User Manual

MM102365V1 Rev. B
10. TROUBLESHOOTING
10.1 OVERVIEW
This document is intended to present some techniques used for determining problems with an ISM link.
The document is not intended to be comprehensive. In many cases not all of the steps will need to be
followed. In other cases an engineer will be needed to go beyond the items offered in this guide. This
guide assumes some familiarity with the product and system such that the ability to connect to the radio
locally and remotely is known.
In general most issues typically fall into three general categories. Most intermittent issues or link
reliability issues will fall into the first two categories. In many cases the issue will turn out to be a
combination of A and B, when the link has been degraded to the point where by the interference level is
now impacting the link.
x RF path or antenna system issues: This can be path obstructions (Trees that have grown, buildings
that have been constructed), antenna failure, alignment changes or water intrusion in the antenna
system.
x Interference issues: Since the 2.4Ghz band is unlicensed interferes can change on a daily basis.
x Other issues: The normal hardware failures of the equipment such as power supply.
In general troubleshooting should be done in a methodical approach and troubleshooting findings should
be documented thoroughly. Use the diagram at the end of the section to go through the link one
component at a time from end to end.
10.2 EQUIPMENT REQUIRED
Listed below are some tools that can be used to aid in troubleshooting:
x For antenna sweep: FDR, Anritsu Site Master S332C or equivalent.
x For interference & alignment: 2.4 GHz Spectrum Analyzer, Anritsu Site Master S332C or Berkely
Varitronics Yellow Jacket Plus.
x Laptop computer with terminal program (Windows HyperTerminal is fine) and straight through DB9
female to male interface cable. For connection to ISM radio.
10.3 REMOTE TROUBLESHOOTING
A tremendous amount of troubleshooting can be done remotely. Further before going on site you need to
be familiar with the system design.
From the NMC:
1. Check the fault browser in the NMC to determine if there are any faults.
2. Check the history browser in the NMC to determine a history of the issues that are occurring on the
link.
3. Are there patterns of outages in clumps or are they evenly spread out? Randomly spread out issues is
an indication of an RF system or interference issue.
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