TECHNICAL NOTES

Technical Downloads (Powerpoint):

Antenna Tuning Units for Digital AM

RF Compliance on Rooftops – and Other Places People Go!

AM Antenna Pattern Protection - MM Docket 93-177  

Articles:

"Hot Towers" Becoming Hot Topic For Wireless Industry
AM (“hot”) radio broadcast towers are rapidly becoming the new “hot topic” in the wireless collocation industry. The name of the game today for wireless carriers and tower owners alike is “collocation, collocation, collocation” on existing structures. 
As reprinted from Site Managemetn & Technology Magazinge, Spring 2002 Edition. 

LBA Group Gets Patent
The system that allows wireless telephone antennas to be used on AM broadcast antenna towers.

LBA Solves Signal Problem
AGUASCALIENTES, AGS., Mexico- Utilizing the LBA Technology Combipole antenna and diplexer system we solved an unfortunate coverage problem with our RF signal at XELZ...

AM Tower Collocation: Money on the Table?

Technical White Papers:

Detuning of Power Lines to Curb Reradiation – Technical Note 100
Electricity generating companies and AM radio broadcasters can coexist harmoniously when radio frequency conflicts are resolved early in building power lines.

High Power RF Interference to Cellular Radio Equipment – Technical Note 101
Do you have trouble getting test equipment to function properly, problems with power supply regulators, unexplainable hand-offs, dropped calls or other artifacts? Read this.

Detuning Communications Towers Solves AM Reradiation Problem – Technical Note 102
The solution to interference between land mobile or microwave towers and AM antennas is often complex...LBA shows its experience.

Gremlins In Your Cell Site? – Technical Note 103
The static and dropped calls that are haunting your customers may be coming from your cell site. Learn how to plan for effective RF interference abatement.

High Power RF Interference to Cellular Radio and Telephone Switch Equipment Part I – Technical Note 104 
Many consumer cellular interference problems are traceable to cell or switching sites located near high power RF installations miles away. Here are some ideas.

High Power RF Interference to Cellular Radio & Telephone Switch Equipment Part II – Tech Note 105
More on high power RF interference - with an emphasis on AM Radio.

AM Broadcasting - The New Cellular Design Factor – Technical Note 108
One lesser known factor involved in cellular modifications or construction is potential interference with AM antennas. Find out more about AM reradiation problems and site prescreening.

Blowing the Whistle on RF Interference – Technical Note 109
Many of the "interference" problems plaguing communicators using cellular, PCS, microwave, satellite or other systems are traceable to events originating not within the communicator's facility, but from proximity to broadcast or other high power RF installations. Find out how you can maintain a steady-state RF situation at any site.

When RF Interference Strikes – Technical Note 110
Typically a wireless operator will raise or lower tower height, add radios or change system configurations in an attempt to eliminate service problems. These approaches do not work when EMI strikes. As the following three instances demonstrate, well-designed shielding systems provided cost-effective and lasting solutions.

AM Broadcasting - The Overlooked Wireless Design Factor – Technical Note 113
As wireless systems have sprouted towers across the landscape, a seemingly unlikely conflict has arisen between wireless operators and old-fashioned AM broadcast stations. The FCC Rules state that all licensees must avoid interference with all AM broadcast stations. Furthermore, affected licensees must prove to the FCC that they have corrected all such problems. This must be done at their own expense.

AM Colocation - It's Real! – Technical Note 114
Today, there are an estimated 10,000 AM towers in the United States, and they are virtually untapped resources for wireless base station sites. And, notwithstanding the mythology, AM colocation is both practical and efficient.

A Primer on Foundation Wizard Dispersive Wave Testing – Technical Note 117
Dispersive wave propagation is the name of an area of science which considers how wave motion in solid materials is affected by the mechanical properties and geometry (i.e., boundaries, discontinuities) of the material. Any strike to the surface of a solid creates a disturbance that propagates throughout the solid as a wave.

A Primer on Diplexer/Triplexer Adjustment Procedures – Technical Note 118
An increasing number of Medium Wave (AM) diplexers and triplexers are being placed in service. The use of these devices to feed multiple transmitters to common antenna systems may be a cost effective way to minimize the substantial physical plant requirements of MW broadcast stations.

AM Protection - Dealing with Legacy Towers – Technical Note 119
A significant number of wireless towers have changed hands; often without supporting documentation that AM protection measures have been taken to comply with the Federal Communications Commission Rules.

NAVTEX in the United States – Technical Note 121
The International Maritime Organization has designated NAVTEX as the primary means for transmitting coastal urgent marine safety information to ships worldwide.

U.S. Coast Guard DGPS – Technical Note 122
NAVCEN operates the Coast Guard Maritime Differential GPS (DGPS) Service and the developing Nationwide DGPS Service, consisting of two control centers and over 60 remote broadcast sites.

Gremlins in Your Medical Equipment – Technical Note 123
RF radiation is everywhere.  We can't smell it, see it, hear it or touch it, yet we know it is out there.  Medical diagnostic equipment provides unreliable results. Weird audio can be heard through testing equipment. Rock and roll music accompanies a medical diagnostic test.  These gremlins are caused by high-power RF installations several miles away, such as AM, FM and shortwave radio, TV, microwave links and other such sources.

RF SHOCK AND BURN: Radio Frequency Radiation – Technical Note 124
This note is a compilation of various research studies performed in the late1980s.  This research was focused on the RFR levels and conditions that could cause electric shock or tissue burns.  Several instruments were used and various frequency levels were tested.  The results were differentiated between male and female responses.  The results of these research studies were used by regulatory agencies to provide safe guidelines to radio frequency radiation.  As with other research of this kind, the researchers suggested that further studies would be beneficial as more information was gleaned regarding shock and burn in humans.

HUMAN RADIO FREQUENCY EXPOSURE FROM SCADA REMOTE SITES – Technical Note 125 
The public, workers, and risk managers often raise questions concerning human exposure to radio frequency (non-ionizing RF) energy that might be expected from proximity to antennas, such as at a remote SCADA site.  This brief note will provide calculated exposure values and will relate them to U. S. Federal government maximum permitted exposure limits.

Is Your Facility RF Green^®? – Technical Note 126
Electromagnetical energy is an environmental issue that is often overlooked. This invisible environmental factor should be considered as carefully as air

Keeping Black Hat RF in The Box – Technical Note 127
Setting up an isolated, remotely-accessible, secure wireless equipment pod to allow even the most invasive and potentially destructive wireless lab exercises to be performed within an area that is physically adjacent to a wireless production network.

How To Install SM-10™ RF Green® Shielding Fabric - Technical Note 128
RFGreen SM-10 conductive fabrics are effective RF shielding materials and here is how to properly install them.

3.5 GHz CBRS Systems: Introduction to Regulation and Function – Technical Note 129
An overview of the regulatory and functional aspects of the new Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) and deployment capabilities of the LBA Group.

Case Studies:

CPC-54 Helps Mitigate RF Interference Challenges

Application Notes:

FAQs:

Faraday Cage FAQs
AM Protection FAQs
RF Safety FAQs
Folded Unipole FAQs
WLAN FAQs