All requirements for state-of-the-art radio modems are implemented in the RipEX2 using 30 years of RACOM experiences in this field. It’s not only about data speed and overall network throughput, but also about a whole new set of requirements brought by the current complex approach to the design of SCADA networks as top security features, advanced IP routing or responsive and intuitive user interface.

The Webinar explained a process of smooth gradual migration to a new generation of radio without any outages, issues or extra hardware cost.

On top of a general description, the participants were offered a real case study based on the successful migration of a medium sized network (100+ sites) in a mission-critical environment of a water utility company in the Czech Republic performing with excellent results.

RACOM also introduced its ‘MR400 return free’ program, when old MR400 units are returned to RACOM. RACOM takes responsibility for the ecological disposal and issue a certificate.

The webinar was originally planned for participants from Europe, so it was scheduled at 10 AM Central European Time. But the topic was so attractive that we finally had about 200 participants from 35 countries around the whole globe. This means that participants from Australia listened to the webinar in the evening and others from Ecuador got up at 3 o’clock in the morning.

For those, who were unable to attend the webinar in real time, the full recording is accessible on RACOM YouTube channel.

We are looking forward to future opportunities for face-to-face meetings with our friends, partners and customers, but until then we will be actively searching for further opportunities to meet you at least digitally. Stay safe!

Employees have a choice of where and how the test is administered but with a commitment to record the results on a new RACOM form established for this purpose. Anyone who does not have a current negative test registered with the company will not gain access to the company premises.

To make the procedure as simple as possible and convenient for staff, RACOM bought tests and set aside a special room at the entrances, where everyone could easily test themselves and record the result in the system. If a positive test is detected, the person will leave the RACOM building immediately and contact their doctor. The test room will, of course, be carefully ventilated and disinfected after they leave.

Wherever possible, home office has been the preferred option. For those who can only perform their work within the RACOM building, FFP2 masks and vitamins are provided by the company for free. FFP2 masks are mandatory for use everywhere within RACOM premises. We also launched a set of helpful internal regulations for safe social interactions, increased focus on hygiene standards and made disinfection available throughout the company premises.

We believe that regular and comprehensive testing in all companies will help to improve the situation and we will soon return to a more normal life.

Stay Safe!

Afterwards, the ‘frost’ tests follow. The unit is switched off and the temperature goes down to –30 °C (–22 °F). After 30 minutes the unit is switched on and it must boot up without any problem within given a time. This switch on/switch off test is repeated 12 times with two-minute breaks in order to be sure the frost unit will always start under low temperature.

The same throughput tests as at normal temperature follow at low temperature.

The last step is to heat up the chamber up to 55 °C (131 °F) and repeat throughput tests again.

The only difference comparing to our standard procedure was to change the minimum temperature to –40 °C (–40 °F) for the ‘frost’ test. Fortunately, it is not a problem for our climatic chamber. Our guys were so eager to see the results that they manage to do the tests for Canadian partner within a couple of days.

It was not a surprise that all units tested passed the tests without any issues, even at –40 °C (–40 °F).

Quality and expertise are integral part of RACOM brand and success of this test shows, that our products routinely exceed its design parameters.

Therefore, if you need to operate RAy links in areas with extremely low temperatures, be certain they can deliver.

Since the terrain for the race is hilly with no direct communication from split time points to the center, two extra repeaters must be built.

The equipment for transmitting split times must be hand carried to the installation points, up very steep slopes of more than 100 altitude meters that could only be climbed sideways on skis or snowshoes. At the top there is then the task of installing the equipment at the top of 30 meter lattice masts; Not easy, especially in windy conditions and such low temperatures!

Despite the challenges and extreme weather conditions, the network was commissioned well within the set deadline and the RipEX radio modems worked well, providing the levels of performance and reliability that our customers have come to expect from all RACOM products.

All split times were successfully relayed providing televiewers perfect information about the progress of the race.

We look forward to the 5 year anniversary of our cooperation at this event next year!

The traditional annual, January meeting of RACOM sales managers, product management and technical support took place fully online this year. Despite the difficult pandemic situation, our team evaluated 2020 as a positive year with our sales figures similar to 2019. Predictions for 2021 suggest moderate growth, so we remain positive.

These are a few quotes from members of our teams which come from the meeting:

As is well known, RACOM constantly improves the quality of its products. In 2020 we invested a few million Czech crowns in new technology for production of the aluminum chassis in which the RAy3 microwave link is mounted. This involved switching from lost wax casting technology to die-casting technology.

The main reason for making the change in technology is the ever-increasing demand for RACOM microwave links and the demand for the shortest possible delivery times.

There were a few waves this year, driven by distance learning and home office environment, when Internet providers were under pressure to immediately increase the capacity of their networks.

This required flexibility in the supply of RAy microwave links, widely used in backbone networks and high-speed last mile connections. Thankfully RACOM was able to increase its production and delivered more than 30% more links worldwide in 2020 than in 2019.

Using die-casting technology, the foundry is able to produce several hundred castings per shift and have them immediately available for delivery to RACOM. Previously used lost wax casting is significantly more complicated because a single-purpose mold is produced for each individual casting in several steps, with technological pauses necessary between each step. Unfortunately, this process cannot be shortened meaning flexibility and speed of delivery are significantly lower than with die-casting.

Another advantage of die-casting is higher accuracy, ensuring faster processing in later stages of production.

The new die-cast chassis can be distinguished from earlier ones by two visible differences. The handle is now fastened with screws as the handle is cast separately during die casting. Additionally, Aluminum is slightly porous during casting. This is visible to the naked eye at machined points, e.g. in threads for bushings. Fine pores do not affect the strength or other properties of the casting and do not change the properties and utility value of the RAy3 microwave link.

The new casting process has no impact on the weight of the new chassis. RAy is still the lightest and smallest microwave radio on the global market.

We are confident the investment we have made will allow us to be more flexible with production numbers and be able to respond better to customer requirements in the future.

2020 was indeed a special year. As with the rest of the world, RACOM had to adjust to the new situation. We are proud to say that we passed this test successfully.

We managed to quickly apply appropriate measures in production and the rest of the company adapted to working online.

With the help of our partners, distributors and suppliers we again managed another year of growth. A huge thank you to all who helped make this possible!

Sales in all product lines have been positive. Our RAy microwave links were purchased in large numbers as ISP’s around the world raced to improve the levels of internet connectivity to meet the increasing demands of those trapped in a distance learning and home office environment. RACOM was able to adaptably increase production and delivered over 30% more links than in the previous year.

Sales of our RipEX radio modems also continued unabated despite the postponement of many projects due to government lockdowns and restrictions throughout the year. The flexibility of the product has seen it used in a wide variety of solutions, some of a confidential nature within government, military and university applications.

And M!DGE has been used in many new applications, both as a standalone solution and with RipEX, as more and more people come to understand the benefits of hybrid solutions.

At a time when others were reducing staff numbers, RACOM went in the opposite direction. We strengthened the human resources department to assist in finding new employees, mainly in R&D. This will help considerably in earlier completion of new products.

As we look forward to 2021 we do so with confidence, full in the knowledge we have survived a troubled year and proved that we are more than capable of adapting to what might come our way. Again, a very big thanks to staff, contractors, suppliers and of course our global partners and distributors for the huge levels of support we receive.

Thank you for your continued support. Here’s wishing you health and prosperity in 2021.
We look forward to continued cooperation and joint success through 2021 and beyond.

Countries around the world are again being forced to take steps to control the spread of Covid-19. RACOM continuously implements all guidelines issued by the Czech Government and are doing the same during the current state of emergency. This has resulted in the company more or less adopting the same smart strategies that proved so effective in the Spring of this year, to protect our staff and maintain a smooth running operation.

As was the case in Spring, our infrastructure and production continue to function smoothly. This does however take considerable planning. We operate partially on isolated shifts and provide protective equipment for all staff who must be in the facility. Considerable organization is required to adapt and compensate for colleagues who are away for quarantine or personal reasons, caring for their families.

RACOM is operating at full scale production levels. All incoming orders are processed within standard delivery times. To date and thanks in most part to the commitment and dedication of our staff, production has not stopped for a single day. As a result of long-term planning and good relationships with our suppliers, we are facing no difficulties in our supply chain.

Over 50% of colleagues are working remotely; online meetings are commonplace to support ongoing development. R&D projects continue unhindered, firmware updates are being released on schedule. Thanks to the easy-to-use design of our products and exceptional quality of our web, user manuals, application notes etc. we are not facing any issues with commissioning and operating of our equipment. And, of course, Technical Support is fully operational, even remotely.

Sales and Marketing are making sure our partners continue to receive all the information they need through our Webpage, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube and frequent online meetings.

Despite the difficult situation with most projects at least postponed, we are proud to share that our sales is still slightly higher than in the last year. We are also happy that many Internet service providers take advantage of our RAy microwave links being delivered under special conditions during the Covid crisis. ISP’s can quickly and easily increase Internet capacity in their networks for the majority of the population who are working from home offices and students learning remotely.

At a time when many companies are having to lay off or furlough staff, RACOM is hiring! Among other appointments recently made, we have welcomed a new colleague to our R&D team, are strengthening our Purchasing department, and have a new member within the Sales team.

For as long as emergency measures are required to control the spread of the virus, you can be assured that RACOM is ready to cope and supply the world with essential communication equipment.

As our products generate interest in more and more countries around the world RACOM, in cooperation with its local partners, has been actively engaging with national authorities gaining homologation for all our product lines, allowing them to be used in new territories.

Since gaining homologation for the latest generation of RipEX, M!DGE and RAy in USA and Canada we have been particularly busy in South America where we have recently gained type approval in four new countries.

M!DGE has gained homologation in Ecuador where RipEX has also received government approval.

Both RipEX and M!DGE have also received government approval in Argentina.

In Peru, both products have gained homologation and in Brazil, RipEX has received type approval for use there.

On the other side of the world, we are also happy to announce that RipEX has received type approval in Russia. In addition, both RipEX and M!DGE have been added to the official approved radio equipment list for import, another essential requirement for the Russian market.

This also automatically qualifies the products for use in all other Eurasian Economic Union Countries: Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Armenia.

Our Sales Managers in these regions are already working with potential partners and end users who have shown an interest in our products.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us. Your respective regional Sales manager will be able to advise details of accreditations specific to your country. They will also be happy to provide more information about our products or how best to meet specific requirements in your area of operation.