Application:
Remote station is a solar supplied system with a CR1000 enclosure mounted. The distance between both systems is flat terrain, approx. 300m in line of sight no obstacles between them. The antennas should be mounted in a height of 3m. The base station is also a CR1000 enclosure mounted system.
Remote station
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1x RF416
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1x 16982—Antenna surge protector kit for 2.4 GHz radios. Includes one COAXRPSMA-L(1.5). Requires the COAXNTN-L cable.
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1x COAXNTN-L—Low-loss RG8 antenna cable with type N male to type N male connectors (requires 14462 or 16982). Specify length, in feet, after the L.
=> 15 meters = 49.2125984 feet
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1x 16755 Yagi (antenna outside) approx. 3m height
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Base station
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1x RF416
--
1x 16982—Antenna surge protector kit for 2.4 GHz radios. Includes one COAXRPSMA-L(1.5). Requires the COAXNTN-L cable.
--
1x COAXNTN-L—Low-loss RG8 antenna cable with type N male to type N male connectors (requires 14462 or 16982). Specify length, in feet, after the L.
=> 15 meters = 49.2125984 feet
--
1x 16755 Yagi (antenna outside) approx. 3m height
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Some questions:
1. Do all the parts work togehter, in detail the connectors?
2. Did I forget any parts?
3. Is the antenna cable made for rough conditions, outdoor use?
4. What cable attenuation do you estimate for 15m length and all the connectors?
5. Any other suggestions or improvements to the application?
Best regards, Tim
* Last updated by: moho on 12/13/2009 @ 4:25 AM *
Tim,
The RF416 radio has an RPSMA female connector.
The #16982 surge kit contains the surge protector and a 18-inch RPSMA-male to N-male coaxial cable. The cable is used to connect the radio to one side of the surge protector. The cable is of type LMR195. It also contains mounting hardware and a ground wire.
The COAXNTN-L is a type RG8/U coaxial cable with N-male connectors on each end. The cable is used to connect the antenna to one side of the surge protector.
The #16755 antenna is a 13dBd YAGI antenna. It has a type N-female connector.
The parts you listed have all of the correct connectors to work together.
The antenna cable is outdoor ready, weather resistant. This type of cable is commonly used in situations where it is exposed to the sun and rain. The radio and surge protector are supplied with hardware to keep them mounted inside of an enclosure. All of your exposed connectors should be water proofed / sealed with waterproof / mastic tape. If water gets inside of the connectors or inside of the cable sheathing, you will have problems.
You can expect the following attenuation. These are approximate.
Sources:
http://www.amphenolrf.com/pdf/type_n_spec.pdf
http://www.timesmicrowave.com/cgi-bin/calculate.pl
Per connection (Qty 4): 0.1 dB = 0.4 dB
18" LMR195 cable: 0.3 dB
15m RG8/U cable: 6.2 dB
Total, approximately: 6.9 dB
Ideally, you will experience a gain from the antenna of 13dB.
Your total gain (antenna gain - cable loss) is approximately: 6 dB
Rule of thumb: For every 3db you will double your power. Applying that, if your radio has a 50mW output, then you have an effective radiated power (ERP) of approximately 200mW.
* Last updated by: Sam on 12/16/2009 @ 9:09 AM *
Hi Sam,
thanks for the detailed answer. I will contact the german CS office for price indication and then I will order the set. Hope that they are available from stock in the UK. Otherwise it will sadly took more than 1 month. We will see.
Last but not least. Could you please post some details about the antenna. The angle horizontal and vertical beam. Or have you got a datasheet?
Greets Tim
Frequency (MHz): 2.4-2.485 GHz
Gain (dBd): 12.9
Max. Input Power: 5
Type: WISP Enclosed Yagi
Bandwidth: 85 MHz
H. Beamwidth: 30 Deg
V. Beamwidth: 30 Deg
Front to Back Ratio (dB): 30
VSWR: <1.5:1
Polarization: Horizontal or Vertical
Overall Size: 14 x 3 inches
Weight: 1 lb (0.45 Kg)
Termination: N Female
Mounting Style: Mast up to 2" OD Pipe
* Last updated by: Sam on 12/16/2009 @ 9:29 AM *
A word of warning. The reason that antenna is not stocked in Europe is because, strictly speaking, it is illegal to use it in all European countries (some may allow you to with a special license). The maximum ERP allowed in most countries is 100 mW (some countries are lower than this).
Theoretically you should be able to go 300 m without exceeding those limits if you have good line of sight using standard antenna that do not exceed the 100 mW limit.
As you have quite a long cable you will need to use an antenna with some gain but not 13 dBd. Something around the 8-10 dB level. Please contact your sales outlet for advice as we do offer other aerials which do not appear on the US website.
Hi Sam, Hi Andrew,
the measurement is running perfectly stable. Very nice!
-> We chose an antenna with 12dB gain.
-> cables loss of 15m length, connectors and lightning prot. approx. 8.5dB
=> Therefore we have a gain of appr. 3.5dB, which means we have about 100mW.
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Based that another company is also using a wireless radio communication, but with different equipment, and they have problems with the connection, they affirm, that we are disturbing their system.
- Is the absolutely max power of the RF416 50mW?
- Is there a possibility to decrease the 50mW power of the RF416?
Best regards,
Tim
/*
Based that another company is also using a wireless radio communication, but with different equipment, and they have problems with the connection, they affirm, that we are disturbing their system.
*/
Since the RF416 is a spread spectrum radio, and it's (probably) not on all the time, I'm not sure how they came to that conclusion.
If you really are interfering:
1) That's unfortunate, but this is unlicensed spectrum, so everyone has to accept whatever interference there is.
2) You can both try moving antennas, feedlines, mounting height, antenna polarization, etc.
3) Changing power isn't going to eliminate interference, you need a different frequency or something...
The ham world is full of stories of putting up towers without antennas, feedlines, or transmitters, and immediately receiving interference reports.
You need to be careful just in case the user regsiters a complaint with the local radio authorities as you are using an antenna with gain. There is no way of turning down the power output. The simplest alternative for a test at least is to put an in-line attenuator in the cable although this will reduce your receive gain too.
The RF416 works by frequency hopping and transmitting at discrete frequencies over part of the delicensed band, rather than transmitting over very wide part of the spectrum as some other devices do. This would mean any interference should caused should be infrequent for a device on a fixed channel and as Sam said any device in this band should be able to deal with it. They could trying changing the channel their device is using to dodge the RF416.
Ironically we normally find the RF416 is swamped out by wide frequency sources in the same delicensed band, e.g. newer higher speed Wifi networks or video senders. There have been few reports of that radio causing problems to others.
Hey,
we use nearly the same System such as Tim.
My question:
-Is it possible to determine the signal quality and strength?
-What is the best way to proceed?
A ping command in the main program?
Or a external software?
Have you any ideas?
Sincerely
Hannes
* Last updated by: Funkster on 5/19/2011 @ 4:24 AM *
No one an idea
regards Hannes
Page B-4 of the RF410-430 manual describes how to access the signal strength of the last packet received by the modem.
B.3 Received Signal Strength
Beginning with SW Version 6.420 the radios provide a means of knowing the signal strength of the last packet received, addressed to it, that had a valid CRC. To see this reading enter the radio’s Setup Menu /Advanced Setup/Radio Parameters/Radio Diagnostics menu. RSS readings are cleared upon exiting the Setup Menu or cycling the radio’s 12 Volt power.
The RSS reading is a relative signal level indication expressed in dB (decibels). Readings may vary up to 10 dB from radio to radio for a given received signal level. The weakest signal reading is around 25 dB and the strongest signal reading is near 86 dB. Although the RSS readings are not absolute, they will be of value in such activities as:
determining the optimal direction to aim a yagi antenna
seeing the effects of antenna height, location
trying alternate (reflective) paths
seeing the effect of seasonal tree leaves
sry, double post
* Last updated by: Funkster on 5/30/2011 @ 4:13 AM *
Thanks for your help.
Hannes