GASMAX/TX Operation & Maintenance Manual, Revision 1.0
Page 33
•
At the
end of the initial Warm-Up
interval
•
Any time
menu items are edited
and again upon returning the display to readings mode.
OPTIMIZING BATTERY LIFE
The 3.6v lithium battery in the GASMAX/TX should last between six and 12 months under normal
conditions if gas is only occasionally present. To optimize battery life, consider the following options:
•
Set the Wakeup Timer to its maximum value of 5 minutes (300 seconds)
- Shortening the Wakeup
Timer will increase the number of transmissions and reduce battery life. However this will also reduce
the amount of time that a gas detector can be inactive before the Wireless Site Manager or
receiver/controller will signal a “COMM ERROR”.
•
Reduce the power output for 900MHz radios
– Transmit power at 900 MHz can be adjusted from 1
watt (max) down to 10 milliwatts (min). Since most of the power consumed by the GASMAX/TX is
used by the radio to transmit, reducing the power output will increase battery life. However, this will
reduce the strength of the transmitted signal and may increase communications errors.
•
Setting the TX Multiples value
– The TX Multiples menu setting enables every broadcast to be
repeated up to five times with a 200 mSec delay between each transmission. Increasing the TX
Multiples value will increase battery usage, but may reduce communications errors in noisy
environments.
•
Setting the TX Config value
– The TX Config setting determines how often the GASMAX/TX transmits
the large data packet that contains configuration data. The default is 60 minutes. Decreasing the TX
Config interval will slightly increase battery power usage.
•
Setting RF Handshaking
– If RF Handshaking is ON, the Wireless Site Manager will actively
acknowledge each transmission from the GASMAX/TX. If an acknowledge signal is not received by the
GASMAX/TX, the transmission will be repeated up to three times. RF Handshaking ON will increase
wireless reliability but may reduce battery life if transmissions must be repeated.
NOTE:
RF HANDSHAKING
CAN ONLY BE USED
IF THE GASMAX/TX IS TRANSMITTING TO A SINGLE
WIRELESS SITE MANAGER OR RECEIVER/CONTROLLER.
ALARM SETUP
When used with third-generation products like the C2/TX Wireless Site Manager, GDS-98 Wireless System
Manager or GDS-95 Alarm Station, the
alarm settings programmed into the GASMAX/TX will directly
trigger the alarm condition
. Alarm indicators can be set to activate above or below a given engineering
units set point. Alarm processing will trigger an alarm condition when the input exceeds the programmed
value, and includes hysteresis to keep the alarm from rapidly switching ON and OFF if the input remains
close to the programmed alarm value.
