User's Manual

Exalt Communications, Inc.
EX-5r Installation & Management
5000007 27
2006-05-17
connection. In all cases, be certain that the transmission line is not providing any pulling force
onto the RF connector of the radio. Transmission lines can be very stiff, and can damage the
connector if not dressed properly. Also, follow the transmission line manufacturer’s instructions
for proper cable securing devices.
4.4 Antenna Alignment
Antennas must be installed at both ends of the planned link to commence precision alignment.
Refer to the Exalt White Paper entitled Antenna Alignment for more information on this topic.
Antennas are typically aligned using the radio hardware to aid in the precision alignment
process. However, there are many very useful tools available to aid in this process, inclusive of
devices that are specifically designed solely for the purpose of aligning antennas. Some examples
of these devices are:
• XL Microwave Path Align-R
• Teletronics 17-402
Using these devices can be extremely advantageous compared to using the radio, as they employ
many unique facilities to aid in this process. In addition, using these tools makes it possible to
align the antennas before the radio equipment is delivered on site. However, many installers
routinely use the radios as the means for antenna alignment, and they have much success with
this method as well.
If using the radio, there are two primary facilities to aid in antenna alignment:
• Internal alignment beeper
o This function must be enabled within the GUI or by CLI. When enabled, the
beeper frequency rises as RSL increases and falls when RSL decreases. Align the
antennas separately for azimuth and elevation, at each end separately, until the
highest beeper frequency is reached. Then disable the beeper function using the
GUI or CLI.
• Browser-based GUI interface RSL reading
o The browser-based GUI interface of the radio indicates the current RSL in dBm.
The browser-based GUI should only be used for antenna alignment if using the beeper is not
practical. If this method is required, refer to section 5.2 for instruction on using the browser-
based GUI. The RSL reading can be read on a PC or any handheld computing device that
supports an HTML browser and Ethernet connectivity.
There is a slight delay in RSL reading on the browser-based GUI as RSL levels
change. In this case, fine alignment should be done in small adjustments, with a
small gap of time, to see the impact of the adjustment on the GUI display.