Oil City, Penn. — Pepro LLC (www.peprollc.com), the leading manufacturer of shielded enclosure systems for stationary and mobile applications, today announced the successful completion of a landmark series of tests conducted at Lightning Technologies, Inc. (LTI) of Pittsfield, Mass.  LTI is the testing facility relied upon by airframe, automotive and aerospace equipment manufacturers to test lightning safety and is the recognized authority on the nature and effects of lightning. 

Each year, lightning strikes lead to extensive damage to local, state and federal radio systems, resulting in potentially life-threatening communications down-time and costly repair work.  Manufacturing effective shielding solutions for such equipment has been Pepro’s mission since its founding, and in February 2011 the company requested that LTI perform lightning direct effects tests on its full line of Faraday cage shelter enclosures to demonstrate their ability to tolerate lightning strikes without damage to radio equipment contained within.  

According to the report drafted by LTI: High voltage lightning strike attachment tests were applied to the shelters using a 1.2 x 50 μs waveform at a 1,300 kV peak level. High current conducted entry tests were applied to the shelter using a 25 x 60 μs waveform with levels from 75 to 90 kA. Portable radios transmitted and received a signal (tone) to and from the shelter during the tests. The radios operated between and after all tests.

The continued operation of the radios met the survivability requirements of this test program.

“No other company or organization  in this industry has ever conducted tests comparable to those we completed , because our Faraday cage technology is the only way to ensure the effects of lightning are kept safely away from the sensitive and expensive equipment contained at radio sites,” said Vic Garmong, Pepro LLC President. “The amount of energy that entered our enclosures during the lightning simulation is barely enough to make an LED light flicker, and that’s using the full load of LTI’s voltage and amperage-generating capability.  Our confidence in the capabilities of the Pepro line has never been higher and we believe that these tests further validate both past and future investments in Pepro technology.”

During a natural lightning strike event, the high voltage attachment portion of the strike connects the lightning channel to a shelter. Once the voltage component makes the connection with the enclosure, the high current portion of the strike is injected into the shelter. During the simulated lightning tests, a high voltage test generator was used to make the attachment. A high current generator was then connected to the attachment point and discharged to deliver a high current discharge.

According to the report, energy delivered to a 50 Ω resistor at the location where the antenna cable entered the radio did not exceed 10 μJ. Antenna cable shield currents monitored at the radio entrance did not exceed 40 A peak and 25 μs durations. Voltage measurements made between an internal equipment rack and the shelter wall ground point did not exceed 50 V and 25 μs durations during high voltage tests. Measurements made during the high current tests did not exceed 5 volts and 80 μs durations. Measurements made on the ac power line exhibited voltage clamp levels typical of suppressors installed on 240 volt power lines. These measurements were all very similar and did not yield any unexpected levels.

About Pepro LLC
Pepro LLC (www.peprollc.com) is the leading manufacturer of shielded enclosure systems for stationary and mobile applications. The company has provided state-of-the-art deployable radio sites without loss or failure since the company’s founding in 1992, a record of reliability attributable, in part, to a patented Faraday cage system to protect from lightning strikes, electromagnetic pulses (EMP), electromagnetic interferences (EMI), and radio frequency interferences (RFI).  Pepro provides services to public utilities & public safety offices, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Homeland Security, states & local governments, Motorola and other organizations requiring a secure enclosure for sensitive electronic, computer, and radio equipment.

Pepro, LLC is a veteran-owned, small business located in Oil City, Pennsylvania. Pepro products qualify for 8a, American Indian, HUBZone Disadvantaged and Woman-Owned Small Business contracting through a Master Service Agreement with Northwind Engineering, LLC.