XLINK 500/100 Operations & Maintenance Manual page # 24
The solar panel input with sufficient sun illuminating the panel will power the station in
situations where the battery needs to be removed from the circuit momentarily for
replacement. Long-term operation without the battery connected is not recommended, and
transmissions via internal Iridium or Cellular modems may not be possible as the solar regulator
is not capable of supplying the necessary current during transmissions.
o
You may connect a power source other than a solar panel (e.g., a power supply) as long
as it conforms to the voltage specification above.
o
Please note that a battery is still required for long-term operation and to ensure enough
current is available for reliable transmissions.
Provisions are made in the circuitry to prevent discharge of the battery through the solar panel at
night. No external reverse blocking diode is needed. In addition, the regulator is of a series pass
type which means that a 15V DC power supply could be connected to the solar panel inputs to
float charge the battery.
The charger is designed for 12V sealed lead acid (SLA) battery “gel cell” and has a built
-in
temperature coefficient to accommodate the temperature dependent charging requirements of
a gel cell. The Maximum battery size recommended for this charger is a 7AHr gel cell battery. If
the station requires larger battery sizes, Sutron recommends using an external solar charger
regulator such as the Sutron model 5100-0411 or similar.
Assistance in calculating power budgets may be found here:
http://www.sutron.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/PowerBudget_BatteryLife_SolarPanels.pdf
4.5.
Connecting SDI-12 sensors
There is an SDI-12 bus for sensor connections. The bus has an isolated power connection rated
for 500mA. Because SDI-12 sensors are addressable, multiple SDI-12 sensors may be connected
to this terminal if no two sensors have the same address.
When multiple new SDI sensors are connected to a bus, they should be connected one at a time,
so the address can be made unique using the SDI A command. For details, please see the section
The figure below shows the typical SDI-12 connection:
