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

Will solid-state batteries replace lithium-ion batteries?

ProLogium, a global leader in innovative next-generation battery technologies for automotive, consumer and industrial applications, has developed a solid-state battery with an anode made of silicon oxide. Such a battery can significantly increase the range of electric cars. ProLogium, a Mercedes partner at the Paris Motor Show, announced that a prototype of the cell should be ready next quarter, but we will have to wait a little longer for the final version.

The highly stable oxide electrolyte is expected to replace the flammable liquid polymer electrolyte, and thus prevent or delay the effect of thermal instability. The stability of the electrolyte allows the use of high-performance cathode and anode materials, which is expected to provide higher energy density in the cells and lower production cost.

The design of lithium-ion batteries as well as modern solid-state batteries is essentially identical. Both use a cathode, an anode and electrolyte. In a lithium-ion battery, two different mixtures of liquid electrolyte are separated by a so-called separator. A solid-state battery uses a solid electrolyte rather than a liquid electrolyte which acts as a separator. But these are not the only advantages of this technology. The innovative solution will also reduce the amount of lithium to a minimum which will be beneficial to the cost of battery production. In other words, in the future the batteries will not only be cheaper, but will also provide a much longer range. At the moment, however, we do not know when the new technology will be put into mass production.

What cable and connectors are used for connecting antennas to mobile routers?

Antennas used to improve a mobile operator's signal have an impedance of 50 ohms, so every part of the radio path must have this impedance value (TV coaxial cable is not allowed as it has an impedance of 75 ohms). The exemplary cable used to extend the antenna cable is the Tri-LAN 240 E1171. When it comes to connectors, most often the antenna cable is terminated with an SMA connector, to which you can plug an additional antenna connector dedicated to a specific modem.

When selecting an external antenna, check whether the modem supports MIMO (two antenna connectors) technology. These types of modems require the use of appropriate antennas to ensure that the transmission channel bandwidth is maintained as high as possible. Two coaxial cables should be run from the MIMO type modem to the antennas.

The most common in modems are SMA connectors, then the A7054 antenna connector fits directly. If the modem has a TS5 connector, the E83201 connector is required, while for the TS9 connector, the E83206 connector is required.

DIPOL SMART HORIZON DVB-T2 antenna – reception parameters proven by field tests.

An ideal antenna is the one that has high gain, optimal directivity, relatively small size, and will not require additional power supply. To meet the needs of consumers and installers, DIPOL has introduced SMART series antennas, which have been optimized for the above requirements.

Optical power meter in Signal Fire AI-9 splicer.

The Signal Fire AI-9 L5875 fiber optic splicer has a built-in optical power meter to measure absolute and relative signal power. The absolute measurement is to measure the real usable power of the signal reaching the receiver. An example is the implementation of a service based on a GPON network in which the installer, after splicing a subscriber pigtail, measures the signal at the input of the subscriber end (ONT), verifying that it is within the range of -32...-12 dBm (for GPON systems in class C+).

Relative measurement, otherwise known as reference measurement, involves measuring the signal power with respect to a specific value. This value is usually determined in the so-called meter calibration process involving connecting a light source to the power meter via a patchcord. The value measured then (the power of the source minus the attenuation of the patchcord or patchcords) becomes the reference value in relation to which it is possible to make a measurement, taking into account the optical path made. The meter will then show the attenuation of the section of interest.

In the above example, the power meter in the Signal Fire AI-9 splicer was used to determine the attenuation of a 30m SC/PC - SC/APC patchcord (black color). L5819 was used as the light source. The white patchcord is the measurement patchcord, the attenuation of which we want to omit from the measurement process.

The measurement process begins with calibration - connecting the light source to the meter using the measurement patchcord and determining the reference value, which in this case was -6.4 dBm. This value is stored in the meter's memory by pressing the "UNIT" button on the splicer housing (front). The screen displays "0.0 dB". From now on, the meter shows the attenuation of the elements that will come between it and the light source and the measurement patchcord. In this particular case, the attenuation of the patchcord was 0.26 dB. It is worth remembering that by taking the measurement in this way, the meter only shows the attenuation of the connector at the measurement patchcord. To get full information about the attenuation of the patch cord, the ends of the measured cable should be swapped by sides. In this particular case, it would also be necessary to change the measurement patchcord (and recalibrate) due to the need to match the connector to the light source.

The power meter on the AI-9 splicer can be operated with buttons on the housing or via a smartphone app, the same one used to set up and calibrate the splicer arc.

Downloading recordings from Hik-Connect.

A new functionality for the cloud-based remote access service Hik-Connect on the phone app is now available. Until now, it has not been possible to download content using a connection via the cloud. It was possible to solve that problem by recording the playback material, but this was not convenient, as it required waiting until the entire interesting part was played. Currently, an option to download recordings has been added. It allows you to download a fragment of the recording between 10 and 130 seconds in length. The recordings are saved on the phone, and can be accessed by selecting the "More" button from the main menu and then "Photos and video".
Note: current version of DVR software is required for the function to work (older models may not be supported).

TERRA SMATV multiswitch system. Systems based on multiswitches are professional and the most popular way to deliver terrestrial TV (FM/DAB and DVB-T2) and satellite SAT (DVB-S/S2) signals to more subscribers. It is the end-user who decides what programs to watch by purchasing the appropriate satellite receiver or by signing an individual contract with one of the digital platform providers. TERRA products, dedicated to use SMATV systems, are primarily top-class equipment covered by a four-year warranty. TV systems based on those components guarantee great signal reception for long...>>>more