Houston Radar SS300 User Manual
Page 7 of 19
Hookup:
Power Input:
The SS300 radar should be powered from a nominal 12V DC source and features best in
class operational power consumption of 9mA (average). There is no other radar in the
world that even comes close to this ultra-low power usage. Competing products may
consume up to 20 times more power.
This ultra low operational power translates directly into a longer battery life or gives you
an option to power the unit from smaller batteries and smaller solar panels.
Note: The radar employs aggressive power saving measures that include turning off parts
of the circuit that are not being used at any instant. To get a true measure of the power
usage of the circuit use a multi-meter that has an averaging function and does not suffer
from autoranging during measurements. Otherwise you will get current readings that
fluctuate from 4 mA to 18 mA.
Your power supply to the radar must be capable of supplying up to 40mA of current for
up to 5 seconds at a time (startup current is higher as the radar is initializing its internal
systems).
Serial Connection:
The SS300 features a RS232 interface that is used to configure the unit as explained later
in this document.
Measured Speed Output:
The SS300 will send out the measured speed via the ASCII interface as a 3 digit speed
with an optional direction indicator. The format is:
[?,+]nnn[\r,\n]
The format of the speed output can be adjusted to any combination of:
“?”: Optional prefix sent when 000 selected to be sent when no vehicles are detected
“+”: Optional prefix sent when nnn speed is sent for incoming vehicles
“nnn”: Three digit ascii speed in the units selected via the UN variable
“\r”: Carriage Return character, optional line ending
“\n”: Line Feed character, optional line ending
At least one or both of the line endings must be selected. No line ending is not an option.
Please see serial port configuration section for details on how to select the above format.
