Wired and Wireless and more

One of L-com's recent whitepapers on their technical resources page features some great tips for different antenna mounting methods.  Mounting antennas is essential in many applications, but their sizes and shapes make mounting them awkward in many situations.  This whitepaper gives some great ideas and is worth a look!  Do you install antennas?  What are your trade secrets?

From Guy Kawasaki post on Google +  List of 10 festivals in Germany not to miss.  I think the picture says it all...  Photo credit: Landshut Wedding by estrangelo_edessa

For the first time ever, L-com won a gold Stevie Award from the International Business Awards last fall.  Unlike the plethora of domestic awards that L-com has racked up over the years, the IBAs represent a broadening of L-com's reach, putting further emphasis on the "Global" part of Global Connectivity.  With a network of international distributors now carrying L-com's products to other countries, is it just a matter of time before L-com's products are everywhere?

Most people know L-com for the cables and adapters it manufactures, along with the HyperLink brand of wireless equipment.  But L-com is also a major distributor for some of the biggest brands out there, including Middle Atlantic Products, Advanced Fiber Solutions, Icron Technologies, Ubiquiti and more! In a recent newsletter, L-com summarized them in a long list, but that list is constantly changing and updating.  The good thing is that, as an authorized reseller, L-com can offer a competitive quote on any of these branded items (even if they are not currently on L-com's website), so you can get your quote for components all from the same place.

By and large, there are two main types of wired signal "mediums" available today: copper (or electromagnetic) and fiber (or optical).  The way these two technologies work is so different that you may think they are mutually exclusive.  But the reality is completely different: copper and fiber networks and applications coexist in almost every larger scale network in America.  One of the ways they achieve this harmony is with Ethernet media converters.  There are a lot of options for media converters today, but simple standalone units are plug-and-play and very affordable, making it easy to bridge copper networks using the power and bandwidth of optical cables.  Have you incorporated fiber and copper together?

One of the staple publications in the electronics industry is tED (The Electrical Distributor) magazine.  They cover a broad range of electrical components from lighting to automation to wire and cable.  In 2012, L-com won a Best of the Best prize from them at the National Association of Electrical Distributors' (NAED) 2012 AdVenture Marketing Conference.  While this is just one of many awards L-com has won over the years, it is especially meaningful coming from such a recognized and respected publication.

In the United States, as in many developed and developing countries, amplification of wireless signals is highly controlled.  If everyone could just pump up the signal as high as they wanted, there would end up being just one radio station, one TV station, and forget about ham radios!  However, the FCC regulations in the US do not prevent you from using any small manner of amplification at all.  L-com has a selection of FCC certified WiFi booster kits that are legal and can help you attain a better signal, especially if you work in a position where you need that wireless signal but it is just a little too short to reach you.  You can see this short newsletter with video here for more information.

Every year lightning season comes around to destroy unsuspecting electronic equipment that is installed and connected with permanently-run copper cabling.  Everyone knows the analogy that getting struck by lightning is a rare occurrence. But it does happen so much that they don't recommend you hold up an antenna in the middle of a storm.  The same is true with wiring and components in your building.  Unfortunately, you can't grab the wiring when it starts storming and head for cover, but you can install low-cost and effective lighting protection on virtually any cable you use.  Do you have a signal line that does not have a lightning protector yet?

In the wide range of antenna types available, flat panels are among the most versatile.  They provide better coverage than an omnidirectional antenna, but with a wider beam width than Yagi or dish antennas.  This means that if you have a broad area that you need to get wireless connectivity to, a flat panel antenna may be your best bet.  Check out L-com's latest selection including new dual-polarized (DP) antennas with multiple-in/multiple-out (MIMO) formats. Do you have experience with flat panel antennas?

If you work in a business where wires and cable are all around you, you don't need to let it rule over you!  Get yourself some cable management accessories: cheap, easy, and very helpful in taming the savage cable beast.  Options range from simple cable ties, to hook-and-loop ties, to rack panels with D- rings and lacer bars.  You should also invest in a label maker to help save your future self from the intense headache of trying to remember what your past self was thinking.  L-com has a neat article here.  Do you use cable and wire management accessories?

Fiber optic cables come in several sizes, which can confuse new users.  The most common three are 62.5/125 and 50/125, which are multimode, and 9/125, which is single mode.  The difference between the three is actually crucial when using the cables to connect equipment.  Use the wrong cable type and you risk intermittent or completely dropped connections. Fortunately, most equipment is pretty specific about what type to use.  Do you have a question about fiber optic terminology?

If you work at an OEM and have been around for any length of time, you'll recognize Carlton-Bates. They have been a distributor of automation controls and electronic-electromechanical products for over 50 years!  Now, as a subsidiary of WESCO Distribution, they have the power to bring a huge amount of products and services to market while still maintaining their reputation for being an innovative solution provider.  A few months ago, L-com announced that Carlton-Bates would begin reselling their products.  This is pretty big news for both companies, as L-com products will be available from more than 35 sales and distribution offices across the United States and Mexico, and they will be immediately available for Carlton-Bates' dedicated assembly facilities for inclusion in customized assembled solutions and kits. 

If you are interested in learning more about frequency bands for your wireless application, L-com recently posted an email in its archive entitled: "Which Frequency is Best for My Application?".  The post includes a link to the United States Frequency Allocations Chart, which can be very helpful, as well as a general, brief description of each of the most common bands.  Do you have a wireless application but you're not sure what frequency you need?

One of the great innovations of Ethernet is the switch.  It's nothing new, now, but the intelligence and handling of a switch makes many advanced LANs possible, not just a few computers in a small location.  Switches come with a large host of features, so it helps if you know what you need before you go shopping for a switch.  One of those features is the commercial grade vs. industrial grade.  Generally speaking, a normal, clean (-ish) home or office with fairly moderated temperatures and normal electrical distribution can use a commercial Ethernet switch.  Most of the other applications, including outdoors, dirty or wet locations, busy foot-traffic locations (like a busy factory floor or behind the counter at a busy retail outlet), and locations with unusual electrical swings and spikes usually require industrial Ethernet switches.  Industrial switches come with many features to continue operation in more punishing environments.  L-com has a few good examples here.

All a connector really is is a point where one device allows communication with another device, which may or may not be permanent. So connectors are often mounted on panels, chassis, and wall plates to be most convenient.  In these cases, usually behind the connector is a cable that maintains the connection to whatever the device is.  However, printed circuit boards (PCBs) also require connectors sometimes to allow their processes to be monitored, tested, or to allow input/output to the process.  L-com recently added PCB panel-mount USB connectors sold in packages of 10, that allow you to add either a USB 2.0 Type A female or a USB Type B female to a PCB, and securely mount it to a chassis or whatever the board is mounted to.