Start here: choose the building
Each building type loads realistic defaults into every tab: floors, outlets, services, IPTV size, fibre and signage. You can change any value afterwards.
Recommended architecture
Which system suits which building
More dots means a more common fit. Most real projects are hybrids, for example satellite over coax to apartments plus IPTV in the amenity areas.
How a TV system works, in four steps
- Receive. Dishes and antennas pick up TV from satellites and transmitters, or an IPTV operator delivers it over fibre.
- Process. The headend amplifies, filters, converts and sometimes re-modulates the channels so they can travel through the building.
- Distribute. Coax cable with taps and splitters, a multiswitch star, an IP network or fibre carries the signal to each floor.
- Deliver. Each outlet must get a level inside a window: too low and the picture breaks up, too high and the TV tuner overloads.
Equipment library
Every device used in TV and media systems: what it is, the types and where each is used, typical data, how far you can cascade it, and the mistakes seen on site.
System maps
How the equipment connects in real systems. Tap any block to open its library card.
Spectrum explorer: 1 MHz to 30 GHz
Drag the slider or tap a band. Coax inside the building carries 5 to about 2400 MHz. Satellite signals arrive at C, Ku or Ka band and the LNB shifts them down to the coax range.
At this frequency
Tap a band for details
Wavelength and cable loss
Higher frequency means a shorter wave and more loss per metre of coax. The trace fades the way the signal does over 50 m of the cable you pick in the riser tab.
Channel and frequency converter
Uses the region you picked at the top. Type a channel number or a frequency.
Dish and satellite planner
Where to point the dish from your city, which satellites you can see and what they carry. Then size the dish in the next tab.
Satellites and what they carry
Highlighted rows are commonly used in the region you picked at the top. Line-up sizes are indicative.
Dish types
Satellite: LNB and multiswitch logic
The LNB mixes the sky frequency with a local oscillator (LO) so it fits on coax. The receiver picks polarisation with 13 or 18 V and the band with a 22 kHz tone, and the multiswitch routes the right LNB output.
Dish size and link budget
Clear-sky estimate. Get the EIRP for your location from the satellite operator footprint map. The result feeds the satellite C/N used in the riser and analyser tabs.
Network designer
Build the real network device by device: headend, amplifiers, splitters, taps, multiswitches, dCSS switches, optical links and outlets, each with a model, a cable type and a length. Tap any device to edit it and see the level, C/N and a step-by-step calculation at that exact point.
1. Start from a template
2. Riser diagram: design on the drawing
Click the roof to set dishes, bands and LNB types. Click any device to change its type, model and settings. Click any cable to set its type and length or insert a device into it. Click an outlet group to set drop lengths. Everything recalculates as you go.
The riser diagram is drawn like a shop drawing: red figures are the level arriving at each device, outlet groups show the worst level and the longest drop (for example 68.5 dB @ 50 m), and floors are labelled on the right. Thick lines are multi-line trunks (×13 means 13 cables). The cyan path and moving pulses show the signal route to the selected device. Hover a device for its levels.
3. Selected device: edit it and probe this point
Outlet schedule (worst first)
4. Specification check (consultant review)
Enter the project specification once. Every change in the design is checked again straight away, the way a reviewer would check a submittal.
Amplifier schedule: locations and gain settings
5. Power budget
Active devices need 12 V adaptors and sockets, and the LNBs are powered through the downlead from the first active device. Long runs and copper-clad steel cable drop the LNB voltage.
Active device list
6. Commissioning sheet
Type the levels measured on site at each outlet. Each reading is checked against the specification window and against the design level (±3 dB).
7. Project file, report and my equipment library
My equipment library
Add real models from manufacturer datasheets. They appear in each device's Model list and in the specification check. Cable loss is fitted from your two datasheet points.
Quick riser calculator
A fast what-if for a uniform riser. For a real design with your own devices and lengths, use the Network designer. This calculator walks down the riser, picks the tap value at each node so every outlet lands in its window at the lowest and highest frequency, and adds a line amplifier when the level runs out.
Building and network
Services on the coax
Levels, tilt and windows (TYPICAL, edit to suit)
Riser schematic with live signal flow
Level diagram
Level along the riser at the bottom (solid) and top (dashed) of each service. The saw-tooth shows cable and tap losses, and each jump is an amplifier.
Outlet schedule
Change any tap value to see the effect downstream. Values marked * are your overrides.
Virtual spectrum analyser and field meter
Plug the virtual meter into any outlet from the riser design. Move over the trace to read a carrier. Switch faults on to see what they do to the spectrum and the picture.
Inject a fault
What the viewer sees
Meter readings at this outlet
Picture problems lab
What viewers see when something is wrong, what the meter shows, why it happens and how to fix it. Pick a problem, or drag the level and MER yourself to find the digital cliff.
3D building and 4D signal flow
Drag to orbit, scroll or use the buttons to zoom, tap a node to inspect it. Colours come straight from the riser design.
IPTV and multicast sizing
Live TV on IP is multicast: one copy of a channel per link, no matter how many TVs watch it, as long as the switches run IGMP snooping. Video on demand and catch-up are unicast and scale with viewers.
Multicast in action
Tap a TV to change its channel. Turn IGMP snooping off to see flooding.
24-hour load (4D)
Viewing profile for this building type. Drag the hour or press play.
RF over fibre and optical budget
Fibre carries the whole RF spectrum as light to far buildings, villas in a compound or terminal zones. The receiver turns light back into RF coax signal.
Wavelengths on one fibre (GPON with RF overlay)
Screens, signage, FIDS and PIDS
Size the screen for the viewing distance, the text for legibility and the brightness for the light around it. Covers guest rooms, lobbies, mall windows, airport FIDS, station PIDS and outdoor bus shelters.
Bill of materials and design report
Built from the current riser, satellite, IPTV, fibre and signage results. Quantities are design estimates, with 10 % added on cable lengths. No prices.
Worked example from your design
This follows the worst outlet in your current riser design at the top of each service band, using the same numbers as the engine.