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

No. 29/2008 (Sept. 15, 2008)
SAT KRAK 2008 in Krakow. The event will take place from October 16th to 18th, 2008. There will be presented new products and technologies, as well as offers of satellite TV platforms. For the first time the exhibitors will be able to show their stands and products to Internet users, thanks to interviews and reports organized by the staff of SAT Kurier magazine. Participation in the exhibition has been announced by a large number of companies from Poland, Korea, China, Czech Republic, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Spain, Great Britain and other countries. The mainstream offers will include digital TV receiving equipment for consumer market and cable TV operators. Every year the number of the participants becomes larger, probably the SAT KRAK 2008 will be record-breaking again.

DIPOL at SAT KRAK 2008
Courses for installers delivered by DIPOL
Collisions of civilizations in the world of antennas - the photo contest. An advantage of wireless communication is possibility of using it in places without any other infrastructure. There are many regions where antennas allowing to get in touch with the world are ahead of water-supply system or even power network. For providing connectivity it is enough to use a battery, often a solar one, or power generator. RF signals, especially those transmitted via satellites, are not independent from natural or administrative obstacles. Many of the pictures sent to the "Engagingly about antennas" competition show such collisions - they were taken in places where satellite and wireless communication seemed to be the only common denominator with the more developed regions of the world and rare signs of the 21st century.

The entries for "Engagingly about Antennas 2008"
Mongolian grassland - traditional nomadic style of life, practically unchanged from a few thousand years. The people can do without most of the technical achievements of the modern world but... not without satellite TV.

Remote configuration of headends. Reprogramming of a headend is usually a troublesome task which requires to hire a technician and pay for the service. Such a necessity can be caused both by a deliberate change of a program/channel and a forced reaction to modification of the offer made by a satellite broadcaster.
The modern MMH-3000 headend (R81716) manufactured by Terra Electronics - the leader in TV and SAT TV technology - makes a huge difference. Of course, it can still be programmed locally (with handheld control unit PC100 R81702, a laptop, or PCS-200 R81716 console), but one of its advantages is capability of remote configuration. For this purpose there is used the above-mentioned PCS-200 console that is equipped with a network interface. It enables the operator to manage the headend both via LAN and the Internet, with a regular PC. Practically the only intervention will be needed in the rare case of changing the cable coming from an LNB. It can usually be performed by someone from the staff (e.g. at the hotel).

There is no other headend in the market that provides highly advanced solutions for such a competitive price, thus it becomes very popular among installers and investors.

More on the headend you can find in the articles:

Modular Headend TERRA MMH-3000

A short guide to MMH-3000 TERRA design

Modular Headend TERRA MMH-3000
CCTV cables. The cables used in CCTV systems often have to be quite long, both in the case of video and power transmission.
There is no big problem with long-distance video transmission. Our tests show that CAMSET 50 75-0.59/3.7 M6050 cable can transmit video up to 300-400 meters without perceptible loss of quality. Only when the distance exceeds 400 m an additional equipment is needed (e.g. the M1840 amplifier).
The problems connected with long distance first of all concern power supply. We have tested a dozen various cameras and determined that the voltage at camera's terminals shouldn't drop below 11V. Most cameras are out of order around 10.5V. Below 11V CCTV cameras loose colors or have problems with switching on. After further considerations, we finally have assumed 1V as maximal acceptable voltage drop in the supplying cable.
Using Ohm's law - a camera of 245 mA consumption can be powered via CAMSET 50 M6050 cable over a distance of about 60 m. Using CAMSET 100 M6100 the distance doubles to about 120 m. In the case of using outdoor set composed of u-cam 110 M1128 camera and Marathon MH-806/12 M5406 housing, its current consumption is about 900 mA. The maximum distance for CAMSET 50 M6050 is then 17 m, but for CAMSET 100 M6100 - twice as much, i.e. 34 m.

CCTV cable: CAMSET 100 75-0.59/3.7+2x1.0 [1m]<br />(92% braid coverage, 2 power wires up to 230V AC)
CAMSET 100 M6100 allows to double the maximum distance of power supplying in comparison with typical wires of 0.5 mm2 intersection
Color Day/Night cameras Sunell SN-486C/W M11206 - External mode. An interesting solution introduced in Sunell Day/Night cameras is the possibility of choosing four modes of operation. Aside from Day mode (always in color), Night mode (always in B/W), and Auto mode (the camera switches between the first two modes depending on adjustable lighting level), there is another one - External mode.
The latter mode should be chosen when there is used IR illuminator controlled by a light sensor. The cameras are equipped with special NO inputs which are used for synchronization with IR illuminators. The moment the IR illuminator switches on, the camera is switching into B/W mode.
Light (dusk) sensors usually have smooth adjustment of the switching point and feature decent hysteresis loop and lag that protect the set against instability in the case of short changes of light (e.g. lightning, the headlights of cars driving past). Installation of the camera does not cause additional problems - the manufacturer has equipped it with ready-to-use terminal (connector with a short piece of cable).
Day/Night Color Camera: SN-468C/W<br />(mechanically switching IR filter, w/o lens)
Control of Sunell camera and IR illuminator with a light sensor
IP video surveillance - live monitoring and control via Firefox. Until quite recently the shortcoming of IP CCTV systems was the impossibility of using other browsers than Microsoft Internet Explorer.
The manufacturers of IP CCTV devices are mainly developing software using ActiveX technologies that are supported only by IE browser. But recently a new plug for Mozilla Firefox 3.x has been released, IE TAB, enabling to browse any sites previously reserved only for IE. After installing the plug, the sites are available via MF as well. Unfortunately, there is still a barrier of operating system - the plug is not suitable for Linux systems.
IE TAB enables the users to log into all IP CCTV devices using Mozilla Firefox.
The plug is available at IE Tab.
Configuration of PTZ cameras. The RS485 serial interface is responsible for communication of a console (control unit) or DVR with PTZ camera(s). To ensure correct operation of the camera one has to set suitable transmission parameters. In practice, most PTZ cameras have fixed parameters of the serial port, so the configuration consists in setting the protocol (e.g. Pelco P), transmission speed (e.g. 9600) and camera ID (e.g. 1).
In the case when the camera has more advanced configuration menu, there should be also set such parameters like: the number of data bits in the packet, parity bit (error checking), stop bit (end of packet). The control of PTZ camera will function properly when both the camera and managing device have been configured the same way.
Speed Dome Camera: T2-SB36
System Control Unit: KB-2000-3A
Speed Dome Camera
Eyeview
M1224
System Control Unit
K9152
Basic parameters of ADSL services in Poland. ADSL service requires proper configuration of a number of parameters, like VPI/VCI (responsible for identification of connection and channel), encapsulation, multiplexing.
So the default password may be not enough for establishing Internet connection. The tables below show the proper parameters of the most popular services. In the case of any operator such parameters should be handed over to the subscriber.
Parameters of ADSL Annex A
(lines of Telekomunikacja Polska SA)

Operator

Name of service

Encapsulation

VPI

VCI

Multiplexing

TPSA

Neostrada

PPPoA

0

35

VC/MUX

GTS Energis

Multimo

PPPoE

0

35

LLC

Netia

Net24

PPPoA

0

35

VC/MUX

Dialog

DialNet

PPPoE

0

35

LLC

Tele2

Tele2

PPPoE

0

35

LLC

Parameters needed for proper configuration of ADSL services provided by the leading operators (Annex A)
Parameters of ADSL Annex B services
(lines of Dialog and Netia)

Operator

Name of service

Encapsulation

VPI

VCI

Multiplexing

Netia

Net24

RFC2516 PPPoE

8

35

LLC

Dialog

DialNet

RFC1483 Bridge

1

32

LLC

Parameters needed for proper configuration of ADSL services provided by the leading operators (Annex B)
Minimizing WLAN security threats with WPA protocol. The earliest WEP protocol does not guarantee security of wireless network - it can be easily broken by using programs that are available in the Internet.
WPA protocol provides much stronger protection, but its complicated configuration creates a barrier for less advanced users of home Wi-Fi networks. In order to make the issue easier, TP-Link has introduced in its devices WPA-PSK (Pre Shared Key) protocol. It enables quick and easy configuration of TP-Link Access Points.
WLAN Router: TP-Link TL-WR642G (4-port switch, eXtended Range, 108 Mbps)Wireless Router: TP-Link TL-WR542G  - eXtended Range<br />(with 4-port switch)WLAN CardBus Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN610G (108 Mbps)Wireless CardBus Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN510G (2.4GHz 54Mbps, eXtended Range)Wireless USB Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN321G (2.4GHz 54Mbps)Wireless PCI Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN651G (eXtended Range, 108 Mbps)Wireless PCI Adapter (eXtended Range): TL-WN551GWLAN USB Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN620G (108 Mbps) - CLEARANCE SALE!
Diagram illustrating the issue of security in WLAN
DIPOL e-Store - modern business platform. The concept and application software for the Internet store differ from traditional solutions due to the intended use - cooperation with wholesale dealers.
Modern business is based on modern media ensuring quick response, thus many companies value the up-to-date solutions implemented in DIPOL e-Store: on-line confirmation of the availability of an item, access to wholesale prices (for logged-in users), shipping costs information, possibility of placing complex orders directly in the shipping department.
Furthermore, the registered companies dealing with TV, SAT TV, WLAN or CCTV equipment can take part in the Partnership Program that enables the Participants to become our Authorized Partners and use our proprietary B2B software and other tools, as well as to launch joint offer and create strong distribution network. It includes access to wholesale prices, possibility of purchasing chosen products at Special Prices, technical support, and marketing promotion - by supplying catalogs, posters, banners etc. as well as deploying joint advertising campaigns.

We encourage the companies to sign up for the Partnership Program.
We have written about:

Why RTOS (Real Time Operating System)? ... Recording of the signals in digital form (with set parameters: resolution, frame rate, number of channels) is a priority and has to be performed in real time. Any delay will cause loss of video data (e.g. several video frames)...
- archive DWR of March 10, 2008

How to choose a mount for the LCD television? The MIS (Mounting Interface Standard) or FDMI (Flat Display Mounting Interface) standards of installation of flat panels (LCD/plasma monitors and televisions) has been developed by VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association)...
- archive DWR of Jan. 14, 2008

Surge protection of CCTV devices. An effective method of protecting CCTV devices from lightning discharges is application of surge protectors, e.g. OPV-4 M17014. The device protects all four BNC inputs...
- archive DWR of March 17, 2008

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