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

Launch of television from Hot Bird 13F Hot Bird 13G satellites.

In the last week of May 2023, Eutelsat began moving television and radio services from the three old Hot Bird 13B, C and E satellites to the two new-generation satellites Hot Bird 13F and Hot Bird 13G. The migration process of all services will last until the end of July. Fortunately, owners of satellite receivers will not have to make any adjustments. The existing frequencies as well as the other parameters of the services will remain the same. In case of signal loss, it may be necessary to have the current system checked by an installer. The main role of the new satellites is to amplify and improve the quality of transmission of more than a thousand radio and TV channels (including high-definition 4K TV broadcasts) delivered to homes in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

The strongest signals from the modern Hot Bird 13F and 13G satellites will reach France and Italy. In Poland, on the other hand, where the vast majority of households use pay-TV from Polish operators, the signal should be stronger than at present. Signals from Hot Bird 13F and 13G will cover an area from the Canary Islands to Afghanistan. However, larger diameter dishes are required in the most remote locations.

The Hot Bird 13F and 13G satellites were launched last year. US space operator SpaceX launched the Eutelsat Hotbird 13G satellite into geostationary orbit using a Falcon 9 rocket. It took off from Cape Canaveral in Florida, USA, on November 3. Hot Bird 13F, on the other hand, was launched in October 2022. The existing satellites (operating since 2006 and 2008) will be used to provide temporary additional capacity wherever it is required, until the fuel is exhausted.

Changing the call forwarding time in Hikvision IP video intercom monitors.

In the Hikvision IP video door entry system, it is possible to forward the call of the caller from the external door station, directly to the application installed on the smartphone. For this to be possible, you need to create a Hik-Connect account, add the video door phone to the account, install the Hik-Connect application on your smartphone and log in to the account. Add the video intercom monitor to the account, through which the connection with the door station will be made (if you have a Villa-type single-subscriber station, it is possible to add the door station itself to the Hik-Connect cloud directly). Once the Hik-Connect service is enabled and properly configured, pressing the call button on the door station will trigger a call on both the monitor and the smartphone with the app installed. By default, the call forwarding time on the monitor is set to "0 s", which means that if you press the call button on the door station, the monitor and the smartphone app will ring at the same time. If this time is changed, for example, to "10 s", if the tenant does not answer the call within 10 s, only then will the call be forwarded to the app. To change this time from the iVMS-4200 level, after entering the door station settings, go to the tab: Intercom -> Time Parameters -> Call Forwarding time.

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.

Switches for pole installation.

Industrial switches are designed for systems in industrial facilities where adverse conditions such as increased dust, high or low temperature, or high humidity are possible. Installation of industrial switches is also recommended for overhead cabling on poles or in cable chambers, with the use of sealed enclosures. The Ultipower switches have Ethernet ports (Fast Ethernet or Gigabit Ethernet depending on the model) for connecting of such devices as IP cameras or PCs. The enclosure meets the IP40 standard (protection against access to hazardous parts, protection against foreign solids over 1 mm in diameter). All ports support PoE (the switch has to be powered with 48 VDC). The switches are equipped with an SFP port to convert the transmission medium to optical fiber.

The devices also have the following additional functions:

• Extended function that enables powering devices connected with twisted pair with a length of up to 250 m,
• PoE Auto Check automatically performs current restart of the connected device in the event of hanging.
• HiPoE 90 W support for ports 1 and 2 (N299704 switch only),
• PD function enables the switch to be powered via Ethernet port (N299707 switch only).

In the example above, the switches have been installed in sealed boxes on poles. IP cameras have been connected to the switches and powered via PoE (48V 802.3af). Between the poles, optical fiber (single-mode fiber terminated with LC connectors and SFP inserts) cables are laid to create a network consisting of five cameras and an IP camera recorder (NVR). Application of industrial switches increases the reliability of such a system as they are more resistant to surges and harsh weather conditions. Moreover, the fiber optic cable between two poles effectively electrically isolates two locations of camera points.

Digital Diagnostic Monitoring, i.e. performance monitoring of SFP inserts.

DDM, or Digital Diagnostics Monitoring, is a set of functions that allows you to monitor the operation of fiber SFP modules in network switches. When a DDM-enabled insert is placed in a switch it gains access to the following insert performance parameters:

Moreover, depending on the implementation of the protocol in the switch itself, it is possible to display messages on the transmission problems and total loss of signal. DDM in connection with SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) allows more efficient network management and monitoring of its parameters at physical layer level. It is possible, among other things, due to possibility of defining alarm levels for individual parameters.

Fibre optics – why is measurement at 1310 nm not enough? The figures below show the results of a reflectometric measurement of a 150 m section of fibre optic cable connected to a runner of the same length. The measurement was performed for the 1310 nm wavelength – here the measurement showed no anomalies, and for the 1550 nm wavelength – here increased attenuation was noted at 75 metres (225 metres including the run-up fibre)...>>>more