Arcom - Engineering

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Patents

Improvements

Recent Product Enhancements

Nicam / A2 Agile Stereo Encoder: April 2002. As a result of development efforts to make the Sawdec headend equipment Nicam compatible, Arcom has developed a unique standalone Nicam / A2 Stereo Encoder. Four encoders are packaged in one rack mount unit. The unit is frequency agile and compatible with different television standards.
High Performance Diplex Filters: February 2002. To fill a market need, Arcom moved forward and developed a High Performance Diplex Filter for OEM CATV applications. The Arcom Diplex has industry leading specifications in an extremely size efficient package.
Shrunken Window Filter: December 2001. As a natural product evolution, Arcom has continued the push to size reduce our Filter products. Arcom can now provide a Window Filter that is less than .650" not including connectors. It is by far the smallest Window product available in the industry.
Next Generation Sawdec: September 2001. Development of the next generation Sawdec encoder is completed. The encoder contains an integral Digital Analog Modulator with specifications far better than any Analog Modulator previously available for CATV applications.
Addressable Switch: January 2001. Arcom is the first to offer a GI compatible addressable switch. The switch allows operators to easily switch on and off drops for customers in high churn areas, or for customers with payment problems.
Power Passing Step Attenuator: September 2000. Several operators have requested versions of our patented Step Attenuator that allow network powering of the NIU. In response Arcom developed the MRSA -* PP that passes up to 1.25A.
Line Blanking filter: May 2000. For operators wishing to eliminate the ability of programmers to transmit data on the vertical blanking interval, Arcom designed a simple line blanking filter. It is a cylindrical design and simply screws onto the video input of the modulator. The performance is identical to rack mounted versions offered by other vendors.
Audio SAWDEC: February 2000. In response to demand from the market, our SAWDEC system was enhanced and we are now able to offer the important feature of audio scrambling. In many markets programming of a sensitive nature requires this option.
All surface mount high pass: April 1999. Furthering the Arcom philosophy of simple and elegant product design, we are introducing an all surface mount high pass filter. The Arcom AHP is designed with manufacturability in mind. It is a major design leap in that it is a two piece design, and requires no outer case or potting. The use of advanced sealing techniques enables this design and assures long term reliability.
Surface mount single channel traps: March 1999. Through the use of surface mount components, tremendous benefit can be realized in the performance of single channel traps; especially in consistency and high frequency performance. Arcom has led the industry in this area. Because of recent success in sourcing new temperature compensated chip capacitors, we are now starting the process of switching all single channel notch filter products to surface mount technology.
Internal o-ring seal: March 1999. The internal construction of the new "gripper" connector has allowed us to re-engineer the entire collet assembly. We have introduced a new o-ring integral to this assembly. This now gives us an extremely robust 6 point seal system. The use of a specialized water resistant flooding compound placed behind the collet assembly provides additional double protection and ensures integrity of the seal. With this product enhancement the longevity of Arcom filters will further increase.
360 degree connector: March 1999. Arcom is introducing a new 360 degree connector which is being implemented into a new female collet design. This connector (" the gripper ") has superior strength in holding onto the center conductor, a tremendous improvement over the previous technology. Arcom will be implementing this connector on all of our filter products with no additional cost to the customer.
New technology for rolling of outer case: February 1999. The traditional method of roll forming has been replaced with a technique called "orbital riveting". This new technique provides a much smoother finish and provides a tighter metal to metal seal over the o-ring.
New technology for outer case: December 1998. The outer sleeve used on Arcom filters has traditionally been made from brass tube stock which is cut and formed. In order to prevent outer case slippage, extremely tight tolerances were required of the forming operation. To assure these tolerances were consistently met, we moved to a more sophisticated stamping technology where the tube is formed from flat rolls of brass. Variability is virtually eliminated and the process provides a more aesthetic finish.
Anvil collet assembly: October 1998. To improve the consistency from unit to unit we went through a re-design of the collet assembly. The anvil design was engineered such that the bend is forced to be in the same place, ensuring uniformity. In addition the retention force of the collet fingers was increased.
SAWDEC: July 1998. SAWDEC is a patented state of the art scrambling system. The system solves all of the problem inherent in traditional positive trap system. By using SAW filters and leading edge frame by frame digital signal processing, SAWDEC provides excellent picture quality. Since the jamming carrier is only 230kHz below the video carrier, security of the system is excellent. Optimum frequency use is between 175 and 300MHz, well above the point were positive systems give poor picture quality. SAWDEC has been approved by HBO and in Eastern Europe is the only passive scrambling system that operators are allowed to use to secure HBO.
Additional Surface Mount capacity: May 1998. The increased floor space from our new facility gave us room to install additional surface mount chip shooting equipment. With a significant capital expenditure program Arcom purchased seven more TDK chip shooters bringing our total to ten. We now have the capacity to place 130,000 chips per hour. Stated otherwise, we have the ability to populate 14,000 window filters per hour. With this additional equipment the use of SMD in all of Arcom's products can increase.
New facility in Syracuse: May 1998. To meet the increasing needs of the industry, Arcom entered into a significant capital program and installed a new facility in Syracuse. The new facility was designed specifically for high volume production of return path filters. Efficient production of these products require processing techniques that are somewhat different from traditional methods. This additional capacity has given us the space to put renewed efforts into the layout of our notch filter and tier trap facility.
Female flooding compound: February 1998. Implemented first on the most sensitive products, positive traps and Gaussian filters, the flooding compound (initially developed for outdoor telephony operations) provides an excellent moisture seal and prevents water migration through the collet assembly.
SAW negative traps: 1995-1996. Next generation negative trap technology. The SAW (Surface Acoustic Wave) filter is at least an order of magnitude better in response performance than LC technology. Where an LC channel W has -12 to -14 dB of lower sound attenuation, the SAW has <-1 dB of attenuation. It is additionally an order of magnitude better for long term stability. Through innovative SAW processing techniques Arcom was able to engineer a low loss, temperature stable device.
Male compression seal: December 1997. Compression seal was doubled in thickness, now provides a superior seal over the male center conductor and the metal housing.
Return Step Attenuator: March 1997. Arcom applies for a United States patent on the return step attenuator. Patent is granted in 1998.
MLP surface mount lowpass: late 1996. Arcom continues the move toward miniaturization and SMD with the introduction of the MLP series of lowpass filters. The MLP has eight pole performance in half the size of the nearest competitor.
Surface mount high pass and widowed filter: early 1995. Arcom was the first in the trap industry to introduce surface mount designs. This enabled a move towards miniaturization which continues today. Surface mount designs assure greater reproducibility and significantly better response control.