Security, Info and More!

Welcome to Tech Talk, Pico Macom's series of technical notes, featuring useful information and equipment tips. This edition of Tech Talk discusses the use of Pico Macom filtering products and modulators to add your own locally generated channels.

Peace of Mind Is Just a Click Away!

There are many reasons why adding a channel is advantageous. The obvious examples are:

  1. Security cameras placed around the outside of a home or in a child's room.
  2. Information to make an activity schedule available to all rooms, such as in a hotel or a nursing home.
  3. Advertising local businesses for dining, entertainment and services—an excellent revenue stream.
  4. Education channels added to a school, prison or hospital channel lineup to provide lessons in an effective way to the comfort of each room.
  5. Local access programming to engage members of a community by allowing them to create their own programming and replay it (also a great way to show homeowners’ meetings).

These applications provide some solid reasons to insert your own channels into an existing lineup.

Inserting channels is easier than you might think. The following procedures will show how simple it can be, using Pico Macom products.

Filter Applications

Channel Elimination and Insertion:
This application will allow a channel to be added into an existing lineup by completely eliminating a channel in the space where you plan to insert yours:

  1. Two channels cannot occupy the same space, so first use a CEF Series channel elimination filter to clean out the space.
  2. To create your new channel, a high quality A860 modulator will provide a high 60dBmV output so that there is plenty of signal level to work with.
  3. Combine the A860-modulated channel with the filtered channel lineup by using a TSC-30 directional coupler. This will reduce the amplitude level of the new channel by 30dBmV.

The best way to match levels is to measure the level of the adjacent channels using a PICO-PRO meter. Measure and adjust the RF gain level of the A860 modulator to the same amplitude level as the adjacent channels to reduce the chance of interference.

Diagram 1

Channel Filter and Stack:
This application will allow channels to be added above the highest channel:

  1. The signals in the range of the desired channels must be removed by inserting a LPF Series inline low pass filter.
  2. To create your new channel, a high quality A860 modulator will provide a high 60dBmV output so that there is plenty of signal level to work with.
  3. Combine the A860-modulated channel with the filtered channel lineup by using a TSC-30 directional coupler. This will reduce the amplitude level of the new channel by 30dBmV.

The best way to match levels is to measure the level of the highest channels of the existing lineup using a PICO-PRO meter. Measure and adjust the RF gain level of the A860 modulator to the same amplitude level as the level of the highest channels of the existing lineup to reduce the chance of interference.

Diagram 2

Channel Isolation:
This application will allow individual channels to be isolated and recombined, resulting in a custom channel lineup:

  1. The incoming signal is split using a TSV-8 splitter.
  2. Each output from the splitter is connected to the input of a BPF Series bandpass filter.
  3. The outputs of the bandpass filters are summed using another TSV-8 splitter.
  4. The summed channel output is then amplified using a CA-50/550 amplifier.

Diagram 3

Using Pico Macom Filters and other Equipment is a snap!

Want To Know More?

The products mentioned above make inserting channels to an existing channel lineups easy and efficient. These are just some of the many innovative products available from Pico Macom. Please visit our Web site at www.picomacom.com to see many other exciting new products. Or call us at 800-421-6511, and let our knowledgeable and courteous staff assist you with other Pico Macom products and applications.