This is an excellent question, because the patented LBA CoLoCoil® is fundamentally different from AM isolation devices generically called “isocouplers”. These old-style isocouplers have been around the AM industry for years and gained a reputation as veritable “fuses” for lightning strikes. Here’s why.

The traditional isocoupler essentially breaks the coaxial cable inner and outer conductors to isolate the AM energy on the tower from ground. The open ends of the coax are them formed into capacitor plates or coupling inductors, with a small gap between input and output for the UHF energy to transit with as little loss as possible. In addition to being bandwidth limited, the small air gaps are a failure point for lightning to jump to ground. The old isocoupler is basically a spark gap, being an open circuit to DC and AC stroke energy, so it’s a matter of whether the tower lightning gap arcs first or the isocoupler. Because tower lightning gaps are often set wider than the isocoupler’s guts, it’s the isocoupler that fries!

On the other hand, the CoLoCoil®, the new isocoupler, uses unbroken coaxial cable (typically up to six bundled). This is also a nice advantage if you need DC bias. The coaxial cable is formed into a rugged coil with low inductance, resonated by a capacitor. This produces almost no effect on the AM tower energy, but presents a low resistance DC ground to the AM tower, and also low AC impedance to ground at lightning frequencies. The DC ground eliminates tower static buildup, which can precipitate destructive flashovers in conventional isocouplers. The bulk of energy in a lightning strike is well below the AM band frequencies, so the heavy copper coax coils provide a massive bypass for much of that energy, and an internal lighting gap provides an additional safety barrier.

Not saying it can’t happen, but with dozens of CoLoCoils® deployed in lightning prone areas for years, we have never had any lightning damage reported. The coaxial cable coil is no more vulnerable than any other coax component on the tower. A resonating capacitor failure is possible, but that would not affect the wireless antenna coax system in any way. The impact on the AM might be anywhere from none to off air, depending upon the AM tower base impedance. An isocoupler meltdown would almost always be catastrophic, with both the AM and wireless systems being put “off air”. So, among its other attributes, the CoLoCoil® is the most reliable approach to AM collocation.

Not so the merger this week of JAMPRO Antennas Inc. and the Alan Dick Broadcast (ADBL) Division of ADC UK Ltd. It is a wedding of talent and professionalism and holds the promise of producing many good engineering solutions under the Jampro name.

Alex Persovich

California-based Jampro is the oldest broadcast antenna company in North America. ADBL is one of the oldest European companies dealing in broadcast antennas, combiners/filters and broadcast infrastructure services. Theirs is a union of expertise that bodes well for broadcast customers around the world.

Neither party is a stranger to LBA Group. We have worked closely with each for many years involving medium wave system projects from the U.S. to the Middle East. We know them to be trustworthy partners in engineering projects and have enjoyed our professional relationship with each.

“It couldn’t have happened to a nicer couple of companies,” Jerry Brown, LBA president, said of the acquisition of ADBL by Jampro. “Seriously, we admire the work ethic and professional conduct of each firm. We have enjoyed working with them in the past, currently are working with them, and look forward to working with them for years to come.”

Founded in 1954, Jampro was an early and key player in the emergence of digital TV. It is one of the largest international suppliers of radio and TV antennas and associated radio frequency (RF) equipment, transmission line and components. ADBL is headquartered in Cheltenham in the United Kingdom and has served as a major provider of communications infrastructures in Europe, the Middle East and Africa for more than three decades.

That plea is the gist of calls that come to Betty Perez, director of logistics and resources for LBA Technology. Perez is an old hand at fielding hurry-up requests from LBA customers, but the telephone calls she receives about the fieldSENSE ProHD™ Heavy Duty Pack are in a special emergency category all their own.

“One guy called me and said he’s on a tower and his alarm is going off. What should he do?” Perez recalls with merriment in her voice. The man was carrying a fieldSENSE monitor, the personal RF device for anyone working near wireless antennas. Obviously, he had never before had the alarm sound.

“I tried not to laugh at him and told him to move away from the area he was in as soon as possible,” she says. “He said, ‘Why?’ I told him his monitor was doing its job.”

Designed for convenient carrying by a tower or site worker as OSHA personal protective equipment, the monitor continuously measures RF exposure against safety limits—and sounds an alarm when the RF environment begins to threaten. Perez explained all this to the man, who seemed to have no idea about the monitor’s function.

“You would think he’d have read the manual,” Perez says. The fieldSENSE is calibrated to OSHA and FCC maximum permissible exposure (MPE) occupational compliance levels, so it is suitable for all personnel working near cellular and other wireless antennas. Monitoring frequencies are optimized for the wireless carrier bands.

The fieldSENSE ProHD™ Heavy Duty Pack is good at “doing its job.” The sensibly priced personal radio frequency monitor system includes the monitor, a rugged padded nylon pouch specially crafted to be worn on rigger harnesses and work belts, backup heavy-duty batteries to avoid down time at the top of a tower, and a durable container to protect the monitor on a shelf or in the toolbox.

Besides being affordable, the monitor is ruggedly structured and intuitively usable. Designed for one-hand operation, the personal RF monitor features single-button operation, a audible warning buzzer, and a bright LED information display panel. The fieldSENSE RF monitor is also weatherproof. Each unit is calibrated before delivery to a buyer, and LBA offers annual calibration and test service back-up.

Desperation calls from the top of a tower admittedly are rare. Perez more often gets another kind of emergency call about the fieldSENSE: Send me some monitors quick! These calls come from companies whose crews have traveled to a work site and discovered they won’t be allowed to work unless each member of the crew has a personal RF monitor on his hip. Help!

“We ship to a lot of motels via UPS next day air service,” Perez says.

The monitors are shipped nearly every day, according to Perez, with calls originating across the U.S., as well as from other countries—the need for personal safety is the same regardless of location.

The versatile fieldSENSE monitor functions in both measuring and monitoring modes. Though normally worn in monitor mode on a belt loop, the device also can be mounted stationary using supplied accessories. This typically is to complement lock out/tag out safety schemes.

Full specifications can be found here.

To avoid future problems with employee RF awareness, and possible OSHA violations, check out fast, convenient, and affordable LBA on-line RF safety training. For more details on certificated training, click here.

The executive, along with LBA vice president for sales Mike Britner, traveled to D.C. Dec. 12 to meet with Commission staffers and representatives of radio stations, law and engineering firms, and tower companies. Other industry association executives and engineers participated in the gathering via teleconferencing facilities.

Behr has long advocated affixing wireless antennas on AM radio towers. He views it as a win-win solution: AM gets a new revenue source and wireless and mobile communications towers don’t have to endure nail-biting public hearings to win approval for new towers.

Behr initially made the case for colocation in a National Association of Broadcasters Conference in 2008. Consequently, the FCC invited Behr to address industry leaders last February in Washington in a broadband acceleration conference.

In October, Behr went one step further.  Working with his Washington communications counsel Don Evans of Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth, Behr formally proposed the FCC identify AM towers as part of the solution to wireless siting shortages. He proposed educational initiatives and FCC incentives to encourage wireless and AM executives to embrace a technology that can help each of them.

Co-locating antennas on existing towers “can dramatically benefit both the AM broadcast community and the wireless community,” Behr declared. “All that is needed are appropriate incentives from the Commission to make this happen.”

In his December presentation, he reiterated the suggested FCC incentives:

• Promote colocation as a legal and practical strategy for wireless and AM executives
• Require expedited local action on colocation requests
• Give a regulatory fee discount for AM stations that host wireless antenna
• Streamline the STA process where an AM station needs it.

Behr’s PowerPoint presentation spurred considerable technical and feasibility discussion. In the end, participants generally agreed that colocation is a genuine opportunity for AM to acquire a new revenue stream. Bob Vinikoor, a New England radio station owner who has 15 wireless antennas on three radio station towers, endorsed the Behr proposal.

A recurring theme of the discussion was the need to educate both wireless and AM stakeholders about the merits of collocation. “The only real impediment to this is ignorance,” Behr says.

Behr also reminded the group that LBA has a free tool on its website for locating AM towers suitable for colocation consideration.

Colocation is a proven technology, of course. LBA has helped affix wireless antennas to dozens of AM towers in the United States. LBA Technology is the only industry player with patented engineering solutions for isolating connected AM and wireless hardware.

No date was given for an FCC response to the presentation.

Since 1963, LBA has been providing RF equipment and engineering consulting services for radio and television broadcast and wireless communications. Contact Mike Britner at mike.britner@lbagroup.com to discuss your AM co-location application.

Perez participated in a refresher course this month courtesy of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The training is part of Washington’s effort to monitor imports and exports by helping executives who are tasked with international shipments stay current with regulations.

As director of logistics and resources at LBA since 2008, Perez has overseen shipments in and out of the country from and to Europe, Africa, South and Central America, India, and the United Arab Emirates. Her work is increasingly critical as LBA solidifies its global presence.

The Commerce training reiterated export filing requirements to assure that company materials meet the purview of four agencies—the Census Bureau, Bureau of Industry and Security, Customs and Border Protection, and the U.S. State Department.

As usual, AMITRA 1995 had a robust and international slate of presenters and subjects. Among them was LBA’s CEO Lawrence Behr, who addressed the group on “Using Tunipoles and Combipoles in AM Antenna Systems”. The photo shows Engineer Aurelio Jasso chairman of the session, and a diverse group of engineers assembled to hear Lawrence’s remarks.

The conference was held in Sunny Acapulco, at the Acapulco Continental (now Emporio) Hotel. Also there to enjoy the AMITRA social agenda were Lawrence’s wife Libby and daughter Jennifer.

LBA continues to be an active participant in AMITRA, with presentations by Javier Castillo, Broadcast Sales, at AMITRA 2011.

"Lawrence, Libby, and Jenifer Behr; Aurelio Sasso, and diverse Mexican Engineers enjoy AMITRA 1995

In Español

Here at LBA Group Inc., our team did a magnificent job of tuning out the static and vectoring in on solutions to customers’ needs. Consequently, we are able to look back on the year with considerable satisfaction and to look forward to 2012 with genuine eagerness. We believe we are well-positioned to ably serve old and new customers and to grow our position in the market.

So… Happy Holidays from all of us at LBA Group Inc. May your New Year be replete with personal and professional success.

During the 53^rd National Radio and TV Week and Expo CIRT that took place at the Camino Real Hotel in Mexico City from October 17 to the 20^th, the president of the United States of Mexico Lic., Felipe Calderon, announced new FM concessions to which AM broadcasters that want to move to that band can apply. Once the FM license is awarded, the beneficiaries will operate both AM and FM frequencies for one year, at the end of which the AM will be turned off. In addition, 102 licenses will physically delivered to broadcasters that had applied for them. One of the beneficiaries was LBA representative Ing. Sergio Rojano, who will operate the FM station using the AM tower fitted with an LBA Tunipole Antenna that he has in Huauchinango Puebla.

Javier Castillo, Director of Broadcast Sales for LBA Technology, attended the event. During the technical talks session organized by CIRT, he made a joint presentation on Sharing the Use of Tower for the AM/FM Combos with Ing. Felipe Padilla, who has a vast experience with Tunipole antennas in Mexico and other countries.

It was noted that the location of the Expo CIRT contributed to an increment in attendees traffic and we congratulate Ing. Ernesto Reyes for his efforts. This year commemorates the 25^th anniversary of Castillo attending his first National Radio and TV Week.

En español

Graphic designer and content specialist Katie Sneed has joined LBA as business-to-business
marketing director, a new position created to coordinate the work of the lbagroup.com website
technical and content staff. Among her tasks will be vitalizing the market appeal of the website’s
already popular training courses and product lines.

Sneed is a summa cum laude graduate of Savannah (Ga.) College of Art and Design, where
she earned a fine arts degree in advertising design with a minor in broadcast design and motion
graphics. Sneed is returning to her hometown area of Greenville from the North Carolina coastal
city of Wilmington, where she was a staff member of the N2 Publishing Company.

“In today’s market, creating awareness of a business has never been easier. At the same time,
it has never been more difficult to capture a customer’s attention,” Sneed says. “I want to bring
greater awareness of LBA to the telecommunications industry, first by helping create an even
more professional web presence and brand.”

The company website is a key element of LBA Group’s national and international marketing.
The Group’s component companies—LBA Technology and Lawrence Behr Associates—
regularly win and execute contracts in North and South America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific
region. The scope of the company’s market requires that it maintain a vital web presence.

“We are pleased Katie agreed to come aboard and help energize our important online marketing
activity,” says LBA Group CEO Lawrence Behr. “We are poised to grow in various areas of the
industry and her work will be a big assist in that effort.”

Here are some photos of what happens when transmission failures occur in windmills.
If You See One of These Starting to Smoke…..   RUN!!!!

LBA provides solutions to electromagnetic environmental effects of radio systems, control systems, and RF health. We have provided investigation of RF path effects, lightning protection, and wireless control links in the wind power environment. Please contact Mike Britner at mike.britner@lbagroup.com to discuss your requirements.

Leonardo Dircio (l) receiving award from Javier Castillo

Leonardo Dircio was named the 2011 recipient of the award in ceremonies Aug 17-21 at the annual convention in the Acapulco Crowne Plaza. Bestowed by AMITRA, the annual award includes a monetary prize given by LBA Technology as well as an all-expenses-paid trip to the following year’s AMITRA convention. Winner of the 2010 award was Eusebio Mejia.

Dircio is an engineer with Ultravision in Puebla, Mexico. He was recognized by his peers for a long career as a radio engineer. In making the presentation, Castillo said it was “an honor to present this award to a founding member of AMITRA and to an excellent engineer with whom we have worked.”

The award, which recognizes meritorious work in broadcast and communications engineering, was suggested by Castillo after years of working among Mexican engineers. He introduced LBA Technology to the international marketplace 25 years ago and is the company’s international account executive. The native of Nicaragua holds an MBA in finance.

In a separate ceremony, Castillo called Sergio Rojano to the front of the banquet hall for an unscheduled moment in the spotlight. A letter was read to Rojano from Lawrence Behr, CEO of LBA Group Inc. Behr thanked Rojano for his marketing and engineering work over the last 25 years. Castillo presented Rojano with a cup of gratitude bearing the inscription, “Thank you for opening the door to Mexico.”

Rojano was the first international representative for LBA Technology. The company now has 12 representatives in Mexico and about 25 percent of the AM market in the country uses LBA antenna systems. Rojano’s AM radio station in Huahuchinango in the state of Puebla was one of the first to use the LBA Tunipole antenna.

“Sergio’s work allowed LBA to be positioned today as a leader in AM antenna systems in the Mexican market,” Castillo said.

Greenville, NC August 24, 2011 – Warning: Unseen safety issue! Any wireless technician or employee working outside in varying locations faces just such an issue: exposure to radio frequency radiation. With 250,000 cellular telephone towers sending signals across America, RF safety is a genuine concern.

That being the case, it is advisable that a personal RF monitor be in every tool box carried into the field so a wireless site crew can reliably know if it is working too close to an RF radiating cell antenna.

An affordable solution offered by LBA Group Inc. is the fieldSENSE ProHD™ Heavy Duty Pack, a latest generation RF personal monitor that also is sensibly priced so that it accessible to companies large and small.

The fieldSENSE ProHD™ field pack includes the RF monitor plus a padded nylon pouch that was specially crafted for rigger harnesses and work belts. Also provided are backup heavy-duty batteries to avoid down time on the job, and a durable container for protected storage of the personal RF monitor on a shelf or in a toolbox.

The fieldSENSE RF personal monitor is the product of years of research into the management of worker safety in RF environments. Besides being affordable, the personal RF monitor is rugged and intuitive in its function. Designed to be operated in one hand, the personal RF monitor features single-button function, a warning buzzer that is easily heard in a workplace environment, and a bright LED information display panel. The fieldSENSE RF personal monitor also is weatherproof.

Each RF monitor is calibrated before delivery, carries a two year warrantee and LBA offers annual calibration and test services for the units. For inventory purposes, each unit has a traceable serial number.

The fieldSENSE monitor functions in two modes: measuring and monitoring. A personal RF monitor normally is carried as OSHA personal protective equipment by a worker, with the monitor continuously measuring RF exposure to ensure it falls within safety limits. In monitoring mode, the personal RF monitor can be mounted in a stationary position. Mounting accessories are supplied.

Details are at  http://www.lbagroup.com/technology/fieldsense-personal-rf-monitor.php

INARTE-certified staff, college consultants create RF awareness training course that is affordable and convenient so workers can manage exposure.

Greenville, NC August 24, 2011 – Wireless technology integrator LBA Group, Inc. is offering an online OSHA-compliant RF awareness training course to help protect wireless industry workers from unhealthy levels of radio frequency. Developed in cooperation with college educators, the RF course is suitable for many other at-risk workers, including landscape personnel, roofers, sign installers, and building maintenance staff, to name a few.

The need for radio frequency awareness is a growing almost exponentially. Upwards of 250,000 cellular telephone antennas are bouncing signals around the U.S., according to TowerSource, which maintains the most accurate and extensive database of vertical communications infrastructure in the industry. Another 30,000 AM, FM and TV stations are emitting RF signals. And now, the proliferation of in-building DAS distributed antenna systems in increasingly sophisticated building environments is bringing concerns about RF exposure inside.

All this RF propagation is a fact of industrial life today and reflects the boom in wireless communications technology. Resulting RF threats that might seem abstract in the aggregate all become personal to any worker laboring near the antennas. Wireless industry technicians and tower climbers are the first focus of concern for LBA Group because such workers have the most immediate need for RF awareness training. The pervasive presence of wireless towers and dishes places many others at risk, too.

In response to this need for RF training, LBA called upon its INARTE-certified RF engineers and developed an online RF training course to earn a certificate. The course is a fully interactive learning experience that is economical and intuitively accessible. Workers can pursue it outside their working hours.

LBA is offering the course at low group rates so that employers can have entire work crews earn individual certificates that ensure the employees pursue their individual tasks with RF awareness. The course certificate is renewable annually so that workers can be compliant with OSHA practices. The course also features unique administrative reporting capabilities to help safety compliance managers track training of workers.

While knowledgeable technicians can brush up on their knowledge and quickly test out through the RF training course, less experienced workers who need to proceed more slowly can repeatedly log in and out of the course and complete it at their individual pace using any web-connected computer. Course content is introduced and recycled throughout the learning module so that when the comprehensive final RF training exam is taken, course mastery and retention are assured.

The RF training course was created through LBA’s Wireless University®, a compilation of expertise and industry knowledge that is regularly updated through white papers and other technical publications, plus interactions with technical academia. LBA Group has provided RF services to the wireless industry since 1963.

The RF awareness course developer is Chris Horne, PhD, P.E., LBA’s chief technical officer. He has years of RF and wireless industry experience. Course administrator Byron Johnson is the contact person for companies interested in signing up their employees for the RF awareness training.

LBA also offers RF safety planning and program services, including site audits, industrial hazard evaluations, zoning support and RF personal monitors.

Information on the RF safety training is at http://www.lbagroup.com/associates/rftraining.php.

Due to the good relations of LBA Technology with the folks at Voice of America it was possible to organize a visit to VOA site B where Eric, Olivia and Ramon were given a tour of the facilities by Macon Dail . The visitors were able to observe first hand the  250 kW and 500 kW short wave transmitters  that VOA uses to broadcast to the rest of the world using 39 shortwave antennas installed in a 2,800 acres field.

Eric Garza, Olivia Falcon and Ramon Baca at LBA

Macon Dail showing the interior of one of the Continental 250 kW transmitters

Ramon Baca in front of a portion of the transmission lines

500 kW transmitter made in 1985

LBA Technology is exclusively offering wireless tower and site workers the fieldSENSE ProHD™ Heavy Duty Pack to: keep users apprised of RF levels in his work area. The fieldSENSE monitor is manufactured for LBA by a quality international manufacturer and is specifically adapted by LBA to provide maximum serviceability to heavy duty users.

The fieldSENSE ProHD™ Field Pack includes a rugged padded nylon pouch specially designed by LBA for secure, non-interfering, attachment on rigger harnesses and work belts. In addition, LBA includes heavy-duty medical-grade back-up batteries to avoid inconvenient loss of power at remote sites. A durable container to protect the monitor during storage or transit also is included.

What makes the ProHD field pack a “sensible” choice is its price – only $495!  This is far less than competing personal RF monitors. Get full specifications here.

All of this for just $495!

The monitor is designed for one-hand operation, with a single button toggling between user modes. Alarms are both audible and visual on a bright LED display panel. Alarms function to alert from 5 to 250% of occupational MPE levels. It is calibrated to MPE levels that correspond to OSHA and FCC compliance. Frequency coverage is from 380 to 2700 MHz, covering all wireless carrier bands.

The fieldSENSE monitor is multi-functional, being usable for both measuring and monitoring. In the familiar measurement mode, the user simply carries the monitor on his work harness and listens for the coded “beeps” indicating MPE percent. He can also remove the monitor from its holster and observe the LED indications, or use it to probe for hotspots or check for leaky coaxial cables.

In the monitor mode, the fieldSENSE unit can be affixed to an antenna or other object in a “hot” RF area. Audio and visual alarms signal any change in the RF environment. This is a tool for site safety managers and engineers to backup lockout / tag-out procedures. Mounting accessories are provided in the fieldSENSE ProHD™ Field Pack.  A tripod may also be fitted to the standard socket at its base.

LBA offers annual calibration and test service back-up, and each FieldSENSE personal monitor has a traceable serial number.

The fieldSENSE ProHD™ Field Pack is available for immediate shipment. Standard ground shipping in the US is free, or we can overnight to your field crews! Betty Perez is standing by to help you at 252-757-0279 or bperez@lbagroup.com.