The world's first ultra-high speed train, between Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The United Arab Emirates is to have the first railway line to transport cargo and people, where the trains will achieve speeds typical for planes. Hyperloop One company signed a contract to build such a line linking the capital of the Emirates, Dubai, and the city of Abu Dhabi. This project is the realization of the vision of the future of transportation created by Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, SpaceX and Paypal companies. It assumes the construction of a "bullet train" reaching speeds up to 1200 km/h. At such a speed, the travel between Los Angeles and San Francisco, located 500 km away from each other, would take about 30 minutes.

Hyperloop - modern, ultra-fast means of transport
See how it works...

Hyperloop transport system uses low pressure in a specially designed tube, allowing for carriages-capsules to be accelerated by a linear electric motor to speeds of aircraft. The capsules glide above their track using passive magnetic levitation or air bearings. According to the analyst, Jim McGregor of Tirias Research, the first super-fast train will be implemented in the Middle East, because wealthy countries like United Arab Emirates can invest a huge amount of money in this type of project. Dubai is among the 20 safest cities in the world and each year attracts nearly 15 million tourists spending 12 billion US dollars.

A visualization of the interior of the carriage.
The project offers three arrangements: business-like, for group travel, and for occasional journeys
(source: www.dailymail.co.uk)

When in 2013 Musk created the concept of Hyperloop, he estimated that the route between Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay Area will cost about $ 6 billion. However, critics think that this is an optimistic and unrealistic version. The project in Dubai will be worth "billions of dollars", but if it comes to fruition, the travel from Dubai to Abu Dhabi (150 km) will take only 12 minutes. Last month, Dubai has already announced a competition, inviting participants willing to present design plans for the Hyperloop tunnel between different airports. So, the vision of ultra-fast transport can come true soon, being a powerful magnet for tourists and business people.

In 2015, Japanese super-fast Maglev, magnetic levitation train, established the world speed record. At a test run, it reached the speed of 603 km/h. In 2007, French TGV, a traditional wheel train, drove at a speed of 574.8 km/h. Transrapid Shanghai, another super-fast magnetic train, reached 501 km/h during tests at the start of the line. For economic reasons, the train is on a regular basis moving at a speed of 300 km/h. The construction of the 30.5 km railway line absorbed 10 billion yuan (€ 2 billion) and took 2.5 years. The planned expansion in the direction of Hangzhou was halted in 2007 due to protests of residents who feared radiation.

Indoor DVB-T antenna.

There is no universal recipe for a perfect antenna, especially an indoor antenna. Generally, the use of indoor antennas for the reception of DVB-T digital terrestrial television is limited to locations with high signal levels, so usually at short distances from broadcasting stations. In the case of DVB-T, signal reflections do not impair the reception (as it was in the analog TV). On the other hand, DVB-T signals may come from different transmitters with different power, so often certain channels (multiplexes) can be received very well, and some other channels cannot be received at all.

DIPOL offers high-quality indoor DVB-T antenna Signal A6030 for reception of digital terrestrial television. The device has very good RF parameters due to built-in high-end low-noise amplifier.

View of the indoor Signal A6030 antenna with built-in low-noise amplifier

The Signal A6030 antenna can receive FM, DAB/DAB+ and DVB-T signals within 47-230 MHz and 470-790 MHz bands. The antenna is suitable for receiving signals with vertical and horizontal polarization. An additional advantage of the device is the integrated GSM/3G/LTE filter. Due to compact size and nice look, the antenna can be an interesting addition to any room.

Which HDD for DVR/NVR?

Hard drives from PURPLE series of Western Digital have been purpose-built for surveillance digital video recording systems based on video servers and/or DVRs/NVRs and operating in 24/7 mode. The series offers superior performance, high capacity and long-term reliability. The drives are designed to work non-stop in systems processing and recording audio and video, on any platform (PC, standalone DVRs, NVRs, servers).

The PURPLE series is a further development of the RED family. The modified firmware functions minimize the risk of loss of image frames due to errors or heavy load (AllFrame). The speed of the platters is controlled by IntelliPower technology, which results in reduced power consumption. The cache size is 64 MB and the HDDs communicate with DVRs/NVRs using SATA 6 Gb/s interface. PURPLE drives have much better operating parameters than their equivalents dedicated to PC workstations. The essential features include:

Fiber-optic CCTV transmission system based on radial topology.

A separate cable provided to each camera placed on a pole is the most versatile and the least labor-intensive solution, taking into account the splicing and protecting of optical fibers. However, it involves more effort when laying cables, as the overall length of the cable routes is greater.

Optical CCTV system with radial topology

In this topology, the structure of the cable is not a significant factor, as there are no branches along the paths. Of course, the cable must meet all the requirements necessary for the proper operation in the environmental conditions. An important parameter is the tensile strength, sufficient for operations connected with pulling in the cable to cable ducts. The most popular types of cables used in installations of this type include:

Regardless of the number of cameras on a pole, the transmission is performed only via two optical fibers. However, we recommend at least the minimum redundancy level - the application of optical fibers with 4 fibers.

Service monitor for HD-TVI systems.

The installation process of a camera involves the adjustments of the direction, viewing angle and focus. These activities can be preformed by two people contacting by mobile phones, or by one installer, observing the image on the MS-43TV M3107 service attached to the forearm or hung on the camera bracket. Thanks to small size (3.5") and low weight, the setup of the camera is a simple job, even in an uncomfortable position, often on a high ladder.

The monitor is powered from built-in rechargeable battery or from AC/DC adapter. Additionally, the monitor can operate as 12 VDC / 800 mA power source for the tested devices. This function is very useful when the camera point has not been connected to the system yet, but the camera should be prepared for operation in advance.

Service Monitor MS-43TVI for HD-TVI and CVBS systems M3107

Control of a remote electrical device via the same AC power line.

There is often a need to control an electric/electronic device from a distance, e.g. a barrier, gate, lighting, etc., but the only available cable at the destination point is the AC power line. For technical and economic reasons, the deployment of additional control line can be problematic, due to the difficulties and costs associated with earth works, removing and laying the sett stones, paving tiles, etc. In turn, wireless systems are environment-sensitive, so they often do not ensure sufficient reliability or have too short range for a given application.

In such cases, an ideal solution is to use pairs of remotely coupled switches OneLinkPLC G7184, using the 230 VAC power line for communication allowing for remote control of various devices. Each switch is equipped with 10 A / 250 VAC relay output and potential input for connecting the control, a single-pole switch. One of the OneLinkPLC switches is to be connected to the AC line located by the controlled device (e.g. automatic gate), with its relay output connected to the input of the automatic gate (for triggering the opening of the gate). The second OneLinkPLC switch can be mounted anywhere in the home, with the access to 230 VAC line. Due to small size of the OneLinkPLC switch, the additional single-pole switch can be placed in the same, typical installation box. The both OneLinkPLC switches have to be connected to the same phase of the AC line. The distance between the devices can be up to 1 km. To enable communication when the devices are connected to different phases, one should employ additional device - PLC-Coupler-D2M G7174.

A wire diagram of a simple system for control of entry gate,
based on the pair of remotely coupled switches OneLinkPLC G7184
The control is performed via 230 VAC power line

Measurements of optical links with the transmission method. Basic measurements of attenuation of optical links, necessary for qualification tests, are based on the transmission method. With the use of an optical power meter and optical laser source with predetermined output level and high stability, the installer can measure the total attenuation of the whole link, including connectors. However, when the measured attenuation is higher than expected, the fault (a bad splice or connector, excessive bending, factory defect of the cable etc.) cannot be easily found. For such a thorough test it would be necessary to use an optical time-domain reflectometer... >>>more

Calibration of the measuring system

Net9 - new series of TERRA multiswitches