A discussion of RF protection needs to begin with its definition.  The industry term which is most often used in description of the protective devices which are installed into systems to shield and protect their radio frequencies is “RF protection.” This form of protection system is typically involved with modern transceiver equipment which means that located in base station units.  Most cases of RF protection revolve around coaxial data lines which are severely damaged or impacted by lightning strikes and the power surge that will follow. Raycap is a world leader in the design and manufacture of these types of protective devices and systems, which assist in providing uninterrupted service within the enclosed areas of telecommunications setups.  Raycap products protect against spikes and surges which produce outages and data failures due to the destruction of communication equipment.  To provide uninterrupted and continual communication within appropriate areas of service, our commitment to excellence is our driving force.

Communication lines as well as data transfer cables are highly susceptible to the power surges and electrical transients which are produced by lightning strikes, as well as to failure incidents within standard power distribution systems.  Even though data lines are designed to carry far less electrical current than a power line, as well as the fact that data lines are almost always directly connected to critical operations equipment, the need for protection to be installed along these lines and pathways is imperative.  The single lightning strike to a connection line can easily have a catastrophic impact on the critical communications capabilities within the network, and subsequent surges can destroy data which is housed within storage components and equipment connected to the lines themselves.  There are multiple solutions for providing protection against damage of this kind, all have been specifically designed for the application.

In addition to protecting against transients, the cellular surge protection devices which are manufactured by Raycap will also protect against electromagnetic pulses, these also being produced by lightning strikes.  When a strike happens directly to a cable or nearby it, there is a steep rise in electric fields that happens almost instantaneously after the strike.  These fields produce extremely high voltages and pulses which then could travel to any unprotected antenna or radio system via transmission lines leading to the primary communication equipment.  Losses because of customer dissatisfaction as well as equipment damage repair is a serious negative force to the bottom line of almost every business.  The costs of equipment repair are easily factored into planning, but the costs associated with customer loss as a result of outages is far more difficult to predict.  Only through the maintenance of a happy customer base as well as a network that remains stable and online for a majority of time can cellular networks be assured that they will be able to maintain a competitive edge in today’s landscape.  In situations where data is lost, customer dissatisfaction rates can be extreme, leading to major problems.  Through the integration of the appropriate RF protection the systems from Raycap, business can not only survive but thrive. Hence the Raycap tagline “It’s our business to help yours thrive.”

If you are anything like the rest of us, you have probably had more than a few occasions where your signal is weak on your cell phone.  You have probably experienced dropped calls or buffering when you are trying to stream video.  You may have experienced failures with regards to downloads of large files on your phone, and all of these problems have caused you to question if you should switch network providers.  The phone that you holding in your hand is viewed as a connection device by most customers, and the network itself is the transfer mechanism allowing them to both receive and send data.  People do not blame their phones for less than quality service, and instead will immediately question the quality of the network that they are paying to connect to.  Because of this perception, cellular providers must invest heavily into not only upgraded equipment with which they can provide faster transfer speeds as well as better connectivity, but they also must invest into the protection of that equipment in the field.  This is accomplished through small and compact devices which are installed at critical junctures on cell towers, between long connectivity lines in order to allow for the unmitigated transfer of information both along those lines and through radio signals.  The systems must remain operational as much as possible in order to avoid the customer dissatisfaction that will lead to revenue losses.  The maintaining of equipment as a result of damage in the field is only half of the losses that can come as a result of natural events like lightning strikes.  Repairing the equipment that is needed in order to provide connectivity is also compounded with the potential of data loss that can spell disaster for a cellular provider.  All of these factors must be taken into consideration in order to maintain profitability, and it has been recognized that the prevention of problems is the best path to take to keeping customers happy.

The strength of the signals that are sent between the remote radio head and the base station unit within the cellular tower is going to be critical in maintaining signal strength at the point of the handheld device.  It is going to dictate if the customer can connect to the network, as well as how fast data can be transferred to and from the device.  Lightning strikes have a major impact on these radio frequencies both through damage to the equipment used in the process as well as interruption of the radio signals through electromagnetic pulses. Through the integration of advanced protection devices that are designed specifically for these purposes, equipment damage can be mitigated, and connectivity rates can be improved.  This will lead to customers which question their choices of providers less often, resulting in higher profits for the provider themselves.  The investment into surge protection devices more than pays for itself in customer satisfaction and retention.

As our lives become more technologically driven, we are more reliant upon industrial processes to not only manufacture the goods that we utilize, but also to provide the connectivity and safety that we rely upon.  Most things ranging from the clothing that we wear to the cell phones in our hands are reliant on the industrial process in order to make our lives more convenient.  Industrial facilities have evolved over time to be far more technologically advanced than they ever have been in the past.  Advanced computer equipment and microprocessors as well as other circuit driven equipment are now found in almost every manufacturing process, and the costs that we pay as consumers are direct reflections of the improvements in speed and efficiency of these processes that has been caused by the integration of technologically advanced equipment.  Any areas of the process which are impacted in a negative way, for example being taken off line or shut down completely, will ultimately result in consumers’ needing to pay more for goods and services. These things can even cause consumers to except a lower quality standard from the connectivity where they may have become used to a higher level of quality.  Many of these negative impacts on industrial processes come from the natural events including power surges caused by lightning strikes.  The direct strike to the equipment used industrial facilities is rare, but will generally inflict significant damage both at the strike point and as a result of the resulting  power surge.  The way that facilities protect against direct strikes is through the installation of overhead shielding and grounding equipment.  Strikes that happen to the power and connectivity lines which run outside of the facility are more common and thus more problematic.  The power generated by the lightning strike travels along these power lines effectively.  This directs massive amounts of electricity towards facilities connected to the power lines,  potentially coming into direct contact with the equipment utilized in any number of processes, ultimately damaging the circuitry needed to keep these processes online.  The chain of events which happens when a piece of equipment is finally affected can create the catastrophic event in which the equipment is so damaged than it needs to be replaced completely.  These types of events take the industrial processes offline and ultimately create slowdowns that can increase customer prices.  Through the integration of industrial surge protection devices at the service entrance and installed throughout the building or industrial structure as well as  close to the equipment as possible, overvoltage events can be mitigated if not avoided altogether.  This allows for industrial facilities to continue to maintain operations effectively and for longer periods of time, thus allowing prices to remain low for the consumers.  The industrial processes that enable  connectivity also are able to remain online for longer timeframes, translating into a greater ability for people to themselves be productive.  In this way, our own personal lives rely upon industrial surge protection directly.  From the clothes we wear to the computers that we use and the internet we connect to in order to provide our own additions to productivity, we are dependent upon industrial surge protection more than ever.

Can Lightning Protection Reduce Climate Change?

Climate change may be the biggest debate of the century. The disagreement is not about the impacts that climate change will have on humanity and the planet, but instead are about if it is caused by man, or not. Both sides of the debate are in agreement that rising sea levels and warming atmospheric temperatures exist, along with intensifying storm activity and the disappearing polar ice caps. There is no debate about the fact that these issues are occurring, but instead it is about if human activity is actually to blame. One side states that climate change is something that would happen if pollution and greenhouse gasses were created by our global industries, and the other states that it would happen even if all these industries were not to exist. Because it is impossible to know for a fact what would be the case if there were no pollution, we simply must assume that an environment that is polluted is worse than one that is not, and even if this pollution is not caused by humans, it is still not positive. (more…)

Raycap is a leading manufacturer of industrial AC, DC and signal line surge protection technologies, which are designed to be more robust and advanced than consumer surge protection devices.  While the function of preventing electrical surges from traveling through power lines to equipment that can be damaged by an overvoltage event is the same in both consumer and industrial applications, the higher protection levels afforded to the industrial installations are necessary to protect both investment and system functionalities.  An industrial application may involve hundreds of millions of dollars of equipment that is interconnected by copper cable, and the services that they are producing may be of vital importance to millions of people.  Needless to say, industrial applications have far more at stake when it comes to the protection of mission critical equipment.  For this reason, they must feature the most advanced technologies available. (more…)

The electrical surge protection market has gone through a technology evolution over the past decade, leading to the development and distribution of devices that are far superior to previous generations.  With regard to industrial-grade surge protection, this evolution is even more dramatic than the residential market because of the rapid advances and pervasiveness of electronic devices in today’s industrial settings.  (more…)

The price of production continues to be the top benefit to using fossil fuels over renewable energy but tide could soon be turning.  Although there is no argument that “green energy” has less impact on the environment and would be beneficial to every nation, there is still a push back from many large countries including the United States to expansion of its use.  This is quite simply due to the costs associated with the production of power for consumer consumption, and the unwillingness of the public to pay more for the same product they already get, although it is currently produced in a more damaging way.  Most consumers will understand that there is an impact on the environment when fossil fuels are burned, but will still vote with their pocket books and choose the method that will cost less. (more…)

Over the past decade, countries all over the world have been embracing renewable energy technologies for many reasons.  Renewable energy does not require a source of fuel to burn in order to produce power, which ultimately provides any country embracing a green energy future with power that can in theory be generated with little to no cost. Additionally it reduces the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the environment, and is thus less hostile to the environment upon which all creatures depend. Opponents of renewable energy will nearly always argue that green energy costs more than fossil fuel production to setup and maintain.  Ultimately, the different sources of power have costs that are nearly even, with the one derived primarily by the fuel costs, and the other derived primarily by equipment costs.  The playing field has been narrowing for many years as the technological advancements in green energy provide better performance and equipment lifespans.  Recent advancements in the surge protection industry have also been helping this, making it entirely possible for the first time in history to produce wind and solar power less expensively than traditional methods. (more…)

The green energy movement is being watched not only by those interested in reversing greenhouse damage to the environment, but also by those who are simply “economically” aware.  This means that while some may monitor the current state of renewable energy sources with an eye towards how “green” sources of energy like wind and solar can reduce emissions, others are simply looking for a way to reduce their power bill.  People who are not activists or passionate about climate change may not necessarily be for or against any one source, but simply supportive of the cheapest methods of energy production for the masses.  This group cares mostly about the fact that the lights go on when they want them to, and that the bills associated with that power are affordable. (more…)

Solar Power Cost Reduction

While the hardcore opponents of solar power can be considered generally suspect as far as their motivations, there are several issues that are still under development which will bring solar power production methods more into the mainstream.  There is been a far more widespread adoption of solar power as the primary production method in Europe than in the United States, probably because of more cultural aspects and a personal feeling of connection to the environment by the population. (more…)