User's Manual

Getting started – The MENU diagnostics tool 15
RIM 902M OEM Radio Modem – Integrator’s Guide
radio modem. This number is often referred to in other documents as ESN
(Electronic Serial Number) or MSN (Mobitex Serial Number).
Mode shows whether the radio is in powersave mode or express mode. The
default operating mode is powersave, which reduces power consumption by the
radio but introduces a latency of up to 10 seconds when receiving packets from
the network. This mode may be changed through software.
Tx is an indicator to let you know whether the radio’s transmitter is enabled or
disabled. The transmitter may be enabled or disabled through software, and is
normally enabled. The Mobitex base station may also instruct a radio to shut
down (also referred to as DIE) if it is an illegal device, or not registered, or
causing disruption to the Mobitex network. The word Live on the status line
indicates that the radio is not in a DIE state.
A radio modem receives a Group List when it is powered up and registers with
the network base station. Normally, you would see Group List=OK, which
indicates that the radio has successfully signed onto a base station. If you see
Group List=Born, then either your device is out of coverage, or it has not been
activated by your network operator. Note that it can take 30 seconds for a radio
to display Group List=OK.
UpFreq and DoFreq show the channels (in hexadecimal) that you are using to
transmit and receive, respectively. If you are interested in obtaining the exact
current transmit frequency, divide UpFreq by 80 and add to 890. This gives a
value in MHz. Add 39 MHz to obtain the receive channel. For example, if the
display reads “UpFreq=02FF DoFreq=0F2F” then convert hexadecimal 02FF to
decimal 767, divide by 80 and add to 890, and obtain 899.5875 MHz, which is
the transmit channel. Add 39 MHz (or repeat the calculation using DoFreq) to
determine that the receive channel at 938.5875 MHz.
Base/Area indicate which base station you are using. Every base station in the
network is assigned a unique Base/Area combination. Base stations in the same
geographic area often share an Area address. Contact your network operator if
you want to know the location of network base stations.
Status describes the current state of the radio. Other documentation may also
refer to the Status value as the radio’s internal fault bits. The following table
shows the interpretation of the Status bits. If the Status value displayed on your
screen does not correspond to any of the values below, then determine which
values add together in hexadecimal to give the Status value that you see. For
example, status value B403 would simultaneously describe states A000, 1000,
0400, 0001, and 0002, as described below.