Shulins’ Solutions recently installed a Stellar Eclipse broadcast site monitor and protection system, featuring VSWR Sentinel, to protect four leading Houston FM radio stations and their shared antenna and combining systems.
Shulins’ Solutions provides monitoring, control and protection solutions for transmission sites, drone-based visual and infrared tower inspections as well as consulting services. The company explains that shared common antenna sites often have complex combining networks that demand monitoring and protection beyond a simple remote control. To protect these significant investments, broadcasters need a proactive solution to not only provide next level of monitoring, logging and control, but a comprehensive VSWR system for maximum protection, it said.
The broadcaster installed Stellar Eclipse with exclusive VSWR Sentinel technology to protect and monitor transmission system operations. The system constantly monitors the VSWR on all inputs and outputs to the combiner system and refreshes these values many times every second. Anytime a VSWR is detected that exceeds a preset threshold, relays are activated that can open interlocks on connected transmitters. RF power is removed from the system when an unsafe condition exists, saving the systems from costly damage.
Stellar Ellipse provides a platform and architectur
e to protect the RF systems and also cloud-based monitoring of many shared systems. Security and rights management tools control access across multiple uses and separately-owned stations.
“Stellar Eclipse goes beyond a simple station-based remote control to encompass the entire shared infrastructure and protect stations investments,” said Paul Shulins, president of Shulins’ Solutions. “Our customer-first approach looks beyond delivering products to helping our customers architect complete solutions that reduce operating costs over many years, and create new opportunities to monetize their broadcast operations.”
