Intelligent lighting in cities.

Lighting is an inseparable element of modern, effective and economical cities. Many cities in the world decide to modernize there infrastructure, implement intelligent traffic control systems, and intelligent lighting. Modernization of lighting is an important element of building the concept of a smart city of the future. Modern lamps can collect data from the environment by using sensors and then implement optimization algorithms. One of such cities that has taken up the subject of modernization of the lighting system is San Diego. At the cost of 30 million dollars, the city builds the the largest network of sensors in street lamps.

By the end of the year, the network composed of 3,200 sensors connected via LTE will be installed on lamp posts with energy-saving light sources. Along with light control, the sensors are to improve road traffic control and parking space management, increase public safety and help monitor air quality. The system will transmit data in real time. It will help drivers by indicating free parking places via a dedicated mobile application.

An interesting solution was also decided by the city's authorities in one of Polish cities - in Pila. In cooperation with Ericsson and Philips Lighting, the city introduces energy-saving LED lamps on the streets, enabling remote management of lighting infrastructure, with built-in base stations of a cellular operator. Thanks to the lamps with built-in 4G transmitters, the city's residents gain not only economical LED lighting, but also good coverage and high quality of cellular connections and network services.

Innovative Ericsson Prototype Zero Site.
The base station integrated with a street lamp has been installed in Pila, Poland.

Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University in Dubai has invested in the most modern building lighting system. Thanks to the innovative system, students do not need to use light switches. The switches have been replaced by detectors in lamps, which detect the presence of people in rooms and turn the light on or off as needed. Interestingly, the system also automatically adjusts the intensity of light depending on the natural daylight.

DIPOL's Summer Photo Contest!

Nowadays each of us has a camera, at least in the smartphone, and we are surrounded by various kinds of antennas. What counts, is a good composition, a cool shot, unusual lighting. The photos can be uploaded until September 28! Last year we received over 600 works. Will there be more of them this year? It's up to you! The Manfrotto 290 LIGHT tripod with 3D 293D3 head will be useful for every owner of a professional camera, ...or it can become a reason to purchase one. The information about the competition and prizes is available at the contest site.

Below, some distinguished pictures from the lat year's edition of the contest. And what was the winning one? You can find it out here.

Additional protection of recordings in large video surveillance systems - N+1 Hot Spare function in Hikvision NVRs.

Hikvision NVRs of the "I" series have additional functions, especially useful when implementing larger installations. One of them is the N + 1 Hot Spare function increasing the reliability of the entire system and resistance to Ethernet network failure, loss of local power supply, etc.

The principle of operation of the N + 1 Hot Spare function in Hikvision systems.
In the event of a failure of a primary NVR, the recording is taken over by the HOT SPARE NVR.

One spare NVR should be added to the system. After activation of the Hot Spare function, it acts as a redundant recorder. It does not record anything in the normal operating mode, it works only in the case of a failure of one of the core NVRs, taking over its role. When communication with the "dead" NVR is resumed, the missing recordings are restored (thanks to a synchronization process). The function can be used in a network consisting of up to 32 NVRs.

Designing of multiswitch systems.

For multi-family buildings, DIPOL offers solutions based on Terra equipment. Multiswitch systems composed of TERRA devices from MR-9xx and MV-9xx series ensure reception of satellite signals from two satellite positions and from terrestrial TV and FM transmitters. They are used in many countries, among others in the UK, Germany, Australia, Poland. Since 2004, the number of large TERRA multiswitch SMATV systems installed in Poland has reached thousands, and they enjoy excellent reputation. High performance, stability of parameters, very low failure rate make these multiswitches the choice number one, satisfying even the most demanding customers.

An example of a SMATV system for a multifamily building is presented below. There are dwg, pdf and stn versions of the design (the latter is the SatNet file that can be modified with the SatNet software).

The design is an SMATV system for distribution of satellite signals from two satellite positions, DVB-T terrestrial television and FM radio signals from one master antenna set to 138 apartments in a building with 3 staicases. The trunk wiring includes 11 coaxial cables (Triset-113 PE E1017) led from the roof to a technical room located in the basement. The technical room houses nearly all active devices of the system. The cables distributing signals to the apartments are led from multiswitches installed in boxes located in staircases. The multiswitches are connected with the equipment in the technical room via a 9-cable multiswitch bus.

Example design of a multiswitch system with 72 outlets, performed with the use of SatNet utility

Video door phone in a detached house.

The diagram below shows a video door system based on analog Hikvision kit DS-KIS203 G7383. The set consists of 7" indoor monitor DS-KH2220 with screen resolution of 800 x 480 px and gantry/door station DS-KB2421-IM with camera featuring resolution of 720 x 576 px. The station is equipped with a relay (NO/NC/COM terminals) dedicated to control the electric strike in the gantry. The strike and the relay have to be connected to an external 12 VDC power source, e.g. M1820, so that the +12 V output of the power supply is connected to the COM terminal of the relay, one connector of the strike to the NO terminal of the relay, and the second connector to the ground (-) of the power supply. Additionally, the monitor can be connected with an analog CCTV camera (e.g. N-CAM 760 M7478) located outside the house and directed towards the gantry. The user can select the image from the built-in or the additional camera. The video door phone uses 4-wire system. With a distance up to 30 m between the gantry and the monitor, the cross section of each wire should have minimum 0.5 mm².

A video door system in one-family house:

Highly efficient LTE antenna!

TRANS-DATA LTE KYZ 10/10 A741024 is an outdoor, directional log periodic MIMO antenna for use with LTE (4G), 3G, DCS, GSM modems and cellular phones with two antenna connectors. The antenna has 10 dBi gain. The antenna has been designed for operation with LTE modems equipped with two antenna connectors, some cellular phones, GSM, DCS, 3G modems.

Distinguishing features:

• Outdoor directional logarithmic antenna,
• MIMO 2x2,
• Multiband: 806-960 MHz, 1710-2700 MHz,
• Multi-standard: GSM, DCS, UMTS, WLAN, LTE,
• Gain:
• 9.5 dBi (806-960 MHz),
• 10 dBi (1710-2700 MHz),
• Short-circuit for DC,
• 10 m lead terminated with SMA plug,
• Housing made of durable ABS plastic resistant to UV radiation and weather conditions,
• Mounted to a mast with U-bolts (optionally to a horizontal pipe)

View of the TRANS-DATA LTE KYZ 10/10 MIMO A741024 antenna

Signal Fire AI-8 fusion splicer - how to start splicing?

For several years now, DIPOL company has been popularizing fiber optic solutions among its main customers, i.e. installers and installation companies. During that time, many of them started to deploy small and medium-size fiber optic systems, also with operations like splicing optical fibers. Simply, the purchase of a splicing machine preceded by one-day theoretical and practical training allowed them to significantly extend their offerings, as well as to save money that previously had to be paid for hiring subcontractors.

Approximately, it can be assumed that the cost of the Signal Fire AI-8 splicer will return after about 250 splices (if performed by an external company) or be an equivalent of about 750 mechanical splices. In the latter case, however, an important disadvantage is the increased labor intensity and much longer time of working - a series of splices made by the fusion splicer takes incomparably less time. By maintaining the order and cleanliness, simply using the due diligence standard required in the fusion splicing process, the installer also gains high repeatability of connection parameters. In the case of an FTTH system in a multi-family building, such a building with 70 apartments will already provide a return on investment (2 splices in each apartment and 2 splices per apartment in the technical room or cabinet).

The key features of the fusion splicer and basic operations are presented in the video. More detailed information on the Signal Fire A-8 splicer and a description of the first steps can be found in the article Signal Fire AI-8 - how to begin fusion splicing?.

Vimtag IP Wi-Fi cameras can be used for the care of young children. DIPOL offers new IP Wi-Fi cameras from Vimtag, K1561 (PTZ) and K1552 (fixed), supported by a cloud service and dedicated for a variety of home applications. They make an ideal solution for everyone requiring many functions performed by a single device. The functions include an electronic nanny, helper in the care of elderly parents, a pet minder, or just a simple home monitoring system. The cameras have the option of motion detection and can send Push notifications via mobile applications as the responses to such events. This functionality and the applications are ideal for monitoring of sleeping children. When a child wakes up and moves, the motion detection function notifies the parent(s) on the phone(s)... >>>more

The idea of using the Vimtag CM1 K1552 camera for supervising a child

Signal Fire AI-8 fusion splicer