Need Of Digital Headend Maintenance
If you want to provide good service to cable tv subscribers then you need to do Digital Headend Maintenance time to time. As we all knows cable tv industry have became very competitive market so it is necessary to do Headend Maintenance. Because we are not only providing cable tv services but also provides various services like Broadband , Video On Demand , Radio Services and Switched Digital Video.
A Headend Engineer is responsible to do Digital Headend Maintenance time to time.
There are various points mentioned below to do A to Z Digital Headend System Maintenance,
Backup Devices
If you are a headend engineer then no one can understand more than you that how important this point is. It is necessary for us to get the backup of devices on regular basis. So that whenever we gets a problem in device then we can reset the device and upload the configuration.
There are some very important digital headend devices or Digital Headend Equipments whose backup is necessary. These headend equipments are QAM , SMS , CAS And PSI SI Server. If you made any changes in these server then after changes you need to get the backup. But if you do not do any modification then you can get backup once in a week.
License Renewal
We need to check the license information for the devices QAM , SMS server , CAS server and PSI SI server etc. If we found license of any of this device is going to expire then we need to renew it to provide uninterrupted services for cable tv subscribers.
License duration may be yearly and half yearly that depends upon operation.
Alarm Monitoring
Digital headend devices shows alarm if they found anything wrong. If device did not found input signal and if management cable is lose then these devices can show alarms on front panel. A headend engineer needs to monitor these alarms and needs to fix it for proper signal processing.
Like if a IRD (Integrated Receiver Decoder) is showing red alarm on front panel then there can be wrong tuning parameters , RF Input signal is not available and management cable is unplugged.
Services Monitoring
Monitoring of TV services is mandatory time to time. So that if a channel get hang then we can resolve the issue in short period of time.
Antivirus Installation
Installation of antivirus is essential in digital headend equipment. These equipments can be servers like SMS Server , CAS Server and PSI SI Server. A client computer also needs the antivirus because client communicate with device available in the digital headend.
Temperature Maintenance
It is necessary to maintain the Digital Headend Control Room temperature. So that all the headend devices can work efficiently. So many devices are installed at control room which heat up the room which can result burning of digital headend devices to avoid it we need to use a temperature meter.
The temperature of digital headend control room should be in between 14 degree C to 16 degree C. So that control room devices can perform better.
If you are using split Air Conditioner in the control room then you need to use the timer which alternatively start and stop the AC for specific period of time.
DISH Tuning
At the time of installation of Digital Headend the Dishes are fine tuned. But as long as time goes the Dishes get distracted. We need to re-tune the dishes by maintaining signal quality and signal strength. A satellite meter is used to tune the dishes.
RF Cable Maintenance
In the summer the RF cables leaves the Jelly towards the RF connectors in the downward direction. Which creates the block in the receiving signal results poor video quality or no signal. In this case we need to check the RF connectors of dish and splitter sides. There may be carbon which due to dust also we need to remove it or we can replace connectors.
Safety Equipments
Safety equipments are used in the digital headends to avoid the burning situations. Gess tanks and smoke detectors are used on roof. we need to check the smoke detectors after a period of time that these are working fine or not. If smoke detector finds smoke then it generate the alarm. Also we need to check the expiry of safety equipment time to time.
Gensat maintenance
Gensat plays an important role in maintenance. A gensat service engineer should be called time to time for servicing. Also if genset is not started from few days then we need to start is manually for testing. The coolant level and diesel level should be checked on regular basis.
Although a person is allocated to resolve the genset issue but a headend engineer should be in contact with that person to resolve power failure issues.
UPS Maintenance
A headend always runs on UPS weather light is available or not. Because it provides un-interruptable power supply. So if your UPS gets failure then your headned power supply gets down. To avoid this check the battery voltage and ampere time to time.
Earthing Testing
Earth wire should be checked after a period of time. It should be connected with the earthing point from the digital headend. If earthing is not proper for your headned then your headend devices can go in trouble.
Rat Spray
It is not a small thing to use the rat spray. It should be used in the floor where all electricity cables , RF cables and other cables are mounted, A rat can crack the cable which results no signal. To avoid this situation it should be used.
Conclusion
Digital Headend Maintenance plays an important role in better servicing to cable tv subscribers. There are several factors which should be checked time to time. Temperature maintenance and power supply should be check on priority. Cable tv is growing rapidly by increasing number of services.
More number of services needs more digital headend maintenance.
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