Archived News from Maser New Zealand

TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTERS:

Download NZ Telco Newsletter Autumn 2007 (pdf file 243 Kb)

Download NZ Wireless Newsletter Summer 2007 (pdf file 222 Kb)
Download NZ Telco Newsletter Summer 2007 (pdf file 202 Kb)

Dialight LED's - New Industrial & Commerical Options                    June 08

Thanks to the rapid development of LED lighting, solutions for a wide range of highly demanding commercial and industrial applications are now streaming onto the market. These alternatives to   fluorescent and high intensity discharge (HID) lighting are safer, more efficient, longer lasting and have lower maintenance costs, says David Sims of Maser Communications. Maser is the Australasian agent for US LED lighting manufacturer Dialight, a company with decades of experience in applied LED technology.

Applications

Sims says Dialight has launched two principal types of LED alternatives for conventional industrial and commercial luminaries targeting fluorescents and HID low bay lighting   fixtures. There are wide ranging industrial and commercial applications which can benefit   from these new Dialight LED lighting alter-natives, says Sims. “They are better suited to food preparation areas because they’re an ultra-low maintenance, waterproof and washable lighting solution that does not contain glass which can contaminate food and packaging if there is a breakage. “And when it comes to power generation and heavy industrial manufacturing, Dialight luminaries offer vibration-proof, impact-resistant lighting which does not suffer the drawbacks of conventional lighting. “Many other commercial and industrial workplaces including hazardous areas such as petrochemical, oil, gas and mining workplaces can gain from our intrinsically safe, low energy, low heat LED lighting solutions,” he says.

Savings and safety

“Not only do Dialight LED replacements for fluorescent and HID light fittings provide end-users with considerable maintenance and power cost savings, they also produce less carbon emissions because they last tens of thousands of hours longer. They also contain fewer harmful chemicals such as mercury and are much more environmentally friendly than conventional light sources,” says Sims.

However, power savings are not the only important aspect of LED lighting. In many sites it is both costly and difficult to maintain lighting. With the extremely long life of LEDs there is not only less risk of accidents in the workplace posed by accessing lighting for lamp replacements, but also less cost for hiring access equipment required to undertake such maintenance.” LED lighting can be switched on and off whenever you want to,” says Sims. “Not only do LEDs come up to full bright-ness straight away, they do not require a cooling-down period like HID lamps. This HID lamp cooling period can produce dangerous situations especially around certain industrial processes when areas have been left in darkness after the power has failed momentarily. Another LED advantage is that they are not depleted by frequent switching like fluorescents.”

Development

LEDs are now coming to the forefront of lighting technology for a number of reasons and the research and development into LED lighting reflects this. As product manager for Dialight, Sims says the company has been a leader in this respect for a number of years. “Dialight has developed and manufactured LED products since their inception over 35 years ago. In recent years, it has been more involved in LED lighting, manufacturing components including precision lighting optics and drivers for its lighting products. “Besides Dialight  fluorescent and HID lighting alternatives, the company also makes luminaries for highly demanding applications such as IP rated obstruction and hazard beacons for use in hazardous areas and for airport warning lighting. “Dialight has shipped over 23 million LEDs in lighting products and from its early days has supplied the world’s largest base of installed LED traffic lights,” says Sims. “That is why we at Maser believe Dialight LED products are proven to be efficient and durable lighting solutions that will benefit a wide range of industrial and commercial businesses.”

For more information contact the Maser Sales Team

Belden Expands Line of Databus Cables for Fieldbus Applications  May 08

Belden has introduced new FieldBus Type A multi-pair cables and foil/braid cables which provide installation flexibility in many different environments and where multiple or extended cable runs are required.

The number of devices possible on a fieldbus link will vary depending on factors such as the power consumption of each device, the use of repeaters, signal attenuation, type of cable used and distance. Because of the superior features of Belden DataBus cables, standard distance limitations can be exceeded without any system enhancements or any sacrifice in system performance.

Belden FieldBus cables are suitable for use in Class 1, Div. 2 applications and compliant with FieldBus Specification IEC 61158-2 (ISA/SP-50). They are also RoHS compliant and CE approved. Features include excellent electrical characteristics and low capacitance for long runs.

Cables are available with 22, 18, 16 and 14 AWG stranded tinned copper conductors, and as multi-pair cables available in 2 to 24 pairs. Versions are available with Beldfoil® shields and Beldfoil Plus Braid shields.

As always with Belden industrial cables, for specific applications, custom cable constructions are available with 600V, TC rated; aluminum or steel interlocked armor; CPE jacket or LSOH jacket; various jacket colors; alternate black and white color-coded pairs; multi-pair type B 22 AWG, PLTC-rated, individually and/or overall shielded; and multi-pair 18 AWG, TC-rated, individually and/or overall shielded.

For further information contact the Maser sales team.

LEDPAK from Dialight                                                          March 2008

LEDPAK® is a new product family from Dialight designed to offer the potential of reduced energy and maintenance cycles in arduous industrial environments.

Benefits of LEDPAK®

Long life – typ 50,000 hours to 70% lumen maintenance

Robust – Resistant to shock and vibration

Easy to install and maintain

Excellent performance at low ambient temperatures

Potential to reduce energy and number of fixtures.

Instant switch on – excellent for use with PIR sensors

Low case temperature

Available in ATEX approved versions

Suitable for:

Carparks

Portable task lighting

Inspection pits

Oil Industry

Mining—hazardous locations

Residential roadways and footpaths

Belden now offeres Industrial Ethernet End to End Solutions  March 2008

Dekoron Instrumentation Cable - Maser now                          25 May 2007
Exclusive Distributor for Australia and New Zealand

Maser is pleased to announce that Maser is now the EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTOR for Dekoron Instrumentation Cable in both Australia and New Zealand.

Dekoron are the Instrumentation experts in the Wire and Cable industry. They are the market leader in the design, manufacture, and marketing of multi-pair instrumentation, control, and thermocouple extension cables; including metric sizes that are qualified to industry standards.

Dekoron has developed thousands of variations of instrument wire, thermocouple extension wire and control cables to meet customer requirements.

Products include:

Multi-pair, control and thermocouple extension cables; including served steel wire and interlocked armor used in process industries for control and instrumentation.

As a member of the Marmon Group of Companies, an international, multi-billion dollar association of more than 60 autonomous manufacturing and service companies, Dekoron has the management and financial strength needed to sustain its leadership position and tradition of excellence in the market.

Due to this new partnership Maser is now the only authorised Dekoron supplier in Australia and New Zealand, so if you want Dekoron, Maser is where you will find the real deal – Dekoron – there is no equivalent!

Please ensure you register your company as a Dekoron® cable purchaser and / or user to receive our updated product catalogues & warranty information CLICK HERE

Part 1—A Simple Guide to Coaxial Cable                               20 May 2007

Coaxial Cable (coax) is typically identified or classified according to its impedance or RG-type. For example, a 75-ohm coax or an RG-6 type coax. RG, or Radio Guide, is the manner that the military use to identify transmission lines. The RG number specifies the physical construction, materials, mechanical and electrical requirements of the cable This methodology is now obsolete and the military has changed to “slash sheets” for
identification. For example, RG-58C is now M17/155-00001 or M17/28-RG058.
Today, the RG number has become a generic identifier, telling the user of it’s general
construction and electrical properties, but not specific enough to compare attributes from one product to another

Construction:
A coax cable consists of two conductors separated by a dielectric material. The center conductor and the outer conductor, or shield, are configured to form concentric cylinders with a common axis. Hence the term co-axial. The most common impedance types are 50 ohm for RF & 75 ohm for video applications, however there are many variations being used today.

The center conductor may be made of various materials and constructions.
Most common constructions are solid or seven-strand conductors. Solid conductors are used in permanent, infrequently handled or low flex applications and stranded conductors are used in flexible cable applications. Common materials include copper, tinned or silver plated copper, copper clad steel and copper clad aluminum. Because of a phenomena known as skin-effect, copper clad materials may be used in higher frequency applications ( Sky Satellite & Freeview Digital TV for example) which can also improve tensile strength and reduce weight and cost.
Skin-effect is the result of higher frequency signals propagating along the outermost surface, or “skin” of the conductor. Low frequency signals such as CCTV, baseband video etc, typically require solid or stranded pure copper conductors as the signal
travels more or less through the centre of the core.

The insulation, or dielectric material, is used to provide separation between the
conductors. It is desirable that the material has stable electrical characteristics across a broad frequency range. The most common materials used are polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP),
fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP), and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). The materials may be used in their natural form (solid), or injected with air or gas bubbles (foam or cellular) to improve the dielectric constant and electrical properties of the material and cable.
The outer conductor is typically made from a number of smaller aluminum or copper conductors combined together. These conductors are woven together to form a braid around the dielectric core. For higher frequency applications, a second braid or
aluminum foil tapes are often added to improve attenuation and shield effectiveness.

The jacket material serves as a protective covering from the environment and may also serve to add in the overall flame retardant properties of the cable. Typical materials include polyvinyl chloride (PVC), PE, & FEP (Teflon™)

Keynote SIGOS GlobalRoamer                                           20 May 2007

Keynote SIGOS GlobalRoamer is the easiest way to solve your Roaming Test needs. Test the service availability and performance for your customers when they roam to other networks. Keynote SIGOS GlobalRoamer, allows you to verify that all services are available to your roaming customers worldwide.

As of today you can test over 120 mobile networks worldwide. All services can be tested including Voice, Data, SS, HSDPA, SMS, WAP, MMS, GPRS, Voice Quality, UMTS. According to Gerrit Raymakers from Vodafone NL, “..The biggest profit we yield by using GlobalRoamer is the improvement of our GPRS roaming service. By testing this service on a daily basis we are able to notice disturbances prior to customers complaints being reported.”

New Cable finder website for Maser UK                                 20 May 2007

Maser UK has launched a new cable finder website - the easy way to find Belden cable online

www.masercable.com

Latest Acquistions by Belden                                                   1 March 2007

Belden begins 2007 by announcing that it has acquired two prominent international companies with products that fit directly into their strategic plan.

Hong Kong based LTK Wiring manufactures a range of cable solutions including UL-compliant internal wiring for electronic devices, coaxial cables for wireless equipment, internal A/V products and specialist automotive cabling.

Hirshmann Automation and Control produces industrial Ethernet and connector solutions. Industrial Ethernet is an open system for digital communications on the factory floor and in other rugged, demanding environments.

By adding these companies to their portfolio, Belden is able to expand their connectivity portfolio, provide more solutions to the industrial market and open opportunities in the wireless and fibre optic component manufacturing fields.

Maser Communications (NZ) Ltd look forward to introducing these product additions to New Zealand’s industrial and manufacturing sectors

Video Cable for High Resolution Display Systems          25 February 2007

In these days of high-resolution displays such as Plasma, LCD and DLP, good quality signal transmission is essential. Any degrading of the video signal will result in unacceptable artefacts being visible throughout the displayed picture.

In the early days of video transmission, the signal was a Composite one. That is, the brightness, colour, and synchronising information were all added together into one
signal of about 6Mhz bandwidth. Due to its complexity, it was prone to degradation, particularly on lower quality cable systems.

With the advent of higher quality Integrated Circuits and better mechanical systems in VCRs and Laser Disk players, S-Video was introduced. This broke up the video signal into Luminance (brightness & sync) and Chrominance components, each with its own coaxial cable feed. Quality improved dramatically.

When Digital Video finally became affordable to the general public with the advent of DVD and DBS (Digital Broadcast Systems) via satellite, S-Video was further expanded to become Y-Cb-Cr(YUV) three-component video. Quality now rivals that of commercial Cinema Multiplexes.

It is vital, therefore, to use nothing but the best available components in the video
transmission path to optimise that quality.

To achieve that end, Maser Communications NZ Ltd has placed into stock Belden 1694A Digital RG6 coaxial cable in various colours to assist in achieving an optimum transmission path for three-component video.

We have also sourced the best compression connectors that we could find to terminate this cable.

For further information contact your Maser sales representative on +64 (09) 414 0330 or sales@maser.co.nz

Inshore Patrol Vessel (IPV)                                           16 November 2006

There are 4 IPV's being built and launched from Whangarei. The first
vessel is due for release in Jan07. Their main role is to conduct maritime surveillance in support of civil agencies in the area from shoreline to approx 24 nautical miles. The Inshore Patrol Vessels are a Tenix-designed search & rescue vessel. The vessels are 55mtrs long with a top speed of 25knots.

The team at Maser is proud to have supplied various specialised communications cable products used in HFC/CATV BROADBAND COMMUNICATION NETWORKS & SATV. The products were provided via a national wholesaler in Whangarei, and Maser has been working directly with the Marine Division of McKay Electrical to give them additional assistance and service where needed.

Instrumentation Products                                            14 November 2006

Alongside Maser’s comprehensive holding of Industrial Data and Process Control cables sits our range of
instrumentation, or “B50”.

Conductors of 0.5mm and 1.5mm, in pairs and triads, are available in IS and IS/OS construction and the
majority are tinned copper. This fairly unique feature ensures increased protection where terminations are
exposed to aggressive reactions in corrosive environments and is specified on some of New Zealand’s largest industrial sites.

With black, blue and red jacket options we are finding that where once these cables were used in mostly
industrial applications, this range has uses in nearly all facets of our market. And our ability to provide steel wire
armoured versions of the complete range give further mechanical protection.

Contact your Maser representative for further information including availability, comparisons and pricing.

F-CONN Compression connectors                                   20 August 2006

ICM F-Conn compression connectors are becoming more popular with today's Audio Video installers. Quality connections reduce service calls by supplying secure, lasting connections.
One tool (BICM CLPCCT-SLM) is used for all RG6 / RG59 & RGB style connectors.

• Fast assembly
• No soldering required
• 360 Degree electrical continuity even under punishing conditions
• Internal “O-Ring” Sealing to prevent moisture migration
• Crafted to help overcome forward reflection and can withstand more than 80 pound of pulling force
• Coloured rubber rings for easy cable identification

Our new AV catalogue has a complete range of connectors and cable for AV applications.
Please contact Maser Sales for more information.

Belden introduces a NEW Logo                                         9 August 2006

Belden has introduced not only a NEW Corporate Identity but a significantly expanded Master Catalogue for 2006.

On July 24th, 2006 Belden announces the launch of an initiative that unifies its corporate identity with its flagship brand: Belden. To reflect the company's expanded product position as a supplier of signal transmission solutions, Belden also introduces a new brand line: 'Belden - Sending All The Right Signals' .

The company is also issuing the 2006 edition of the Belden Master Catalogue, which in corporate new product/system solutions, including data network connectivity, structured cabling systems and services, enclosures and racks, surface raceway systems, cable management accessories, and Power over Ethernet systems.

For further information contact the Cable sales team.

Dialight lights exclusively by Maser                                   8 August 2006

Maser is now officially Dialight’s exclusive distributor in Australia and New Zealand for the LED obstruction lights used for towers/masts. The lights are now CASA certified and FAA approved. They feature state-of-the-art high intensity LEDs that use 90% less power and last up to 10 times longer than incandescent lamps, significantly extending replacement intervals and reducing tower maintenance costs.

Passive Devices available from Maser                                  8 August 2006

This Maser series of Powers Splitter and couplers are designed to split cellular signals with minimal reflection and loss. Its reactive design employs no resistors eliminating their contribution to product intermodulation. With few solder joints and an air dielectric, the loss has been minimised and reliability enhanced. Their mechanical shapes allow easy installation on the wall or the pole.

The ultra wide frequency range allows use with multiband antennas, leaky cable systems. Range of passive devices available from Maser include couplers/ tappers.

CATV, MATV, Satellite range completion.                                   4 May 2006

A full range of New Zealand made TV aerials and accessories now compliments our MATV, CATV and Satellite coaxial cable solutions.

Maser NZ, with its association with Alkris Antennas Ltd, now offers a full range of antennas and design service for any MATV project - from small apartment blocks to the largest high rise, covering terrestrial and satellite systems. This enables you to provide your customers a complete project  design and supply solution for any multi-access site.

With the inevitability of considerable change in the way consumers receive television signals in the future, including digital free-to-air and pay-per-view, Maser Communications provide both today's needs and future-proof solutions.

The entire range of product is available freight-free, same day or overnight to anywhere in the North Island and within a couple of days into the South utilizing our standard carriers. In the near future stock will be available for dispatch from Christchurch to provide faster nationwide delivery.

Maser commits to competitive pricing, prompt delivery and an extended back-up service.

• Antennas for all applications
• Antenna mounting hardware
• RG59, RG6, RG11 Coaxial cables
• Accessories
• Design
• Testing
• Commissioning

Phone our representatives now to discuss your requirements further.

New 2006 Kathrein catalogue.                                         15 February 2006

The new 2006 Kathrein catalogue is now available. The 229 page catalogue includes all the latest products in the Kathrein range.

Download Kathrein's new catalogue
Title 790-2500 MHz

Base Station Antennas for Mobile Communications (229 pages)

• GSM 900, GSM-R, GSM 850, CDMA 800
• GSM 1800, GSM 1900, PCS
• UTMS
• WLAN
• Omni directional Antennas
• Directional Atennas
• Indoor
• Single-/ Broad-/ Multi-/ Triple-Band Antennas
• RET
• Electrical Accessories
• Mechanical Accessories

Vodafone selects Maser as 3G antenna.                                    27 July 2005

Maser Communications Pty Ltd has been selected as the 3G/WCDMA Antenna and general infrastructure products vendor for Vodafone Australia and Vodafone NZ.

In association with Kathrein - Werks KG in Germany, Maser will supply all 3G Antennas for its current rollout schedule.

Current Kathrein product rollout will encompass Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane with the other capital cities to follow Australia wide in conjunction with another mobile carrier.