Campbell RF401A Series Instruction Manual Download

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RF401A-Series Spread Spectrum Radio

Radio

Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) Radio Transceiver

Frequency

RF401A: 910 to 918 MHz

RF411A: 920 to 928 MHz

Transmit Power Output: 5 to 250 mW, software selectable

Receiver Sensitivity: –109 dBm

Channel Capacity: 7 hop sequences share 25 frequencies

RF Data Rate: 10 kbps

RF Connector: Reverse Polarity SMA (RPSMA) jack, 50 Ohm unbalanced

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: < 0.5 mA (depending on power saving mode)

Connections

USB

USB Type B Jack

Can draw enough power for normal operation from standard USB host

RS-232

DB9, Female

1200, 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600, and 115200 baud rate supported

CS I/O

DB9, Male

Provides power connection from datalogger for normal operation

Supports SDC (7|8|10|11) and Modem Enable Master communication modes

Does not support Modem Enable Peripheral mode

Diagnostics

LEDs: Power/Tx, Rx

Received Signal Strength Indicator for Last Packet (PakBus® mode)

Retransmit Failure Counter (PakBus® mode)

Operating Temperature

Standard: –25 to +50 °C

Extended: –40 to +85 °C

Configuration

Device Configuration Utility via USB

Compliance

United States FCC Part 15.247: MCQ-XB900HP

Industry Canada (IC): 1846A-XB900HP

(RF411A Only) Australia C-Tick: N3013

RoHS

Summary of Contents for RF401A Series

Page 1: ...INSTRUCTION MANUAL RF401A Series Spread Spectrum Radios Revision 2 18 C o p y r i g h t 2 0 0 1 2 0 1 8 C a m p b e l l S c i e n t i f i c I n c ...

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Page 3: ...s under guarantee or not Please state the faults as clearly as possible and if the product is out of the guarantee period it should be accompanied by a purchase order Quotations for repairs can be given on request It is the policy of Campbell Scientific to protect the health of its employees and provide a safe working environment in support of this policy a Declaration of Hazardous Material and De...

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Page 5: ...s digital cell phones and aerials may also not be applicable according to your locality Some brackets shields and enclosure options including wiring are not sold as standard items in the European market in some cases alternatives are offered Details of the alternatives will be covered in separate manuals Part numbers prefixed with a symbol are special order parts for use with non EU variants or fo...

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Page 7: ...fore beginning work Wear a hardhat and eye protection and take other appropriate safety precautions while working on or around tripods and towers Do not climb tripods or towers at any time and prohibit climbing by other persons Take reasonable precautions to secure tripod and tower sites from trespassers Use only manufacturer recommended parts materials and tools Utility and Electrical You can be ...

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Page 9: ... and RF430 Series Radios 3 5 1 2 RF400 Series Radios 3 6 Specifications 3 7 Product Description 6 7 1 Mounting 6 7 2 Power 6 7 3 USB 6 7 4 CS I O 7 7 5 RS 232 8 7 6 LEDs 9 7 7 Antenna 9 7 7 1 Compatible Antennas 9 7 7 2 Electrostatic Issues and Surge Protection 10 7 7 3 Antenna Cables 11 8 Configuring the RF401A Series 11 8 1 Device Configuration Utility 11 9 LoggerNet Setup 12 9 1 Basic Setup 12 ...

Page 10: ...ersion 23 11 3 4 Received Signal Strength 24 11 3 5 Retransmit Failures 25 11 3 6 ME Baud Rate 25 11 3 7 RS 232 Parity 25 11 3 8 RS 232 Stop Bits 26 11 3 9 RS 232 Character Length 26 11 3 10 RS 232 Auto Power Down 26 11 3 11 AT Sequence Character 26 11 3 12 Silence Time Before Command Sequence 26 11 3 13 Silence Time After Command Sequence 26 11 3 14 AT Command Mode Timeout 26 11 3 15 Net Address ...

Page 11: ... B 4 Antenna Gain of Recommended Antennas B 4 B 5 Free Space Path Loss B 5 B 6 915 MHz Distance vs Path Loss Lpath in dB per Two Propagation Models B 6 B 7 Path Type vs Path Characteristics Selector B 6 B 8 Lpath vs Distance for 2 Ray Propagation Model in Example 1 B 7 B 9 Fade Margin dB vs Distance for 2 Ray Propagation Model in Example 1 B 8 B 10 Lpath vs Distance for 2 Ray Propagation Model in ...

Page 12: ...Table of Contents iv ...

Page 13: ...ial Authorization RMA 2 Precautions This equipment generates uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions may cause harmful interference to radio communications See Appendix A Part 15 FCC Compliance Warning p A 1 for more information Ensure maximum protection against surges Use coaxial antenna surge protection Keep RS 232 CS I O and ...

Page 14: ...adio s Active Interface to USB To learn more about connecting with Device Configuration Utility see Section 8 1 Device Configuration Utility p 11 Using Device Configuration Utility set the radio s Active Interface setting to USB If using the base radio to connect to a CR200 series you will also need to change the Power Mode setting to 1 Sec The Power Mode setting should match that of the device yo...

Page 15: ...na at ideal conditions Compatible antennas are described in Section 7 7 1 Compatible Antennas p 9 5 1 Retired Radios 5 1 1 RF401 Series and RF430 Series Radios In June 2014 the RF401A and RF411A replaced the RF401 and RF430 and RF411 and RF431 respectively It should be noted that the RF401 series and RF430 series radios have a maximum transmit power of 100 mW The RF401A series radio has a maximum ...

Page 16: ... saving mode Connections USB USB Type B Jack Can draw enough power for normal operation from standard USB host RS 232 DB9 Female 1200 4800 9600 19200 38400 57600 and 115200 baud rate supported CS I O DB9 Male Provides power connection from datalogger for normal operation Supports SDC 7 8 10 11 and Modem Enable Master communication modes Does not support Modem Enable Peripheral mode Diagnostics LED...

Page 17: ...RF401A Series Spread Spectrum Radio 5 FIGURE 6 1 RF401A series dimensions ...

Page 18: ...el connectors that will fit the RF401A series Damage that occurs from the use of an AC adapter that is not the 15966 AC to DC power adapter will not be covered by warranty If using a different AC adapter be sure that the adapter s no load voltage is below the 16 5 Vdc measure the output with a DC voltmeter while the AC adapter is plugged into the outlet but not powering anything 7 3 USB The radio ...

Page 19: ...cted to a Campbell Scientific datalogger using the supplied SC12 cable This connection is used for power and data The CS I O port is not a typical RS 232 connection and is specific to Campbell Scientific products CS I O cannot be used for radio configuration using the Device Configuration Utility For a typical remote radio site the radio need only be connected to the datalogger CS I O port using t...

Page 20: ...9 pin female D Sub connector used to for connecting the radio to the RS 232 port of a datalogger computer or another RS 232 device This connection is most commonly used when connecting the radio to a device without a CS I O port or when linking two communication peripherals for example directly connecting the radio to an Ethernet serial server The RS 232 port can be connected to a DTE device like ...

Page 21: ... seconds the red LED flashes every 8 seconds While the receiver detects RF traffic header or data with the same hopping sequence the red LED will light steadily When radio is transmitting the red LED will pulse OFF as the RF packets are transmitted it will not be on solid Green LED activity indicates that there is an RF signal being received whose hopping sequence corresponds to the configured hop...

Page 22: ... and Mounting Hardware 14310 900 MHz 0 dBd Omnidirectional 1 4 Wave Whip Antenna Straight 3 inches Tall with RPSMA Male 15730 900 MHz 0 dBd Omnidirectional 1 4 Wave Whip Antenna with Right Angle and RPSMA Male 15731 900 MHz 0 dBd Omnidirectional 1 4 Wave Whip Antenna Straight 2 inches Tall with RPSMA Male 15970 900 MHz 1 dBd Dipole Antenna with Adhesive Mount and RPSMA Female 79 in Cable 7 7 2 Ele...

Page 23: ...tion Utility Device Configuration Utility is the primary tool for configuring the radio Device Configuration Utility version 2 08 or later is required Device Configuration Utility can be downloaded free of charge from www campbellsci eu downloads INSTALL the DEVICE DRIVER BEFORE plugging the radio into your PC for the first time You will need the device driver properly installed before you can con...

Page 24: ...en the Setup screen from the Main category of the toolbar Start the configuration by clicking on the Add Root button From the Add submenu make the following selections ComPort PakBusPort Your datalogger Finally click the Close button on the Add submenu Your setup tree should appear as shown below ...

Page 25: ...ete the configuration of each element Start with selecting the ComPort element at the root of the tree Under ComPort Connection select port labelled 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 ...

Page 26: ...RF401A Series Spread Spectrum Radio 14 Select the PakBusPort element in the tree and select the PakBus Port Always Open checkbox Set the Maximum Baud Rate to 115200 ...

Page 27: ...he 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 ...

Page 28: ...wever it does not force routes to go through the repeater 10 Installation Best Practices 10 1 Avoiding Interference In band interference within view of either radio in a link can significantly degrade communications Attempt to avoid locating radios and antennas near other transmitters or transmitting through commercial communication tower locations Additionally a powerful signal of almost any freq...

Page 29: ...ts o Avoid routing conductors carrying low level analogue signals in close proximity and parallel to conductors carrying digital signals or switched voltage levels Bend Radius o The RF cable used to interconnect the radio and antenna has a specified minimum bend radius Exceeding it will lead to a degradation of system performance extra losses high VSWR etc Strain Relief o Avoid cable chaffing and ...

Page 30: ...when linking two communication peripherals for example directly connecting the radio to an Ethernet serial server Also see RS 232 Baud Rate and the advanced settings RS 232 Parity Stop Bits Character Length and Auto Power Down USB Use this setting when connecting the radio to a computer This setting is the most common when the device is used as a base radio for a network A computer s USB port can ...

Page 31: ...be capable of performing RF level retries and acknowledgements and provide a more reliable link than Transparent mode used for broadcast messaging You do not need to manually set a unique RF Radio Address or a unique PakBus Address This device will not appear in PakBus Graph PakBus Node This mode is similar to PakBus Aware but it requires the device to have a unique PakBus Address specified Becaus...

Page 32: ...ication interval is spent in high power transmission Power Mode Typical Avg Current Draw Description Always on No Header 15 mA The radio receiver is always on Additional wakeup header is never transmitted Use this setting in a network with very frequent communications or when network latency needs to be minimized The red LED is always on Always on 1 Sec Header 15 mA The radio receiver is always on...

Page 33: ...akeup header with the first transmission occurring after a period of RF inactivity Only use this setting in networks where time between communications is long hours and saving an average an additional 1 to 1 5 mA is essential The red LED flashes every 8 seconds 11 1 9 Retry Level An advantage of using one of the PakBus protocol modes is that the radios will retry packet delivery at the RF level Th...

Page 34: ...ting must be chosen such that the address of the device will be unique in the scope of the PakBus network Duplication of PakBus addresses in two or more devices can lead to failures and unpredictable behaviour in the PakBus network Valid range is 1 to 4094 However values greater than 3999 are generally reserved for software products 11 2 2 PakBus Beacon Interval This setting in units of seconds go...

Page 35: ...r lists with routers beyond the central router This is especially true when the network contains many transient or intermittent PakBus routers If the RF401A series does not know how to explicitly route a packet it will be handed off to the Central Router specified by this setting 11 2 5 Neighbours Allowed This setting specifies an explicit list of nodes the RF401A series will accept as neighbours ...

Page 36: ...ch as determining the optimal direction to aim a Yagi antenna determining the effects of antenna height and location trying alternate reflective paths seeing the effect of vegetation and weather over time Appx Signal Level dBm Indicator Value 35 50 40 49 45 48 50 47 55 46 60 45 65 44 70 42 75 41 80 39 85 37 90 34 95 30 100 24 105 17 108 11 Accessing the received signal strength indicator RSSI Dire...

Page 37: ... received communication BeginProg Scan 5 Sec 0 0 GetVariables Result ComSDC7 Neigh RFPBA 0000 0 Public RFSignalLevel RFstatus 2 NextScan EndProg PakBus Graph RF401A must be running OS Version OBJ30596V05 obj or greater The RF401A series must be configured as a PakBus node using DevConfig Under the Main tab set the Protocol to PakBus Node This setting makes the RF401A an independent device in the n...

Page 38: ...silent after accepting the AT command sequence before the RF401A series will enter command mode 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 second...

Page 39: ...here is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna Increase the separation between ...

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Page 41: ...maximum link distance Greater antenna elevations not only provide greater obstacle clearance but also increase the maximum unobstructed line of sight distances over apparently flat terrain For example given 10 foot antenna elevations for both ends of a link and flat level terrain the maximum allowable distance between the antennas before the curvature of the earth begins to obstruct the RF line of...

Page 42: ...n of the RF signal as it propagates through the transmission lines coaxial cables surge suppressor etc connecting the transmitter and receiver to their respective antennas and more importantly as it traverses the path of propagation between the antennas path loss Here is a block diagram of the various components of gain loss Cable Loss Antenna Gain Path Loss Antenna Gain Cable Loss Radio Receiver ...

Page 43: ...s the fade margin A minimum fade margin of 10 dB is recommended for a reliable link B 2 3 Transmitter Power Transmitter output power is often expressed in dBm which is a decibel power rating relative to 1 mW The conversion formula between transmitter power in mW Pt and transmitter power in dBm Ptx is Ptx in dBm 10 log Pt with Pt expressed in mW TABLE B 1 Transmitter Power Transmitter Power Pt mill...

Page 44: ...free space path loss and all other factors being equal an increase of 6dB in antenna gain theoretically extends the attainable distance by a factor of 2 An antenna s gain is a function of directivity For highly directive antennas such as the Yagi the narrower beam width makes antenna alignment and orientation more critical Antenna gain is specified either in dBi decibels of gain relative to an iso...

Page 45: ...ationship between path loss and distance each time you double the distance you lose 6 dB of signal under free space conditions Or put another way if you add 6 dB of gain for example with 6 dB of additional antenna gain or 6 dB less cable loss you can double the distance for free space conditions As mentioned before free space conditions are the ideal but seldom actually seen The greater the antenn...

Page 46: ...0 ft respectively TABLE B 6 915 MHz Distance vs Path Loss Lpath in dB per Two Propagation Models Path Type 2 mi 4 mi 6 mi 8 mi 10 mi 14 mi 18 mi 22 mi 26 mi 30 mi Free Space 102 108 111 114 116 119 121 123 124 125 2 Ray 112 124 131 136 140 145 150 153 156 159 30 ft and 10 ft antenna elevations Often the maximum path distance may be constrained more by the antenna elevations than the path loss This...

Page 47: ...ennas at 10 ft height fairly open terrain with a few trees How far can I go Ptx 24 dBm Ltx 20 ft 11 1 dB 100 ft 2 22 dB Gtx Grx 3 dBd 5 15 dBi Lrx 10 ft 11 1 dB 100 ft 1 11 dB From Appendix B 3 Real World Distance Estimates p B 5 we know Lpath 2 Ray 120 20log htx hrx 40Log d h in metres d in km Lpath 2 Ray 120 20log 3 05 3 05 40Log 1 609 d in mi Lpath 2 Ray 120 19 37 40Log 1 609 d in mi Lpath 2 Ra...

Page 48: ... 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 15 dBi Need to include an additional loss from the surge suppressor Lss 0 34 dB loss From Appendix B 3 Real World Distance Estimates p B 5 we know Lpath 2 Ray 120 20log htx hrx 40Log d h in metres d in km Lpath 2...

Page 49: ... LOSMAX for this link is approximately 10 5 miles so increasing antenna gain would not provide much of an increase in distance However increasing antenna elevation at one or both ends of the link could be beneficial Example 3 You need to run 125 ft of cable for the transmitter How much loss if I use LMR195 cable 125 ft 11 1 dB 100 ft 13 9 dB How much loss if I use LMR400 cable 125 ft 3 9 dB 100 ft...

Page 50: ...Appendix B Distance vs Antenna Gain Terrain and Other Factors B 10 ...

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Page 52: ...Rua Apinagés nbr 2018 Perdizes CEP 01258 00 São Paulo SP BRASIL www campbellsci com br vendas campbellsci com br Campbell Scientific Canada Corp 14532 131 Avenue NW Edmonton AB T5L 4X4 CANADA www campbellsci ca dataloggers campbellsci ca Campbell Scientific Centro Caribe S A 300 N Cementerio Edificio Breller Santo Domingo Heredia 40305 COSTA RICA www campbellsci cc info campbellsci cc Campbell Sci...

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