The special enclosure “Street Connect Antenna” for Kathrein
Requirements for the special enclosure
The cover over the antenna is extremely stable, so that the system can also be installed in streets with heavy traffic of up to 40 tons. The antenna’s housing must offer IP68 protection, as the core bore can fill completely with water. At the same time, the housing comes into contact with road salt, vehicle oils or brake dust, for example. This is where the standards of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, ETSI EN 300 019-1-5 and ETSI EN 300 019-1-8, come into play.
Special enclosure solution for the customer’s challenge
The technical protection was implemented by using a special tongue and groove sealing system. To safeguard the electrical performance of the broadband antenna system, a material was selected that has a constant and firmly defined dielectric constant: The basis for this contemporary special housing is a glass-fiber-reinforced polyester material; after all, appropriate radio beams must be able to escape from the housing in order to provide the user with the desired signal in the immediate vicinity.
As a further challenge, the project was subject to a certain time pressure: Kathrein wanted the first 40 prototypes of the special housing within four weeks of the initial discussion of the drawing.
Using a vacuum prototyping process, the first units were manufactured from a material that not only had the contour but also simultaneously the mechanical and electrical properties of the final material – after all, these housings should already be able to undergo tough suitability tests.
These tests quickly provided information regarding the further requirements. The product was perfected with just one correction loop. Subsequently, protection type and impact resistance tests were carried out according to customer requirements.
After careful coordination with Kathrein – and a few drawing and test runs – we succeeded in developing a suitable special housing.
Technical brief overview of the special enclosure
