A new EMC threat for CATV networks has appeared, according to Kabelkom – the new LTE 800 mobile phone system. According to the company, LTE causes enormous ingress in European CATV networks and, moreover, leakage from coaxial cables can substantially interfere with LTE terminals and base stations. As such, CATV operators may be in conflict with national authorities and LTE operators; leakage control of cable TV networks is obligatory under the EMC Directive.
Kabelkom has developed what it described as ‘an innovative tool for leakage and ingress control’ to help CATV operators with network maintenance. The AMS 2010 series leakage meter is a sophisticated measurement system with a GPS receiver which simplifies leakage measurements. According to the company, it is low in weight and small in dimensions, has very good sensitivity, long battery operation time, and simple user menu. The meters are upgradable and can be tailored to customer’s needs.
The AMS 2010 uses a new, EU patent-pending method for leakage tagging which Kabelkom said is suitable for fully digital TV and DOCSIS networks. The tagging method does not require free channels in the tested network.
Leakage tagging is absolutely necessary, noted Kabelkom, because it helps to recognise the signal radiated from the tested network; similar signals can be radiated from other CATV networks, terrestrial transmitters or radio noise sources. The tagged signal is generated in a specialised tagger (also offered by the company). The measurement data can be simply visualised on Google Earth maps, making leakage detection a very fast and efficient process.
