User's Manual

862-01545 µLink System Manual
Issue 1 Page 7
Planning
Information
Site Evaluation
When planning a site for a digital radio relay link, it is
of the utmost importance that you take the operational
environment of the proposed site into account.
The combined effect of atmospheric environmental
factors such as rain and lightning, atmospheric
attenuation, signal path obstruction, propagation
fading, air temperature gradients, ice build-up, wind
and solar radiation can contribute towards reducing
the level of performance of the system (as measured in
terms of its capability to transfer data without error).
In the higher frequency bands, rainfall is the main
attenuation mechanism which limits error
performance. Ice and snow will obviously have a
similar effect. Severely cold, and excessively warm
climatic conditions outside the scope of the operating
temperature range can affect the function of the
system, especially the outdoor equipment (see
Environmental Characteristics on page 18 of this
manual).
Also, if masts are not sufficiently rigid, very strong
winds can affect the antenna beam alignment and
outdoor equipment reliability due to wind force build-
up and/or vibration in the mast mounted equipment.
Non-atmospheric environmental factors such as the
electromagnetic interference due to the presence of
other antennas, path clutter and terrain topography
can also have a detrimental effect on system
performance and should be carefully assessed before
and during installation.