Panorama’s Rugged Solution for Chilean Forestry
The Challenge
Forestal Mininco is the second largest timber production company in Chile and has operations in five of the fifteen regions across Chile and Argentina. The company believes in responsible forestry and minimising impact on resources. With their vehicles often working deep in forested areas, Mininco encountered a problem with their long high- gain antennas fixed to their machinery. The demanding conditions that kept breaking the antennas included extreme vibrations and constant buffering by low branches. This would loosen the screws that keep the antennas in place and leave the whip vulnerable to buffeting from tree branches. Forestal Mininco needed an antenna that could withstand the everyday wear and tear of an industrial forestry operation, with built in flexibility to avoid damage from external forces.
The Antenna
TRNB(G)
WLAN, 2,6 LTE and WiMAX all in one housing.
The Client
Forestal Mininco is a Chilean business dedicated to timber production, plants and seeds with a presence in five of the fifteen regions of Chile, also operating in the Argentine province of Misiones and Corrientes through Bosques del Plata. The company has a strong culture of responsibility and excellence based on over 90 years’ experience.
The company operates a varied fleet of forestry vehicles – everything from tracked excavators to 4X4 pickup trucks. These vehicles traverse large, remote areas of challenging terrain on a daily basis and must stand up to adverse weather as well as obstacles such as low hanging branches.
The Solution
Forestal Mininco searched for the right solution from many other antenna vendors before finding Panorama. Finding the correct antenna that could offer high gain while being able to stand up to the challenging South American forest proved to be no easy task, but Panorama persevered to find a fitting solution.
Combining Panorama’s ACUB whip with an SM Shock Mount meant that the antenna was able to deliver the performance that Forestal Mininco required, while also providing flexibility and durability to the configuration.
With peak gain of up to 7dBi, the ACUB antenna was able to provide communication even on the boundary for coverage areas. The flexible SM Shock Mount now allows the antenna to bend freely when knocked by low branches, so there is minimal chance of the base failing due to stress.
Depending on the vehicle the antenna was to be installed upon, Mininco chose both the M8 panel mount and the MMR magnetic mount base. The M8 panel mount gives a secure, permanent fixing that is durable and reliable. The MMR was used as a non-invasive mount on Mininco’s 4X4 vehicles, mounting unobtrusively onto a custom metal plate attached to the roll bar. This magnetic mount solution meant that if an antenna was very badly knocked, it would not break the base fitting, instead simply breaking the magnetic bond that could be easily reattached in the field.