There are many aspects to be considered during the design of the mechanical package of a CATV trunk station. The various alternatives to be considered, and the basis for decisions made during housing design will be presented to help establish comparative guidelines, and to provide a base of information to aid comparison of the various designs on the market.
Attention will be given to housing configuration, selection of materials and parts fabrication processes, compatability of materials and other topics that are considered during the design process. Special attention will be given to analyzing the thermal performance of an amplifier and showing how good thermal performance can be created by housing configuration during design. Component operating temperatures have a primary effect on unit reliability. Additional options that increase total station heat dissipation, the introduction of higher gain block hybrids and the growing popularity of pedestal mounting, make unit thermal performance more and more important.
The general requirements to be considered during the design of a trunk station housing consist of housing size and form factor, product reliability and maintainability, product service life, unit strength and weight, and unit producibility.
This paper will outline the specific requirements of the general considerations listed above and then will show how each of these requirements can be satisfied. To design an integrated, functional producible final housing assembly, consideration must be given to proper housing internal geometry and module placement, proper material selection and parts manufacturing processes, and proper unit thermal performance.