~ General FCC Requirements
The FCC requires that cable systems
perform each of the following:
Regular Leakage Monitoring
Each cable system must either moni-
tor its entire plant at least once quar-
terly or supply field technicians with
the equipment needed to monitor
cable system leakage routinely.
Compliance with FCC regulations
require that the field technician:
• Identify and repair cable leakage
greater than 20 µV/m at 3 meters
(10 feet)
• Document and repair all leaks
greater than 20 microvolts per
meter (µV/m) in a reasonable
period of time.
• Maintain regular and complete
leakage logs and maintenance
reports. The logs must be kept on
file for at least 2 years.
Annual Leakage Measurement:
Each cable system must complete one
of two options annually:
Option 1: Gr
ound Based Measurement
Perform a ground based signal leak-
age measurement test annually. This
requirement involves measuring the
leaks in a minimum of 75 percent of
the cable plant (including the worst
segments of the system) compute the
cumulative leakage index (CLI), and
report the test results to the FCC. For
ground based measurements, all leaks
that are 50 µV/m or greater at 10 ft / 3
meters are included in the CLI calcu-
lation.
Specifically, the technician will:
• Annually participate in a test to
measure leaks in accordance with
FCC signal leakage measurement
rules in order to gather the data
needed to compute the system’s CLI.
• Use an accurate, calibrated signal
leakage-measuring instrument with
a dipole antenna to measure signal
leakage. The instrument must be
able to detect and measure a 20
µV/m leak at 10 ft / 3 meters.
• Measure any leak at 10 ft / 3
meters, if possible (if not, meas-
ure as close to the leak as possi-
ble and note the estimated dis-
tance to the expected source).
• Rotate the dipole about the vertical
axis to obtain the highest possible
reading (i.e., peak out the signal).
• Maintain on file for at least 5
years an accurate log of all leaks
found that exceeds 20 µV/m at 10
ft / 3 meters.
Option 2: System Fly-over Measurement
Perform a signal leakage measure-
ment by conducting a system fly-over
annually. Measure the field strength
generated by the cable system using a
specially equipped airplane at an alti-
tude of 450 meters above the ground
and report the test results to the FCC.
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