FAQ Blake UK and PROception Amplifier RED Compliance
What is RED? RED (Radio Equipment Directive – 2014/53/EU1) is a directive that applies across the EU including the UK and effects all manufacturers, distributors and installers of relevant product. The RED replaces the Radio and Telecommunications Terminal Equipment Directive but has extended its scope to include receivers including TV and Radio Broadcast What aspects of equipment does RED cover? The RED along with other directives which include the low Voltage Directive2 requires equipment to comply with a high level of electrical safety; with an adequate level of electromagnetic compatibility; and to operate in a manner that promotes efficient use of the radio spectrum. What equipment does it effect? RED applies to all equipment that intentionally transmits or receives radio waves. This includes ALL domestic TV signal amplifiers, which must as a minimum meet the requirements of EN 303 354 V1.1.1 (2017-03)3, “Amplifiers and active antennas for TV broadcast reception in domestic premises; Harmonised Standard covering the essential requirements of article 3.2 of Directive 2014/53/EU”. What shows me an amplifier is RED compliant? The product must have an EU Declaration of Conformity (DoC) and affix the CE marking. The DoC can either be in included in the product or referred to an online version. THERE IS NO OFFICIAL RED LOGO stating products are complaint other than the CE mark. What about other Logos used in the market. Do they show RED compliance? The LTE logo shown here is popular on products BUT DOES NOT indicate compliance to RED. Check for the DoC and separate manufacturers compliance. Liability and Enforcement of RED (Taken from an OFCOM Slide presented at the CAI Trade Show) These are legal requirements enforceable by Ofcom and Trading Standards. Manufacturers, importers, distributors (installers) are all responsible and are liable for any infringements. In a recent trading standards case it was stated “I cannot install it; the distributor cannot sell it and manufacturer can only sell it if they upgrade it to comply with the RED.” What are the performance tests specified in EN 303 354? Amplifier gain and flatness. Ensures that amplifier achieves the stated gain and is flat within ±2dB across the frequency response. Noise Figure. The degradation of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) resulting from amplifier. Amplifier intermodulation. The ability of the amplifier to cope with numerous signals including LTE interference. Return Loss. The degree of mismatch that causes reflected signals at the amplifier’s inputs and outputs. Selectivity. The effectiveness of any inbuilt filter. The Radio Equipment Directive 2014/53/EU (RED) establishes a regulatory framework for placing radio equipment on the market. It ensures a Single Market for radio equipment by setting essential requirements for safety and health, electromagnetic compatibility, and the efficient use of the radio spectrum. It also provides the basis for further regulation governing some additional aspects. These include technical features for the protection of privacy, personal data and against fraud. Furthermore, additional aspects cover interoperability, access to emergency services, and compliance regarding the combination of radio equipment and software The Low Voltage Directive (LVD) (2014/35/EU) ensures that electrical equipment within the Single certain voltage limits provides a high level of protection for European citizens, and benefits fully from Market. It has been applicable since 20 April 2016. 3 https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_en/303300_303399/303345/01.01.07_30/en_303345v010107v.pdf There are different classes in RED, what do they mean? The classes have been produced to fit the varying requirements of the TV transmitter changeover caused by the reallocation of broadcast spectrum to Mobile Phones Class 0 – Not filtered. This was decided upon in part due to the varying timescales for implementation of LTE across the EU, it allows suitable filters to be used for the local environment Class 1& 2 – For future use when LTE takes over the 700 MHz band and may also be below 470MHz Class 3 – 15dB inbuilt LTE filter but not for use in channel 60 areas. Class 4 – 15dB LTE filter allowing use of channel 60. Class 3 v Class 0. Class 3 products do not pass Ch 60 without severely degraded reception. There are still 121 transmitters using this frequency as of now. Locally to Sheffield Belmont services 710,00 homes and still uses channel 60. Whilst this is not long term after 2020 it still means that the consumer will lose channels they potentially had before a RED amplifier was installed. The specification for inbuilt filters on Ch 59 amplifiers is just 15 dB of LTE protection, but for the at800 standalone filter, supplied free if you have interference, it is 22–26 dB. There are filters on the market that have 40 dB of rejection. Considering that in some cases LTE signals can be 20 dB greater than TV signals, then in these cases the internal filter is not giving an adequate rejection and an external filter would also be required – more noise! It would be much better to fit a class 0 amplifier with an appropriate external filter in the first place. Class 0 amplifiers allow use of channels 61-68 for the distribution of locally modulated services such as CCTV, hotel ‘in house’ video and, in a domestic situation, for the distribution of signals such as Sky TV from the RF2 port of the Sky receiver (which are set at Ch 68 by default) or by using an add on IO link. Currently, the UHF band used for TV has only 40 channels. With up to 9 muxes per transmitter, and signals from adjacent transmitters being visible, it can be difficult to find a clear channel to carry locally modulated signals. Unlike classes 1-4, a class 0 amplifier gives access to the LTE bands (channels 61-68) for local signals, provided that adequate filtering is used to suppress any LTE signals that may be received. Facts and Figures for OUR Class 0 Products The internal immunity of our products is excellent, in some cases over 15dB higher than the pass mark! The noise level of the amplifiers is significantly lower than one with a filter, in tests some 2.5dB better! PROception
