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The Urban Outdoor System
One type of application that is growing in popularity is the urban outdoor setting, such as
building, bridge, or highway lighting. This type of system is often used for decorative or
holiday/event lighting. These systems often incorporate color changing LEDS, so steady DMX
transmission is needed to assure smooth color changes.
Range in an outdoor urban system can exceed 100 meters but often ambient interference is
fairly weak. This is also a good application for Panel or Yagi antennas.
Typical systems will include 7400-5708 Vero Net or 7400-5707 Vero transceivers for this
outdoor setting.
Antennas: High Powered directional antennas can be of great benefit in these systems to help
cut through any ambient interference, and also to reduce side-looking interference with other
systems working in the same spectrum. These systems often include receiver targets in the
same DMX universe but located far apart, even 180 degrees away from the transmitter. This
can be a great application for an antenna splitter feeding two identical antennas pointed in
different directions. When a splitter is used, the power from the transmitter is divided between
the two antennas so each antennas gain is effectively reduced by half. Note that antennas on a
splitter must be identical and extension cables from the splitter must also be identical in length
and material to assure equal attenuation. Note that Panels or Yagis can be used on both
receivers and transmitters to maximize range and rejection of interference.
Location: Locate the transmitter(s) with good height and in clear line of sight with the receiver
targets. Take advantage of the architecture whenever possible to gain altitude.
Keep transmitter directional antennas pointed away from each other. Check received signal
strength during intended periods of operation. Remember that the 8 dBi Panel has a 60° beam
angle so at a moderate distance it can usually hit anywhere near the target. Be careful to
polarize antennas correctly, and test horizontal as well as vertical polarity if interference is
significant.
System settings: This may be a good application for full bandwidth configuration, depending on
how many universes you are using.
