Driverless buses in cities – EU pilot program.

A real revolution in public transport is coming by bringing driverless buses to the streets of European cities. At the initiative of the European Union, a project is underway as part of “Horizon 2020”, the largest EU program in the field of research and innovation. An innovative solution in urban public transport is being tested in five European countries. The choice of cities was not an accident, since the driverless buses will have to face different challenges in each of them. Once the testing phase is over, the driverless bus fleets will be evaluated in terms of functionality, interoperability and safety. In Gjesdal, Norway, the vehicles will have to struggle with hilly terrain with a 12% gradient. High temperatures will be the challenge in Lamiia, Greece. In Helmond, the Netherlands, the buses will have to watch out for a great number of cyclists, while in Helsinki, Finland, the route will pass through the second busiest railway station in the country. In Tallinn, the bus will work on an airport route, which will be a challenge given the heavy bus traffic. Autonomous buses will not have drivers, but there might be a safety supervisor on board if the local law so requires.

The first presentation in Helsinki of a driverless bus
suitable for all weather in city traffic

The Finnish Sensible4 and Spanish Shotl companies are responsible for the software in the pilot phase. Sensible4 focuses on autonomous driving in all weather conditions, while Shotl has developed a dedicated application. The technology behind autonomous buses is mainly based on laser scanners and visible light cameras. Thermal imaging, precise satellite navigation and inertial measuring units are also employed.

SAGA, one of the project partners, has developed the "Transport as a service" platform (TaaS) to integrate autonomous and human-driven vehicles via an open API. The SAGA TaaS platform offers all that is needed to develop a hybrid service of human-driven vehicles and autonomous transport with the possibility of using driverless vehicles of any manufacturer. It is expected that the fleet will operate in mixed traffic, at city speeds, in almost any weather conditions without the driver on board. SAGA will operate autonomous and human-driven vehicles in all locations. Intelligent urban transport systems and an integrated approach are crucial for the development of urban mobility and may contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions in cities.

DipoL Jubilee.

In 1990, four enthusiasts founded DIPOL. The first and, for many years, main product was the ASP-8 grid antenna that gave thousands of Poles and Europeans access to terrestrial television.

Countries DIPOL has exported to since 1991

Currently, DIPOL sells through the e-Store, at the Head Office in Krakow and through the network of Branches, Distributors and Partners (Częstochowa, Gdańsk, Katowice, Kielce, Łódź, Sandomierz, Szczecin, Warsaw and Wrocław). DIPOL has direct representative offices in Czech Republic, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary, and websites in English and German.

The turning points in the company history and its key activities are summarized in the article 30 years of DIPOL.

The 19th edition of the photo competition has begun!

Holiday is the time of increased photographing. Why not use it and turn your lens to roofs, balconies and hills (possibly with some antennas)? Please feel free to take part in the nineteenth edition of our photo contest for the best pictures of antennas.

In this year’s edition, attractive prizes from Seagate and SanDisk will go to the winners! We are waiting for your works till September 25. Competition info and rules.

Grand Prix in 2019.
Round about Five (by Adam Sowa)

Integration of an IP monitoring system with an R-TV-SAT system.

The input of the video information from IP CCTV cameras into a TV system requires the use of intermediate devices – Full HD HDMI DVB-T/C modulators. They make it possible to modulate the HDMI signal from the monitor output of a CCTV recorder to DVB-T/C signal. Installers can choose from single-channel and multichannel (max 4) models. And what if the investor's requirement is to input video image from several IP cameras to the SAT TV system and have each camera viewed through a separate channel?

An ideal solution is the use the MI520P R81609 IP transmodulator to convert the ONVIF/RTSP stream 14 IP cameras. The MI520P R81609 device receives the IP stream with a maximum bit rate of up to 80 Mbps and creates any two adjacent multiplexes with a maximum bandwidth specific to the specifications of a given standard. The system administrator chooses the channels of interest from a given IP stream, and then creates any two packages (MUXes) in the standard of choice: DVB-T, DVB-C, J.83B, ISDB-T.

Video showing the connection and configuration of the TERRA MI520P R81609 transmodulator.

Signal Fire – implementation of the PON network.

Signal Fire splicers are increasingly used by installers. They are used for the construction of fiber optic CCTV, TV/SAT and LAN systems. Fiber optic trunk contractors for smaller and medium operators are also increasingly reaching for such devices. An example of the use of this brand's splicer for fiber optic cabling of a PON (passive optical network) is shown below.

DIPOL grants a 4-year warranty to Signal Fire splicers from official distribution. The authorized service center in Krakow has qualified staff and a stock of spare parts for all models. The equipment returned to the service is usually sent back to the customer the next day.

Read the article "Signal Fire AI-8/AI-8C/AI-9 – how to begin fusion splicing".

Protection of recordings in a recorder.

Reliable storage of recordings saved on a disk by an NVR is of key importance when building a video monitoring system. Sadly, the risk of disk failure and loss of the data stored has to be taken into account. Failure rate of HDD is not high though, and it strongly depends on the operating conditions (vibration, temperature, humidity, dustiness), the make and model of the hard disk. Dedicated hard disk series (Seagate Skyhawk or WD Purple), optimized for specific operating conditions, work best when recording images from cameras. However, it is only the monitoring system with redundant recording (the recordings are backed up on another carrier) that ensures great reliability. In the Hikvision monitoring system, it is possible in two ways:

Redundant recording on an additional hard disk of the NVR:

Simultaneous image recording on two hard disks. If one of them is damaged, the recordings are still available from the other. The redundant disk does not need to have the same capacity as the master one. A smaller capacity disk can be used and images recorded from the selected main cameras.

Backup of recordings on a PC's hard disk managed by the software:

Recordings stored on the recorder or camera can be copied to the PC's hard disk over LAN. This is done with the Remote backup program. The copying can be started manually or automatically according to a specific schedule. Note that the backup is not made at the time of recording, but the following day. If the backup delay corresponds to the time for which the recordings are archived in the recorder, recordings covering a much longer period will be available. The earlier ones will be on the recorder, while the older on the computer.

Main features of the program:

Image from an NVR on multiple monitors.

The Signal-HD H3613 HDMI to IP converter enables the user to connect a remote source of HD content to an HD-enabled television/monitor, using one CAT5e/6 cable. It is also possible to extend the USB port e.g. to control the recorder with a mouse.

The H3613R receiver for the H3613 set can send the HDMI signal over the IP network to another TV set. To do so, the IP signal from the transmitter should be applied the Ethernet switch, e.g. TP-Link N29942, to which the HDMI receiver should be connected to IP H3613R. The bit rate of the compressed signal at the transmitter output is approx. 15 Mbps. A dedicated receiver is required for correct decoding of the signal – preview on a PC with a network adapter is not possible.