INSTRUCTION MANUAL RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radios Revision: 7/14 C o p y r i g h t © 2 0 0 1 - 2 0 1 4 C a m p b e l l S c i e n t i f i c , I n c .
Limited Warranty “Products manufactured by CSI are warranted by CSI to be free from defects in materials and workmanship under normal use and service for twelve months from the date of shipment unless otherwise specified in the corresponding product manual. (Product manuals are available for review online at www.campbellsci.com.) Products not manufactured by CSI, but that are resold by CSI, are warranted only to the limits extended by the original manufacturer.
Assistance Products may not be returned without prior authorization. The following contact information is for US and international customers residing in countries served by Campbell Scientific, Inc. directly. Affiliate companies handle repairs for customers within their territories. Please visit www.campbellsci.com to determine which Campbell Scientific company serves your country. To obtain a Returned Materials Authorization (RMA), contact CAMPBELL SCIENTIFIC, INC., phone (435) 227-9000.
Precautions DANGER — MANY HAZARDS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH INSTALLING, USING, MAINTAINING, AND WORKING ON OR AROUND TRIPODS, TOWERS, AND ANY ATTACHMENTS TO TRIPODS AND TOWERS SUCH AS SENSORS, CROSSARMS, ENCLOSURES, ANTENNAS, ETC. FAILURE TO PROPERLY AND COMPLETELY ASSEMBLE, INSTALL, OPERATE, USE, AND MAINTAIN TRIPODS, TOWERS, AND ATTACHMENTS, AND FAILURE TO HEED WARNINGS, INCREASES THE RISK OF DEATH, ACCIDENT, SERIOUS INJURY, PROPERTY DAMAGE, AND PRODUCT FAILURE.
Table of Contents PDF viewers: These page numbers refer to the printed version of this document. Use the PDF reader bookmarks tab for links to specific sections. 1. Introduction ................................................................. 1 2. Cautionary Statements ............................................... 1 3. Initial Inspection ......................................................... 1 4. Quickstart .................................................................... 2 4.1 4.2 4.
Table of Contents 10.3 Antenna Cables ................................................................................. 17 11. Operation ...................................................................17 11.1 Main .................................................................................................. 18 11.1.1 Active Interface .......................................................................... 18 11.1.2 SDC Address ......................................................................
Table of Contents B.2.5 Antenna Gain ............................................................................ B-4 B.2.6 Receiver Sensitivity .................................................................. B-4 B.2.7 Path Loss ................................................................................... B-5 B.3 Real World Distance Estimates ........................................................ B-6 B.4 Examples ....................................................................................
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RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio 1. Introduction This manual discusses the configuration, operation, and maintenance of the Campbell Scientific RF401A and RF411A frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) radios. This manual will refer to these devices collectively as either “radio,” “RF401A series,” or “RF401A-series radio” unless otherwise noted. The RF401A-series radios are designed for license-free use in several countries.
RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio • 4. Immediately check package contents against shipping documentation. Thoroughly check all packaging material for product that may be trapped inside it. Contact Campbell Scientific immediately about any discrepancies. Model numbers are found on each product. On cables, the model number is often found at the connection end of the cable. Quickstart Out of the box, the radio is configured for use with a datalogger connecting via CS I/O and using CS I/O SDC address 7.
RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio 5. Overview Spread spectrum radios spread the normally narrowband information signal over a relatively wide band of frequencies. This allows the communications to be more immune to noise and interference from RF sources such as pagers, cellular phones and multipath. The RF401A-series radios reduce susceptibility to RF interference from other spread spectrum devices by providing userselectable frequency hopping patterns.
RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio Power Powered over CS I/O or 2.5 mm DC power jack Input Voltage: 9 to 16 Vdc Average Current Drain Transmit: < 80 mA (250 mW TX Power) Receive: 15 mA Stand-by: < 0.
RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio FIGURE 6-1.
RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio 7. Product Description 7.1 Mounting The mounting holes are designed to align with a one-inch-on-center hole pattern and provide for ridged mounting of the radio in either a vertical or horizontal orientation. #6-32 x 0.375 inch stainless steel Phillips head screws (pn 505) and nylon grommets (pn 6044) are supplied for securing the radio to the backplate of a Campbell Scientific enclosure. 7.2 Power There are three ways the radio may be powered for operation.
RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio When the radio is connected to the PC, a virtual COM port will be added to the list of available Ports (COM and LPT) devices. It will be descriptively labeled, for example “RF401A Series (COM10)”, where COM10 denotes the COM port enumerated by the Windows operating system. The USB port is always available for configuration purposes.
RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio 4 RX O Serial data receive line 5 Modem Enable I Raised when datalogger determines that associated modem raised the ring line 6 Synchronous Device Enable I Used by datalogger to address synchronous devices; can be used as a printer enable 7 CLK/Handshake I/O Used by datalogger with SDE and TX lines to transfer data to synchronous devices 8 12V supplied by datalogger PWR Sources 12 Vdc to power peripherals 9 TX I Serial data transmit line I = Signa
RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio 7 8 O CTS 9 I = Signal into the RF401A series, 0 = Signal out of the RF401A series 7.6 LEDs The radios have a red LED labeled Pwr/TX and a green LED labeled RX. When 12V power is applied, the red LED lights for ten seconds. About three seconds after power-up, the green LED lights for a second. Ten seconds after power-up, the selected standby mode begins to control the red LED. The red LED lights to indicate when the receiver is actively listening.
RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio Approved Antennas Campbell Scientific Part Number Description 14201 900 MHz 9 dBd Yagi Antenna with Type N Female and Mounting Hardware 14204 900 MHz 0 dBd Omnidirectional 1/2 Wave Whip Antenna with Right Angle and RPSMA Male 14205 900 MHz 6 dBd Yagi Antenna with Type N Female and Mounting Hardware 14221 900 MHz 3 dBd Omnidirectional Antenna with Type N Female and Mounting Hardware 14310 900 MHz 0 dBd Omnidirectional 1/4 Wave Whip Antenna, Straight 3 inches Ta
RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio COAXNTN-L is a RG8/U coax cable terminated with a Type N plug on both ends. The COAXNTN-L is typically used to connect antennas with a Type N jack connector to an inline surge protector, or to a bulk head Type N jack. 8. Configuring the RF401A Series 8.1 Device Configuration Utility Device Configuration Utility is the primary tool for configuring the radio. Device Configuration Utility version 2.08 or later is required.
RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio • • • ComPort PakBusPort Your datalogger Finally, click the Close button on the Add submenu.
RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio With the setup tree entered, you will now need to complete the configuration of each element. Start with selecting the ComPort element at the root of the tree. Under ComPort Connection, select port labeled RF401A-Series. Set the Extra Response Time to match the Power Mode of the RF401A series. The image below is for a radio with Power Mode set to 1 sec.
RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio Select the PakBusPort element in the tree, and select the PakBus Port Always Open checkbox. Set the Maximum Baud Rate to 115200.
RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio Finally, select your datalogger in the tree. Set the PakBus Address field to the PakBus® address of your datalogger. Enter the Security Code, if security has been set up in your datalogger. Press the Apply button to save your changes. You are now ready to connect to your datalogger using the LoggerNet Connect screen.
RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio 9.2 Using a Repeater When using an RF401A-series radio as a repeater in your network, it can be entered into the LoggerNet Setup screen using the pbRouter device and entering the PakBus® address of the RF401A series in the PakBus Address field. If the repeater is the first hop from LoggerNet, it should always be shown in the network map. This will force routes to go through the repeater.
RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio directional antenna may make a significant difference. Keep in mind that commercial tower sites and urban areas tend to evolve over time meaning that sources of interference may develop over time. 10.2 Antenna Selection, Placement, and Mounting Antenna selection and placement can play a large role in system performance.
RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio 11.1 Main 11.1.1 Active Interface The radio provides three physical ports for interfacing to a computer, datalogger, or other device. They are USB, RS-232, and CS I/O. The CS I/O port has two operational modes, SDC and ME Master. Additionally, there is PakBus Router which is a software defined interface that disables normal operation of all of the physical ports. Only one interface can be selected as active at any given time.
RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio 11.1.2 SDC Address Specifies the CS I/O port SDC address when Active Interface is set as CS I/O SDC. 11.1.3 RS-232 Baud Rate Specifies the baud rate that will be used on the RS-232 port when Active Interface is set as RS-232. Other related advanced settings include RS-232 Parity, Stop Bits, Character Length, and Auto Power Down. 11.1.4 Protocol Protocol Description Transparent Provides a transparent link with no interpretation of the data packet.
RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio 11.1.5 RF Hop Sequence Specifies the radio channel hop sequence. This setting must match in all radios in the same RF network. This setting can also be used to prevent radios in one RF network from listening to transmissions of another. 11.1.6 RF Network Specifies the RF network. This setting must match in all radios in the same RF network. Valid entries are 0 to 3 for radios with Protocol set to PakBus Aware or PakBus Node.
RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio Always on, 8 Sec Header < 15 mA The radio receiver is always on. A wakeup header of 8.2 seconds is transmitted at the beginning of the first transmission occurring after a period of RF inactivity to ensure that other radios in the network set to an 8 second mode are awake and ready to communicate. Using this setting is uncommon, generally only used in a base radio that communicates with a CR200-series datalogger configured with a power mode of “8 second” (no header).
RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio NOTE Set Retry Level to None when Protocol is set to Transparent for the purpose of communicating with RF400/RF410 radios, CR205/CR210 dataloggers, or RF401/RF411 radios and CR206/CR211 dataloggers with Protocol also set to Transparent. NOTE If the Retry Level is increased in a network with poor reception and many nodes, latency will greatly increase, sometimes to the point of non-operation if inundated with traffic. 11.1.
RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio 11.2.3 PakBus Verify Interval This setting specifies the interval, in units of seconds, which will be reported as the link verification interval in the PakBus® hello transaction message. It will indirectly govern the rate at which the device will attempt to start a hello transaction with a neighbor if no other communication has taken place within the negotiated PakBus® link verification interval.
RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio 11.3.3 Radio Firmware Version Radio firmware version 11.3.4 Received Signal Strength This setting provides a means of knowing the signal strength of the last packet received that was addressed to this radio and that had a valid CRC. 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.
RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio 11.3.13 Silence Time After Command Sequence Specifies the amount of time (in tenths of seconds) that the RS-232 interface must be silent after accepting the AT command sequence before the RF401A series will enter command mode. 11.3.14 AT Command Mode Timeout Specifies the amount of time (in tenths of seconds) that must elapse with no activity on the RS-232 interface before the RF401A series exits command mode automatically. 11.3.
RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio 26
Appendix A. Part 15 FCC Compliance Warning Changes or modifications to the RF401A-series radio systems not expressly approved by Campbell Scientific, Inc. could void the user’s authority to operate this product. Note: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation.
Appendix A.
Appendix B. Distance vs. Antenna Gain, Terrain, and Other Factors B.1 Introduction The communication distance you can expect to obtain using the RF401A series depends on many factors including line of sight, antenna height, and antenna gain. Examples of distance achieved using different antennas and line of sight are shown in TABLE B-1. TABLE B-1.
Appendix B. Distance vs. Antenna Gain, Terrain, and Other Factors GAIN ANTENNAS Increasing antenna gains improves signal strength and distance. For example, the substitution of a 9 dBd Yagi antenna where a 0 dBd omnidirectional existed theoretically extends the attainable distance by a factor of 2.8. Adding 9 dBd Yagi antennas on both ends in place of 0 dBd whip antennas theoretically extends the distance by a factor of 7.9.
Appendix B. Distance vs. Antenna Gain, Terrain, and Other Factors Where: Pt => transmitter output power, in dBm (24 dBm in the case of the RF401A series at maximum transmitter power) Lt => cable loss between transmitter and antenna in dB (see Cable Loss section) Gt => transmit antenna gain in dBi (dBi = dBd + 2.
Appendix B. Distance vs. Antenna Gain, Terrain, and Other Factors TABLE B-3. Cable Loss Cable Type Outside Diameter Loss (dB/100 ft) @ 900 MHz RG-58A/U 0.195” 21.1 COAX RPSMA-L 0.195” 11.1 RG-8 0.405” 6.9 COAX NTN-L 0.405” 4.5 LMR-400 0.405” 3.9 *CSI stocked antenna cables are shaded. CSI’s “COAX RPSMA-L” uses LMR-195 antenna cable. Cable loss is proportional to length as the following table illustrates. TABLE B-4. LMR-195 Cable Loss vs. Length @ 900 MHz LENGTH (ft.) LOSS (dB) 100 11.
Appendix B. Distance vs. Antenna Gain, Terrain, and Other Factors If the received signal strength is greater than the receiver sensitivity, a link can be established. Any excess signal strength above the receiver sensitivity is “link margin”, and is a very good thing; a minimum of 6 dB of link margin should be sought. B.2.
Appendix B. Distance vs. Antenna Gain, Terrain, and Other Factors Ground Reflections These are caused by the RF signal being reflected from the ground (or water), and undergoing a phase shift so that it destructively interferes with the line-ofsight signal. The conditions that cause this the most are propagation over water, or over a low-lying fogbank. The reflected signal suffers little attenuation, gets out of phase, and interferes with the main signal.
Appendix B. Distance vs. Antenna Gain, Terrain, and Other Factors The following table helps select a Path Type in the above “Distance vs. Path Loss” table to best fit your situation. TABLE B-8. Path Type vs.
Appendix B. Distance vs. Antenna Gain, Terrain, and Other Factors Example #2 Base has MaxRad BMOY8905 Yagi, with 50 ft of LMR195 cable on a 30 ft tower, also a lightening protection device with a VSWR of 1:1.75; remote also has a MaxRad BMOY8905 Yagi with 5 ft of LMR195 cable on a 4 ft pole. Terrain is mostly flat, with sagebrush. How far can I go? Pt = 24 dBm Lt = 50 ft • (11.1 dB/100 ft) = 5.55 dB Gt = 9 dBd = 11.15 dBi Lr = 5 ft • (11.1 dB/100 ft) = 0.55 dB Gr = 9 dBd = 11.
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