UDLive, Taoglas and EBV Elektronik – a winning formula
“It is always a pleasure to play our part in identifying and connecting the experts from our supplier base to work with our customers. We thrive on watching these collaborations create unique solutions for ever more challenging issues.”– Craig Barclay, Regional Sales Manager with EBV
UDLive understand the importance of challenging their supply chains for the very best solutions and continuous innovation. As suppliers of battery-operated remote telemetry systems that must work in the challenging conditions of wastewater networks, they need all the help and expertise they can get. That’s why they proudly collaborate with reputable companies like Taoglas and EBV Elektronik. They know they can rely on us to get the job done and swiftly deliver market-leading antenna solutions alongside the expertise to solve the engineering challenges their users present.
The quote “cheap is expensive” rings true when considering antenna solutions. An enormous amount of science and engineering is involved in antenna design, so if you decide to cut costs and choose an inferior solution, it will likely cost you more in the long run. UDLive’s estimates suggest that opting for a Taoglas fit-for-purpose wide-band antenna over a lower price antenna solution can increase longevity by as much as 80%; with associated staff, overheads and carbon cost.
Additionally, in response to the pressing issue of sewage spills into rivers and seas in England (with an alarming 825 spills per day1), the Environment Agency is imposing penalties on companies that miss their targets. This means companies risk incurring significant fines if they don’t provide near real-time information on the water quality upstream and downstream of storm overflows and sewage treatment works.2
To mitigate potential signal degradation and ensure optimal functionality, it is crucial to utilize a fit-for-purpose wide-band antenna. This will not only help save costs in the long term but also support compliance with environmental regulations.
Optimising Water Quality
UDlive works with water companies to optimise ageing sewer networks by adding telemetry to the current system to monitor sewer levels reliably, flows, and blockages, which can cause overflow, posing a severe environmental and health threat. The monitors are fitted under heavy metal access lid covers or manholes. Minimal use of external antennas helps customers deliver water monitoring more quickly and with less cost and disruption.
Antenna design is complex at the best of times, but the harsh environment of wastewater management presents especially unique challenges, such as being underground in a damp environment. Changes in environmental factors such as temperature, moisture content, and soil will affect the antenna performance through frequency shifting and more. However, even when faced with these complex engineering problems, Taoglas quickly provided us with the antenna support we needed.
Following a series of asphalt tests and tests using potted material to understand the impact it had on performance by its technical Engineering team, Taoglas provided UDLive with the GSA.8845, an off-the-shelf standard product, and custom cabling. The GSA8845 demonstrated 20% higher efficiency compared to a lower price antenna. This is the difference between a solution working and not working in areas with poorer cellular coverage. A silicone boot was also designed to ensure a reliable connection in a damp environment.
“It is always a pleasure to play our part in identifying and connecting the experts from our supplier base to work with our customers. We thrive on watching these collaborations create unique solutions for ever more challenging issues,” says Craig Barclay, Regional Sales Manager with EBV. “UDLive’s firsthand experience of the RF challenges posed by their application, coupled with the local antenna expertise offered by Taoglas is a great example of this.”
UDLive is forever pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and continuously optimizing their products to ensure their customers are provided with the best, dependable solutions. That’s why they ensure their partners can offer the support and capability to design, characterize, and customize antennas in lab conditions to optimize their environments, whether in a sewer, embedded in a road surface, or hidden in a bollard. This means addressing IP rating, environmental resistance, cabling optimization, and positioning. UDLive have the experts, along with the necessary tools, to back them up for the benefit of their customers.
A challenging environment… There is an antenna in there somewhere.
