Starlink will provide Internet from outer space.

SpaceX, American space industry company founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, started the implementation of the Starlink project, which aims to provide the Internet from space. On May 23, 2019, the Falcon 9 re-launching rocket took off from the Air Force base at Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying 60 Starlink satellites into an Earth orbit. Ultimately, the number of orbiting satellites is to exceed 12,000, creating two satellite constellations.
A single Starlink satellite has several broadband antennas and a solar panel for powering the whole device, as well as a system for navigating in space. For orbital maneuvers it uses a Hall-effect thruster with krypton propeller. The satellites have been designed so that after five years, i.e. after the estimated period of work and the exchange for new ones, they will independently enter the atmosphere and burn completely without causing a threat to the Earth.

A coverage of launching 60 Starlink satellites into space
by the Falcon 9 rocket

The main purpose of the Starlink project is to provide access to broadband Internet around the world, even where it is currently impossible. The satellites will be arranged in two groups. The first one, with 4409 units, at an altitude of 550 km – 1325 km above the Earth, the second, with 7518 units, slightly lower, at a distance of 335 km – 346 km above the Earth. By placing the satellites in the lower orbit, the delays will be minimized to 15 ms. If the plan of Elon Musk is successful, in many areas it may mean an interesting alternative and competition for the 5G network.

Award for DIPOL from TERRA.

TERRA company, a Lithuanian producer of SMATV devices and equipment, has honored DIPOL company with diploma of merit for excellent sales results in 2018, admitting that DIPOL once again is at the forefront of European distributors.

The unwavering popularity of TERRA products among Polish customers is the result of high quality of these devices and the combined technical support offered by DIPOL. The fruitful cooperation of these two companies has been going on for more than two decades.

TERRA is one of the largest manufacturers of specialized equipment for receiving and distributing satellite, cable and terrestrial TV signals in Europe.

DIPOL's photo competition is in progress.

Holiday time is a period of increased photographic activity. Why not use the time for directing your lens towards roofs, balconies and hills (with some kind of antenna;)?

We invite everyone accepting our regulations to take part in the eighteenth edition of the photo contest. The awards for the most beautiful photos of antennas will be attractive Manfrotto accessories! We wait for your works till September 27. More info on the contest and the regulations are available here.

Single-cable TERRA dSCR multiswitches – Unicable technology.

The dSCR series of multiswitches from TERRA employs single-cable technology (Unicable) that allows for distribution of DVB-S/S2, DVB-T, DAB and FM signals via single coaxial cable. The dSCR acronym means digital Satellite Cable Router, sometimes called channel stacking switch, which converts the received satellite signals to so-called user bands (UBs) that can be received by the connected receivers compliant with the technology. The converted transponders are combined and sent via the single coaxial cable to all the receivers. The communication between the dSCR multiswitch and the receivers uses special protocol defined in the EN50494 (Unicable I) and/or EN50607 (Unicable II) standard, with DiSEqC commands.
The biggest advantage of the single-cable system, along with simpler installation of the cabling, is the ability to easily split the signals, similarly to terrestrial TV/radio signals. This also means the possibility to adapt installations distributing terrestrial television signals to the reception and distribution of satellite channels (the number of users connected to one dSCR multiswitch is limited by its characteristics).

The diagram shows an example installation based on TERRA dSCR
cascadable single cable multiswitches SRM-522 R80522

An example of configuring a satellite receiver supporting Unicable/dSCR technology

Splicing optical fibers with Signal Fire AI-8 in a small server room.

Signal Fire AI-8 L5870 fusion splicer is used by a growing number of installers. Below we show an example of using the splicer is a small server room. The task was to terminate eight fibers of the L73008 universal cable with LC L3525 pigtails and protect the FO connections in the ULTIMODE TB-04H L5304 installation box.

Signal Fire AI-8 at the workplace in the small server room

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?.

Queue management at supermarket checkouts.

Appropriate management of queues at supermarket checkouts is extremely important both from the point of view of the customers and the store. It minimizes the waiting time and optimizes the use of checkout points. The DS-2CD7126G0/L-IZS camera from the Hinvision's DeepinView series has a queue management function and can be used to implement this type of projects. After logging in to the camera, the administrator can set up the zone in which the analysis will be performed. During camera configuration it is necessary to specify the maximum number of people who can wait in the defined zone. When the number is exceeded, the alarm event can trigger e.g. sending an email notification or message to the iVMS-4200 monitoring center to inform the staff. In addition, the camera can create statistics that can be used for further analysis.

Queue management at supermarket checkouts with the use of DS-2CD7126G0/L-IZS cameras.
After the number of people in a zone exceeds a threshold, the camera notifies the staff.

In the above diagram, the store has three checkout points. When the number of people in the queue to a given checkout exceeds the programmed value, the corresponding camera sends notification signaling the necessity to open another checkout.

The Hikvision DS-2CD7126G0/L-IZS camera with queue management function is available on request.

Distribution of surveillance video to multiple monitors/TVs, with control of the NVR via USB.

The application of the Signal HD H3613 HDMI to IP converter enables the user to send HD video from the HDMI output of an NVR to an HDMI-enabled monitor/television via a UTP cable. USB ports in the transmitter and receiver units allow for remote control of the NVR from the location of the monitor/television.

An application of the H3613 HDMI > IP converter/extender set and additional two H3613R receivers
(point-to-multipoint configuration with an Ethernet switch, the NVR can be controlled remotely by a mouse )

The IP signal coming from the transmitter of the H3613 set may be applied to an Ethernet switch to split it among multiple receivers. The bit rate of the compressed signal at the output of the transmitter is about 15 Mbps. The output signals can be properly decoded only by the dedicated H3613R receivers. The maximum theoretical number of the H3613R receivers and connected televisions/monitors is 253.

Integration of 1080p video monitoring with TV antenna system.

On the occasion of designing new or modernizing existing video surveillance and S/MATV antenna systems in a building, it is worth to combine the both systems, i.e. provide the possibility of viewing the images from security cameras on television channel(s). High resolution 1080p CCTV video can be converted into a selected DVB-T RF channel by an HDMI->DVB-T digital modulator. The channel, usually modulated by the signal from the HDMI output of a DVR/NVR, can be received by every television connected to the antenna system. The image can contain the preview of video from all cameras (screen division), or a cyclically changing preview of individual cameras.

Much greater possibilities are provided by a transmodulator, e.g. TERRA mix-440 R81611. The transmodulator receives RTSP stream generated by all IP cameras, as well as available from each channel of Hikvision DVR/NVR. Mix-440 can receive RTSP streams from 12 cameras and convert them into 4 neighboring DVB-T multiplexes (total bit rate up to 200 Mbps). The video from each camera is available on a different channel. The programming of the mix-440 R81611 panel is performed via a web browser (no need for a programmer).

A small SMATV system (TV/SAT/Radio) providing preview of 12 cameras on individual channels,
available on all televisions connected to the outlets

Control of entrance gate via Hikvision Villa IP video door station. IP Villa gate/door stations have relay output that can control a door/gate with electric strike. Often, however, there is a situation in which the owner requires the control of the entrance gate... >>>more

Block diagram of an IP video door system that controls the entrance gate

Signal Fire AI-8 fusion splicer