San Diego, California, USA – Taoglas USA Inc., a leading provider of antenna solutions to the M2M and Internet of Things market, has launched the RG.01, the first quad band road marker cellular antenna.
This road marker antenna solution is used in ‘botts’ dots’, the non-reflective raised pavement marker found on many U.S. roads. This robust antenna covers frequencies from 800MHz to 960MHz and 1700MHz to 1990Mhz, for 2G and 3G CDMA, GSM and GPRS. There is also a 915Mhz ISM and 2.4GHz ISM band version of the RG.01. This antenna is ideal for use in underground M2M applications such as telemetry units, water meters, and gas and flood detection systems.
Dermot O’Shea, Joint Managing Director at Taoglas, said: “We’ve been working with experienced road marker installer and expert Tom Williams, at Utility Systems, Science and Software, Inc. (US3) to create an antenna that really meets the tough task of being able to perform efficiently and be robust enough to act as a standard road maker. When underground, it needs to be able to withstand the temperature, weather and gas conditions that can deteriorate antenna materials such as the cables and connectors, which are underground. We have put these road markers to the test in the ground in extreme rugged conditions and they have come out on top with excellent performance”.
The RG.01 road marker antenna is unique because it is developed and manufactured completely in San Diego, California. It was designed to sit parallel to the road or manhole covers so it can live inside the ‘botts’ dots’ and not be affected by metal or the road underneath it. Also the black epoxy used to stick the dots to the road acts as a natural clearance area and allows the antenna to radiate efficiently. The RG.01 was tuned inside to accommodate the effects of the epoxy and the road underneath. Plus, the robust design uses special cable and connector materials with higher specifications that are more resistant to underground gases, such as H2s, to eliminate material corrosion.
“U.S. Cubed and Taoglas make a winning combination when it comes to antenna designs that work for today’s roads in the U.S.,” said Tom Williams, Engineering Manager, Utility Systems, Science and Software. “By combining our expertise in underground telemetry and using road markers with Taoglas’ savvy antenna design skills, we were able to overcome many common challenges. For instance, the intelligent design comes with a two piece cable, so if someone lifts up the manhole cover and drags the antenna upwards, our design allows someone to just reconnect it again in the middle without damaging the cable.”
