News

RFI’s dipole arrays are chosen for durability and strength, resistance to lightning and surge or even rodents or pests. They also offer great electrical performance, with varying gain and tilt options, low PIM, high power, as well as excellent mechanical strength. A complete range of solutions is offered for everything from short range to wide area coverage, directional options are covered with both offset and screened arrays, as well as bidirectional for more specific applications such as valleys and rail.

PERFORMANCE
RFI’s industry leading dipole arrays offer not only low loss, high power performance, but also, excellent industry leading low PIM performance. These characteristics are tested throughout the manufacturing process, which not only ensures a premium product out of the factory, but a high performance product over its lifetime.

DESIGN
RFI’s unique design has undergone years of continual improvement; improving not only the electrical performance but also the mechanical performance, increasing longevity and durability. Available in aluminium, offering great electrical performance with high strength to weight ratio and excellent corrosion resistance, or stainless steel with high strength high corrosion resistance. Other options such as black powder coating may assist with heat radiation and ice shedding.

BINARY DIPOLE ARRAYS FEATURES:
• PIM Rated, individually tested
• Largest available bandwidth covering full band including band options 136-174MHz (-41 suffix), 330-420MHz (-57 suffix) & 400-520MHz (-67 suffix)
• Exceptional 500W continuous power rating
• Ultimate in lightning protection
• Range of options available including stainless steel, powder coat and down tilt variants
• Available in dual or quad 3dBd and dual 6dBd
• Ability to mix and match with different gain and collinears

GEORGIA UTILITIES
RFI’s PIM rated dipole arrays and Meander series antennas, bring mission critical performance to Georgia Electricity Cooperative’s shared TETRA network.

THE CHALLENGE
Diverse Power was seeking to implement a TETRA network to create a mission-critical TETRA radio network for a series of regional electric utilities cooperatives to replace an end-of-life, outdated analog system. The new radio system required dispatch capabilities that could cooperate with existing systems, including the possibility of data applications such as GPS tracking and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) applications. The use of high gain UHF antennas was preferred, and concerns expressed regarding close in coverage and low PIM performance.

THE RESULTS
Designed and commissioned by PowerTrunk, the TETRA network infrastructure features a mix of more than 85 RFI BA4040-67 & BA80-67 binary dipole arrays and COL45 Meander collinear antennas. RFI’s high gain UHF antennas were chosen for their outstanding low PIM characteristics across a mix of technologies to suit wide range of environments and applications.

The area utilities have since joined the network and it became the Georgia Cooperative. It currently covers 67% of the state with 57 sites and continues to grow, with an anticipated coverage of 75%. This was the first utility in the USA to adopt TETRA with great success.

If you have any questions about RFI’s Exposed Dipole Arrays, please contact a Primus Sales Representative at 800-435-1636 or [email protected].