Tech Briefs Magazine - December 2023 - 15

tures by preventing loss of functionality
(and the cost of replacing equipment)
and unnecessary service expenses. Damaged
radios can be replaced, but it comes
at a cost:
* revenue loss due to service interruption
* damaged company reputation due to
impaired service to customers
* additional costs to service and/or repair
sites
* unplanned expenses to replace nonfunctioning
equipment.
Best Practices for Installing
SPDs
No technology can hold back mother
nature and lightning, but when
speaking with customers I always suggest
they take simple steps to mitigate
the potential for damage and downtime
caused by a strike. Based on my
experience in the field, here are six
best practices to get the most from
your equipment:
* Verify correct installation. SPDs must
be installed on both ends of DC power
and Ethernet cables going up a tower
to a radio. Surge energy on a cable will
travel in both directions to find a path
to the ground, where it could damage
unprotected equipment on the line.
Installing SPDs at both ends of a cable
mitigates that risk.
* Properly apply DC power SPDs. DC
surge protection on both (+) to ground
and (−) to ground is crucial. Line-toline
protection adds another level of
safety for grounded DC systems.
* Ensure correct AC power protection.
The AC power feed is overlooked as a
source of network failure due to surge
events. Proper protection of the communication
site's main AC power
source is highly recommended.
* Confirm ground connection. To divert
surge away from a radio, an SPD requires
a ground connection. Inadequate
grounding is the number one
cause of radio failure - even with
surge protection installed.
* SPDs must sacrifice themselves.
SPDs should sacrifice themselves under
extreme surge events to protect
communication equipment. When
SPD components like MOVs fail violently,
they can damage everything
around them. Standalone SPDs are
designed to fail safely in their enclosure
and prevent damage to surrounding
equipment.
* Repetitive surge capabilities are a must.
Specific applications require SPDs designed
to withstand repetitive surges
without degrading. Look for SPDs with
silicon avalanche suppression diode
(SASD) circuits, which do not degrade
or cause thermal runaway conditions.
SASD circuits also have one of the lowest
VPLs, which provides the highest
level of protection for telecommunication
equipment.
The digital transformation reshaping
our world has made it easier to communicate
with each other, but it has also made
it costlier for companies to protect and
maintain the equipment that makes that
happen. By following these sourcing tips
and best practices, site executives and network
engineers can have the confidence
their networks are properly safeguarded
and providing quality services their customers
have come to expect and rely on.
This article was written by Jason Koshy,
VP, Global Sales, Infinite Electronics
(Irvine, CA). For more information, visit
www.infiniteelectronics.com.
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Tech Briefs, December 2023
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