Wifi Revolution

Field personnel need to stay in touch with co-workers, and companies want to track where their vehicles and workers are located. That said, the vehicles used by technicians and other employees that spend the bulk of their time on the road or otherwise in the field are becoming more plugged in.

The Spartan MA.600 antenna, which sells for less than $100 in volume, is a mushroom-cap shaped external antenna for applications that require a heavy-duty, waterproof solution. It’s designed to be screwed onto a roof or metal panel. It also can be pole- or wall-mounted with a metal bracket.

It’s targeted at telematics, transportation and remote monitoring applications.

The device has four connections to allow for GSM (2G and 3G) or WiFi diversity. Taoglas also plans to support satellite connectivity via Iridium (News - Alert) and ORBCOMM.

It delivers 40 percent efficiency and 2dBi+ peak gain at the connector on 3M of cable. Spartan MA.600 operates at 824-2170 MHz for cellular, 2.4/4.9~6 GHz for WiFi (News - Alert)/public safety/Zigbee, and 5dBi for GPS. And it maintains 20dB isolation between antennas.

This product is just one of many antennas from Taoglas, which delivers both external and embedded solutions for end user applications as well as antennas for use in cellular base stations, says Tim Dolan, North America sales manager. The company’s solutions are used in broadband variety of applications and business verticals including transportation, energy, health care and more.