surveillance job. Another important function is motion detection that warns about suspicious events e.g. in areas normally empty at night, like the swimming pool.

The best recommendation for the quality and reliability of any product is the client's opinion. Here is the opinion of Ken Snyder, the operator of the system:
"I have been using ACTi products for almost a year, and have had nothing but a fantastic result. From the initial setup to in-depth settings, this product has been amazing. Tech support &customer service is great as well. ACTi makes a great product that is hands down one of the top IP based camera solutions on the market."

Professional monitoring of a currency exchange / jeweler's shop.

An appropriate video surveillance system in a currency exchange / jeweler's shop is a particularly important issue, due to the risk of robbery and the need for supervision of transactions.
The problem was noticed by the owner of one of the currency exchanges in Krakow. The investor wanted to implement a solution providing maximum security and full surveillance, day and night.

The configuration that has been fully satisfying for the owner of the currency exchange consists of two highest-quality CCTV cameras Sunell SN-586C/B WDR (Pixim) M11208 with mechanically switching IR filter, cooperating with TOKINA M2311 lenses. At night the room is lighted with IRD60 M1642 IR illuminator from the Readbeam series awarded with Gold Medal of Securex 2010.
The cameras have been connected to ULTIMAX 204 M72040 DVR which is accessible via the Internet. At any time the owner can remotely view the images using the free IVMS 4000 software (supplied with the DVR).

The first camera is installed outside the currency exchange, allowing the identification of people entering the office. The image from the second camera, placed directly above the cash desk, is recorded as the evidence in the case of customer's complaints. It should be underlined that only a camera with sufficient resolution and properly selected lens will allow the identification of banknotes.

Security at the highest level - video monitoring of Rotonda in Ljubljana.

The newly built Rotonda business center in the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana, has been equipped with a modern IP CCTV system. The installation was a real challenge for the designing and installation company. The 5-story rotunda tower block with 15,000 square meters has been divided into two sections with separate entrances and lobby areas with extensive CCTV monitoring and access control. Individual business units on each of the five floors are occupied by international banks, software companies, and law firms.

Rotonda in the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana

The owners of the building, to take advantage of the structured cabling, required to use IP network cameras with high resolution suitable for advanced video analytics. An additional challenge was the fact that the building with facades of glass incorporated brightly lit corridors, rooms with artificial light, a relatively dark underground parking lot. Outside the building there were outdoor parking lots.

To implement the large system, the Slovenian integrator Sintal d.d. has employed 130 two-megapixel cameras DS-852MF-E K1441. The cameras have been deployed at key points of the business center. Due to excellent color rendition, high resolution, superb contrast and sensitivity, they provide very good results in all lighting conditions throughout the whole facility.

The central video server runs iVMS4000 software - a powerful software package providing users with the latest tools for image analysis.
The software allows to record and preview video from 64 cameras at the same time, which can be chosen from among 256 possible locations. The software, in addition to video and audio recording, can create screen shots and perform digital zooming, allows to use motion detection and alarm notification of events via e-mail. It ensures easy searching of recordings by presenting them on the timeline. An important issue is the fact that the iVMS4000 software is free of charge.

The software supports a whole range of CCTV devices - ULTIMAX-Hikvision DVRs of 7300 series: M74040, M74080, M74160; of 8100HDI-S series: M76080, M76160; of 8100HFI-S series: M78080, M78160; ULTICAM cameras: K1440, K1441; video servers ULTINET K2140; ULTIMAX DVRs: ULTIMAX 104 M71040 and ULTIMAX 204 M72040; and many others.

This free and universal surveillance software compatible with many devices allows for quick and easy expansion of any CCTV system. It had also been one of the key factors that determined the application of HIKVISION equipment in Rotonda - an important building of Ljubljana from the perspective of business and urban planning.

The launch of the first outdoor AP from TP-Link.

DIPOL has introduced the first outdoor access point TP-Link TL-WA5210G N2350, for use in the 2.4 GHz band.
The AP is dedicated for Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs). Wireless data transmission can be performed in AP, AP Router, WISP, or WISP Client mode. The device is equipped with a high gain antenna, which, together with the electronic board, is put in a weather-resistant housing. Thanks to the antenna with 12 dBi gain, high output power of the transmitter (27 dBm) and high sensitivity of the receiver, the device allows to create long-range, stable and efficient wireless connections.

Distinguishing features:

TL-WA5210G N2350 can operate as:

Client Router (WISP) mode

We have written about:

HDMI switcher. Signal HD HDMI Switcher 3x1 (H3131) enables the user to connect to a modern TV set equipped with HDMI input up to three sources of high-definition signals. The amplified output signal can be transmitted via HDMI 1.3b cable over distance up to 15 m.
It is an ideal device for connecting satellite receiver, DVD player, PC or game console to a television equipped with a small amount of HDMI inputs...

Application diagram

Easy installation of large SMATV systems - radial multiswitches with 32 outputs. On the satellite TV market there is a strong demand for multi-output radial multiswitches, but due to technological reasons only a few producers can meet stringent quality requirements. The market leader in this field is TERRA, which has launched in the market the MSR-932 (32 outlets) and MSR-924 (24 outlets) multiswitches...

Extensive monitoring systems based on optical fibers. Already during the design of an extensive monitoring system there is the problem of integration of the images from all the cameras in a single point of management. The problem arises in installations based on coaxial cables already with lengths of 100 m or so, and is visible as loss of color, lower contrast and sharpness. It can be solved by using fiber optic systems. The example of the dedicated series of fiber optic devices is ULTIMODE...

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