CAI Tradeshow, 2004

Con federation of Aerial Industries The Confederation of Aerial Industries (CAI) is the trade body for aerial and satellite installers and their suppliers. The CAI holds an annual tradeshow which is mainly for members but open to all. Graeme Young, deputy editor of 'Broadband', went along to see how the show is going.

	CAI Tradeshow, 2004 The CAI Trade Fair is an annual event that has a social side to it as well as the more serious business of displaying one's wares or selecting new equipment for the new age of digital broadcasting. Running alongside the exhibition are a series of seminars. Much of the discussions centre around the imminent changeover to digital technology and problems of interference from the increasing spread of mobile communications. Many of the developments were in improved screening for network hardware and the increasing change of favour from IEC to F connectors. Demonstrations of Home Cinema, HDTV, and 'Signal distribution in the home of the future' ran virtually continuously, providing further food for thought. Thirty-four stands, eight seminars, and three days bring together old friends and new players in this ever-changing industry. From aerials to zappers, via safety equipment, insurance, and magazines, the CAI Trade Fair gets it all together under one roof.

Innovations - 1, The Luneberg Lens Innovations were few but the Raven Manufacturing Ltd Lunebeg Lens could be classed as one. This new satellite antenna is a dome mounted on a reflecting platform. It always focuses incoming signals to the same collecting point at which the LNB is mounted. It can be used for multi-satellite reception, and can be sited on a wall or on a roof. Rather more conventional but still innovative were the transparent satellite dishes ranging in size from 60cm to 2.4m. These were made by Archsat and were to be found on the Martin Turner Direct Ltd stand.		The Luneberg Lens

	Innovations - 2, "Annie". A completely new signal and spectrum analyser called "Annie" was in pride of place on the Swires Research stand. The analyser, more correctly known as the Annie 204, has built-in analogue and MPEG-2 decoding for satellite and terrestrial signals, providing all of the measurements required for setting up multi-cable IRS systems. Annie can display the spectrum of a selected signal alongside its colour picture and important signal parameters.



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