Practice notes · 4
The half of the job that happens after the order
Specifications choose the antenna. Drawings, glands, VLANs and handover policies decide whether it still works in three years. These are the notes we would want handed to us before a yard period starts.
Note 01
The cable run is where most installations fail
An antenna that tracks perfectly can still die from a gland that faces upward. This note covers the deck-side details — entry, routing, bonding, separation — that decide whether the installation survives its first survey cycle.
6 checks
Read the note →Note 02
Three networks, one switch, no excuses
CCTV, IPTV and crew internet end up on the same hardware because there is only one rack and one cable route. Segregation is what stops a camera storm from taking the television down with it — and it is a design decision, not a switch setting applied afterwards.
6 checks
Read the note →Note 03
The rack is the part nobody designs
Most installations are specified component by component and then squeezed into whatever cabinet is left. The rack is where the next five years of maintenance happens, so it deserves the same drawing as the antenna.
5 checks
Read the note →Note 04
Redundancy that never switches is just spare parts
Two antennas and three links do not make a resilient system. What makes it resilient is a documented handover policy, tested while somebody is aboard to watch it fail.
5 checks
Read the note →Have a drawing that needs marking up?
Send the deck plan and the rack position. The reply comes back with the cable route, gland positions and bond points marked against your drawing — not a generic guide.