COLUMBIA, MD. May 22, 2017… Syntonics LLC, a a leading provider of advanced RF-over-Fiber systems, announces that the largest diamond mine in North America has upgraded their Distributed Antenna System (DAS) over the past two years, replacing older equipment with Syntonics’ FORAX™ (Fiber Optic Remote Antenna eXtension) technology.
This FORAX-DAS installation uses two optical fibers to connect radios in an above-ground Operations Center to multiple Antenna Interface Units (AIUs) deep underground. FORAX-DAS is the long distance backbone that connects base station radios to several conventional “leaky feeder” antenna systems. Additional FORAX links connect the Operations Center to above-ground antennas, which are also used for mine communications.
Underground mine communications are safety critical. FORAX-DAS uses two separate fibers traveling by different routes (“geographic diversity”) to reach every underground AIU. Each AIU chooses the best optical signal and, if a fiber is damaged, the AIU automatically switches to the remaining good fiber, ensuring continuity of communications.
Syntonics is the leading provider of radio range extension products for mission-critical, 24×7 communications. FORAX equipment now extends radio coverage from hundreds of meters below ground to tens of kilometers above ground, proving that from high to low and in critical situations, Syntonics’ FORAX links get the job done! FORAX communication products exist for all civilian and most military radios and waveforms including AM/FM voice, P25, TETRA, Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW), Advanced Networking Wideband Waveform (ANW2), DAMA TACSAT, and Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System (SINCGARS). Syntonics’ High Antennas for Radio Communications (HARC) products loft antennas high above the ground on tethered drones and aerostats. FORAX-HARC radio range extension systems have been deployed since 2011 in the U.S. Central Command’s Area of Responsibility.