Circular Polarised Antennas for Underground and Tunnels Deployment
Frequency Stability and Reliability in Underground Communications
Circular Polarised Antennas, manufactured by Poynting Antennas, have excelled in demanding conditions in underground mining conditions worldwide, offsetting performance problems encountered with Linearly Polarised Antennas. Through its new Markets and Special Projects division, the company is introducing their stable and reliable Antennas to new customers in African mining.
As mining operations increasingly migrate underground in search of ore, effective and reliable communication is one of the factors central to high productivity and enhanced safety. Cognisant of this, Poynting Antennas, a leading provider of Circular Polarised Antennas, is urging mining companies to make informed decisions when selecting communication tools, not least Antennas.
Circular Polarised Or Linearly Polarised Antennas?
Concerning Antennas for underground environments, mining companies have two options available, Circular Polarised and Linearly Polarised. In the rugged and unpredictable underground tunnels, a more suitable product would be circular polarised Antennas, states Pieter Prinsloo, New Markets and Special Projects Manager at Poynting Antennas.
Prinsloo demonstrates the principle that gives Circularly Polarised Antennas the edge: “Rotating’ the electromagnetic wave (Radio Wave) ensures that the entire cross-section of the Tunnel is ‘covered’ by the Radio Signal. Using ‘Left-Hand- and Right-Hand’ Polarised Antennas ensures that more of the ‘reflections’ are ‘captured’, providing the Receiver with a much better Signal-to-Noise Ratio.”
In a nutshell, with circular Antennas, the ‘rotating’ Radio Wave (i) and the ability to capture more reflections of these Radio (Electro-magnetic) Waves (ii) results in high performance. Thus, far longer distances can be covered at much higher data rates using Radio Signals underground than using linearly polarised Antennas.
Poynting Circular Polarised Antennas
For clients in need of stability and reliability, Poynting Circular Antennas are more effective by a country mile than linearly polarised, Prinsloo affirms . This is based on evidence of the immense benefits the Antennas bring to communication.
Relevant features
Equipped with relevant features, Poynting Circular Polarised Antennas are a perfect fit for conditions in underground mines. Uniquely, these include the following:
- Wide range of frequencies
Relating to frequencies, the Poynting Circular Polarised Antennas consist of:
- Circular Polarised Antennas for the Wi-Fi 2,4GHz – 2,5GHz as well as the 5GHz – 6GHz Carrier Frequencies. Recent updates have increased the latter to extend to 7.2GHz.
- Circular Polarised Antennas for the LTE, 4G and 5G Frequencies for Mobile Network Operators from 698MHz to 7,2GHz. The Antenna range for the LTE (including private LTE), 4G and 5G has recently undergone a redesign. As a result, currently Poynting can offer a Circular Polarised Antenna range with excellent frequency response from 1700MHz to 7,2GHz. Designs are under way to increase the range from 617MHz to 7,2GHz in a single Antenna.
Generally, Poynting Circular Polarised Antennas cover all the Frequencies used by Wi-Fi and/or LTE, 4G, and 5G deployment used to communicate Radio Frequency Signals in underground mining Tunnels.
- Circular deployment
All Poynting Circular Antennas come in both ‘Left-Hand- and Right-Hand’ Circular Polarised Antennas. The above Antennas include both 2×2 MIMO as well as 4×4 MIMO deployment with a Bracket specifically designed to house either 2x Uni-Directional / Bi-Directional Antennas or 4x Uni-Directional / Bi-Directional Antennas.
- High ingress protection
What’s more, Circular Polarised Antenna elements are all housed in a Radome, which provides an Ingress Protection (IP65) rating. IP65 provides the highest level of dust ingress protection, as well as ‘low pressure’ water jet protection, equivalent to ‘heavy rain’.
- ‘Tapered Helical’ design
The Poynting Circular Polarised Antennas have a unique patented ‘Tapered Helical’ design. This results in unique performance benefits, as demonstrated in several underground deployments in Mine Tunnels worldwide.
- Intrinsically Safe
Intrinsic safety refers to a design principle for electrical equipment used in hazardous locations, where there is a risk of explosive atmospheres such as the ‘carbon dust‘ in Coal Mine Tunnels or potential Gas Leaks in Vehicle / Service Tunnels. An intrinsically safe (IS) Antenna is designed to minimize the risk of ignition in such environments.
Poynting also manufactures Antennas that are Intrinsically Safe that are encapsulated and covered with a conductive coating which is grounded to prevent any electrical components from coming into contact with the potentially explosive atmosphere. This helps contain any potential ignition source.
Glowing Customer Feedback
To date, Prinsloo says the Poynting team is delighted by glowing customer feedback on their experience of using Poynting’s HELI Circular Polarized Antennas. The latest deployments of the HELI Circular Polarized Antennas have resulted in huge cost savings, with reference to the number of Antennas needed to achieve reliable, fast underground Radio communication. Currently the growing number of customers that have benefitted from these HELI Antennas are from countries in South America, North America including Canada, Europe, Africa including South Africa, and Australia.
Precisely, the details indicating that HELI Circular Polarized Antennas have become an industry favourite are in the numbers supplied, Prinsloo demonstrates. “Just our Circular Polarised Antennas for the Wi-Fi Frequencies; 2,4GHz – 5GHz and 5GHZ to 6GHz have sold more than 6000 Antennas worldwide.”
Developments on the cards
Poynting’s Research and Development (R&D) team thrive on continuous product development to improve the end-user experience of its popular Antenna range. On the cards are two developments.
As aforementioned, Poynting Antennas is enhancing the capabilities of its Circular Polarised Antennas to cover an even larger frequency spans, in particular, the lower frequencies used by mobile operators.
The company will also introduce more versatile mounting options, such as the ability to direct Antennas along the route followed by underground vehicles in circular decline. These products will be launched soon.
New division for new markets
Expansion in the African region has always been high on Poynting’s priority list. The creation of a new Division responsible for New Markets and Special Projects underlines this. The company is now well-equipped to address specific Circular Polarized Antenna needs of clients in mining. “Clients are welcome to engage us to discuss their Antenna requirements that may not already be covered by our extensive Antenna range,” Prinsloo points out, assuring that in collaborating with Poynting, prospective clients should be assured of a seasoned player. Poynting has been manufacturing Circular Polarised Antennas since 1996 and specifically for the Mining Industry for more than fifteen years.
HELI-42
The HELI-42 forms part of the Mini-HELI Antenna series.
- These Antennas are ideal for mining tunnels where IoT/M2M connectivity is deployed and can also be used for coverage into the stopes.
- The HELI-42 is a dual-band 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi Antenna, radiating in both directions (i.e., bi-directional).
- This makes them ideal for the coverage of both Wi-Fi bands in mining and other type of tunnels.
- These Antennas are typically used for the deployment of IoT within the tunnel to provide telemetry and mining automation.
- The dual-band Wi-Fi connection propagates around tunnel bends in a Non-Line of Sight scenario and provides immunity to many Wi-Fi signal disrupting objects such as trains and drilling machinery which appear to obscure the tunnel.
