Suzhou Maite Technology Sharing: Why do 5G communication equipment installation have to use self-locking tuning screws?

I'll make it clear to you with the straightforward logic of field engineering+actual pain point of base station: 5G communication equipment (especially filters, cavities and antennas) must use self-locking tuning screws, which is not "optional" but just needed by the industry.

Here are only the most critical and fatal reasons, which can be understood at a glance:

1. The base station will vibrate all the time, and ordinary screws will be loosened.

The 5G base station is hung on the tower/roof, which is subjected to wind vibration, equipment cooling fan vibration and vehicle passing vibration all the year round.

Ordinary screw+nut: it will loosen and shift after a long time.

Screw movement → resonance frequency drift → signal deterioration → dropped call, rate decrease and unstable coverage.

Self-locking screw: it is mechanically self-locking and never loosens, which is the basis for the stable operation of the base station for 10 years.

2. The requirements of PIM are extremely high, and ordinary screws are not up to standard.

5G is a high-frequency, large-capacity, MIMO dense networking, which is extremely sensitive to **PIM (passive intermodulation).

Ordinary screws:

Weak contact → micro-discharge and virtual contact → PIM soaring → interference with the whole community.

Self-locking screw:

The thread is tightly fitted, with no gap or virtual joint → PIM is extremely low and stable.

The PIM is not up to standard, and the base station cannot access the network at all.

3. When the temperature ranges from-40℃ to+85℃, ordinary screws will fail when they expand when heated and contract when cooled.

The outdoor base station has great temperature difference.

Ordinary screws: thermal expansion → loosening; Cold shrinkage → looser

Self-locking structure: expansion/elasticity/special-shaped thread design, keeping locking force even when temperature changes.

This is one of the core reasons why outdoor Hong Jizhan must use self-locking.

4. The 5G base station can't send people to re-tighten every day!

Traditional equipment:

Climb the tower and tighten the screws once every six months.

Expensive labor, high risk and low efficiency.

5G base station:

Millions of Taiwan.

Must be maintenance-free, zero post-adjustment

Self-locking tuning screw: once adjusted, never moved.

5. Debugging efficiency determines productivity, and 5G must automate production line.

The output of 5G filter is extremely high.

Ordinary screws: tuning → locking nut → retest, with many procedures and easy displacement.

Self-locking screw: it can be locked as soon as it is screwed in, with one step in place, without secondary locking.

It is suitable for automatic debugging equipment, and the production capacity is increased several times.

6. The accuracy requirement far exceeds 4G, which ordinary screws can't meet.

5G NR has high frequency band and narrow channel;

Frequency deviation of several MHz will affect coverage.

When the screw moves for 1/10th turn, the signal will be biased.

Self-locking screw:

High positioning accuracy

Locking does not retreat, drive or displace.

Debugging is the final state.

Summary:

5G communication equipment must use self-locking tuning screws.

Because: no looseness, no bleaching, low PIM, high and low temperature resistance, maintenance-free, suitable for automatic mass production.

Ordinary screws simply can't carry the harsh environment and high frequency performance requirements of base stations.