On 18th December, RACOM staff once again gathered to share some time together and celebrate another successful year. It is always enjoyable for staff from RACOM Slovakia, the SMT facility in Blansko, our Mechanical production facility and departments from Head Office to have the opportunity to meet in relaxing surroundings and share some quality time together; the family traditions of our company still hold strong.

During the celebrations various members of staff were honoured for long service, amongst them three colleagues who have been with RACOM for 20 years. Our HR Director noted that every year the number of long service awards increases, in part due to the growth of the company, but also due to the loyalty shown to the company by our staff.

The CEO delivered his customary annual review of company performance to ensure all colleagues are kept up to date with our progress. This year’s review took the form of a presentation. Jiri described some of the more interesting applications that use our products; a full list can be seen on our website. Each department was thanked personally for their contribution to RACOM’s overall success and humorous illustrations were used to describe parts of the company’s business. In keeping with the relaxed mood of his audience, Jiri also chose to list some of the more interesting statistics from RACOM’s performance in 2015 such as the number of e-mails and phone calls sent, the number of hits and page views on our website, the distance travelled to bring our products to the market, the amount of data storage on our servers and even the 200 kg of coffee consumed over the year!

After the formal toast, everyone relaxed to enjoy the food and drink provided, the live music and dancing [to burn off some of those calories] and the opportunity to share stories and have a laugh.

RACOM realizes the importance of such events and colleagues also appreciate the opportunities these occasions offer. Now we must all wait and look forward to the summer barbecue but before then, smaller groups have a family trip to the planetarium in Brno and a go kart meeting to look forward to.

Wishing everyone a happy festive season and successful year ahead.

2015 has been another busy year for trade shows, conferences and seminars. This listing provides brief information on events we took part in during the last quarter of 2015. We will be using our News page to promote future shows we will be attending and reports on shows we have attended.

RACOM Conference & Technical Seminar, Dubai, 15th – 16th September 2015

Organised by RACOM and aimed at the Middle East market, this event had three main points of focus.

• Training workshops on all our product lines; this provides deeper technical knowledge of our products and their capabilities.
• Personal, in depth discussion with our Technical Support staff and Product Managers on specific regional issues.
• Brand awareness to raise RACOM’s profile further in the region

European Utility Telecom Conference (EUTC) 2015, Dublin, 29th Sept. – 2nd Oct. 2015

RACOM were an exhibitor at this show, focusing on brand awareness of RipEX to an audience mainly consisting of power utilities and large system integrators. The show was for the European market and our main aims were:

• To meet with current and potential customers and increase brand awareness
• Expand our business network and discuss market issues with customers and competitors
• Gain deeper awareness of our competitor environment and market trends

Forum Telecontrollo Forum, Milan, 29th – 30th September 2015

RACOM attended this conference in a visitor capacity. The forum explored ‘the technological themes, applications and value-added services related to remote control and automation systems aiming to increase networks performance in industry and improve the community quality of life’. RACOM’s attendance allowed us to:

• Meet with SCADA integrators and end users from utilities distribution and environmental areas
• Discuss market problems and needs of the modem and router markets in Italy
• Extend our networking possibilities

Mikrotik User Meeting (MUM), Madrid, 16th October 2015

RACOM is keen supporter of MUM events and had already attended the European event in Prague and MUM Miami earlier in the year. This event focused mainly on the Spanish and Iberian market. RACOM shared a stand with our local distributor and were glad of the opportunity to share discussions with the local ISP market. By attending RACOM were able to:

• Support our distributor and discuss new areas of cooperation
• Present our microwave product line and develop brand awareness
• Develop a deeper understanding of local market needs and expand our regional network

ITU telecom World, Budapest, 12th – 15th October 2015

ITU brought together governments, corporates and small and medium entrerprises (SMEs) from over 50 countries around the world. It combined an exhibition for digital solutions, a forum for sharing knowledge and a networking hub between nations, organizations and individuals. RACOM attended in a visitor capacity for the express purpose of discussing spectrum issues in different areas of the world. Outcomes of our attendance were:

• Meetings with delegates of many countries represented at the event
• Establishing available frequency bands for SCADA and for Microwave in Africa and Asia
• In depth discussions on efficient spectrum regulation and management

RACOM recently met with CTU (Czech telecommunications office) in Prague. Such meetings provide a valuable portal allowing RACOM to express the needs and desires of its customers and the market in general. They also provide an ideal opportunity to gain insight into issues currently under consideration by National, European and Global telecommunications standards authorities.

Having been given the opportunity to take an active part in open discussions about general utilisation of the frequency bands from 960 to 1700 MHz, RACOM also shared informal discussions about possible plans for other frequency bands.

It was suggested in discussions, there might be a possibility channel width on the 400 MHz frequency band be increased from the current 25 KHz available although no final decision has been made.

The main purpose of the meeting was to provide input to the open discussion ‘Comments from Czech Radiokomunikace on the draft general measures of the radio spectrum utilization plan no. PV-P / 20 / XX.2015-YY for the frequency band from 960 to 1700 MHz’.

In summary, this is how best to address the problems of higher demands for data throughput for radio SCADA networks.

RACOM suggested an ideal solution would be to open up new frequencies specifically for radio SCADA networks. It was emphasised this is required to meet present, not future demand. Further it was suggested 1.4 GHz, currently unused in Czech Republic, would be ideal to provide the required capacity for current and future demand. A European recommendation already exists for communications at these frequencies and they are currently being used for p-t-p links in some other European States.

Should the CTU agree to RACOM’s suggestion, it would allow RACOM and other manufacturers to provide equipment to meet market need without having to undergo additional research and testing of equipment operating on different frequencies. Furthermore, RACOM’s suggestion that these frequencies be dedicated to SCADA point to multi point network communications will protect frequency bands for this important sector of radio communications.

RACOM also meet the CTU regarding higher frequency broad band issues and are happy to keep our market informed of outcomes from these discussions.

RACOM recently invited regional and national ISP operators from the Czech market and our national distributors to a wine tasting. Guests enjoyed traditional Moravian music and a tour of the wine cellar.

The event was organised as a way of saying thank you for choosing RACOM products and to allow customers to meet to exchange views about the industry and to discuss its future. Collectively, these customers operate backhaul and or last mile applications.

It was very helpful to meet Management and Senior Technicians from the ISP operators in attendance and listen to their opinions and experiences. RACOM had representatives from Sales, Technical support, Development and Management at the event; all were keen to engage in discussions about general market needs and trends and specific problems experienced by customers.

We also appreciate the role distributors play in RACOM’s success. The positive relationships and understanding we enjoy with them, the market feedback they provide and their ideas and views are a valuable part of our continuing success.

We are happy that discussions revealed RACOM do indeed have an understanding of the needs of operators in this industry and in particular, the specific requirements of networks of varying size and purpose. Customers are very satisfied with the parameters of RAy2; it was described as a ‘very well defined radio’.

Positive comments from customers also highlighted:

• Reliability
• Simplicity of the hardware and management
• High levels of technical support
• Compactness and ergonomic design of the unit casing

Whilst grateful for the positive feedback, we fully accept future needs will be different and are glad of input received from our customers to help take another step toward refining the properties of future generations of our products.

In our modern world, where we have so many forms of electronic communications available to us, events such as these confirm the benefits of face to face contact for positive and creative discussions.

Thank you to all our customers and distributors for taking the time and effort to join the event. It was great to be part of these open and frank discussions and it is hoped RACOM can host more of these types of event in the future.

RACOM is working on joint research projects in partnership with Czech Universities to develop new properties for future generations of products in the wireless radio communications market. The research is in partnership with both Brno University of Technology and the Czech Technical University in Prague.

One project, funded over a four year period by The Technical Agency of the Czech Republic government, takes the title ‘Radio for Smart Transmission Networks’.

The projects are following two general themes:

• The next generations of Narrow band point to multi point high speed radio modems
• The next generations of Microwave point to point radios with particular focus on reliable communications in harsh environments, over long distances and reducing levels of attenuation related to specific propagation issues.

Through sharing ideas with other Research & Development groups we can increase the amount of research we can complete within a set time frame, further develop ideas with University research staff and ensure we can incorporate the latest cutting edge technologies into every new product we release. We are proud of our reputation as trend setters and use projects such as these to help introduce trend setting-ideas in our field.

In early December, RACOM also hosted a visit from 20 students from the Department of Radio Electronics, Electrical Engineering & Communications faculty of Brno University of Technology.

The students started their trip with a guided tour of our Surface Mount Technology facility in Blansko, where they learned about the production of PCB’s using SMT within a commercial environment. Afterward, it was on to Nové Město na Moravě for a tour of our Mechanical Production facility before touring our Hardware, Software, Production and QA facilities at RACOM Headquarters. The visit ended with a lecture from our R&D department using a real project to explain the development processes we undertake when designing a new product to take to the market.

The trip was an excellent opportunity for students to break from theoretical studies to witness, at first hand, the working environment within a ‘blue chip’ manufacturer, known globally for producing products using state-of-the-art technology. We hope the students took positive messages back with them and gained motivation from the visit to inspire their own career paths.

During general discussion after the visit, Mr Blumenstein from Brno University said, “The visit was very enriching for the students, especially helping make them aware there is a Czech company doing advanced research, using cutting edge manufacturing processes and successfully competing on the world stage.”

Students thanked RACOM staff for being so friendly, approachable and sharing valuable knowledge to help in their understanding.

In an interesting application which shows the diverse ways in which RACOM support ground breaking technologies, RipEX units are supporting the Airbus group with the development and testing of their electric aircraft, E-Fan, creating a bold new era in powered flight by bringing the advantage of electric aircraft into daily use.

As part of development and testing, a landmark was reached in July 2015 when the E-Fan aircraft successfully made a crossing of the English Channel; 106 years after Bleriot made the first successful powered crossing. A morning takeoff from the English coast saw the E-Fan reach a cruising altitude of 3,500 ft. in a bright cloudless sky. From takeoff at Lydd Airport to touchdown at Calais-Dunkerque Airport in France, the all-electric E-Fan demonstrator completed its 74 km crossing in 38 minutes.

To support the essential need for reliable transmission of telemetry data from the E-Fan, the Airbus group elected to use RipEX units to optimize the performance of this crucial role.

A static RipEX unit was positioned at each airport, one inside the E-Fan to send the telemetry data and a fourth in the plane that accompanied the record making attempt. This allowed the team to secure communication with two links simultaneously; one static and one mobile. Communication with the static units switched mid-flight from the radio in England to the RipEX unit at the airport in France. Large amounts of data were transmitted during the flight.

“Although I was alone in the cockpit, there were many people ‘flying’ with me today in this great success,” said Didier Esteyne, Aero Composites Saintonge’s E-Fan designer and test pilot. “It was the result of a fantastic team effort that brought much passion and the will to achieve.”

The E-Fan had already made more than 100 flights; preparations for this very special trip were extensive and included a dedicated test and verification programme, put together by French flight authorities, Airbus Group and its partners. During these flights Airbus were able to communicate between the airborne RipEX units over distances in excess of 35km using a tiny 10cm antenna on both planes.

“We are delighted that RipEX units play a vital role in obtaining certification which is of crucial importance for the future of safe, reliable and certifiable electric flight.” said Pavel Pejchal, head of RACOM’s Product management team.