Installation & User’s Manual Trailblazer Digital Radio 2005 TB 2.4-5.8 and TB 4.9 series Part Number 490-2000 Rev 1.
Trademark Information Trailblazer, the Trailblazer logo, RuralConnect, and the RuralConnect logo are registered trademarks of Carlson Wireless Technologies Inc. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Copyright Copyright © 2002-2005 Carlson Wireless, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced without permission from Carlson Wireless Technologies.
SAFETY WARNING Potentially hazardous voltages exist on TELCO lines and associated equipment. Always observe standard safety precautions during installation, operation, and maintenance of these products. To avoid the possibility of electric shock, be sure to disconnect the power from the remote power source before you perform any line connections or repairs. Always disconnect all the cables connected to the system before disconnecting the grounding connection.
Incidence of Harm If your telephone equipment causes harm to the telephone network, the telephone company may disconnect your service temporarily. When possible, the telephone company will notify you in advance. If advanced notice is not practical, you will be notified as soon as possible. You will also be informed of your right to file a compliant with the FCC.
Declaration of Conformity Manufacturer’s Name: Manufacturer’s Address: Declares that the product: Product Name: Carlson Wireless Technologies Inc. 1180–B Evergreen Rd. Redway, CA 95560 USA Trailblazer TB 2.4-5.8 Conforms to the following standard(s) or other normative document(s): EMC: FCC Part 15.247 And also declares that the product: Product Name: Trailblazer TB 4.
Table of Contents _____________________________________________________________________________ 1 Introduction..................................................................................................1 1.1 Scope of Manual.....................................................................................1 1.2 Functional Overview and Applications ....................................................1 1.2.1 Main Features and Advantages.......................................................1 1.2.
4.3.2 Unpacking .....................................................................................28 4.3.3 Mounting........................................................................................28 4.4 23dBi 5.8 GHz Directional Flat Panel Antenna .....................................31 4.5 22dBi 4.9 GHz Directional Flat Panel Antenna .....................................31 4.6 Weatherproofing RF Connections ........................................................31 4.7 Antenna Alignment .........
List of Figures _____________________________________________________________________________ Figure 1: Line of Sight is clear, the first Fresnel Zone is NOT clear. .....................5 Figure 2: Base Unit Power Connections .............................................................11 Figure 3: Connecting the Serial Cable ................................................................16 Figure 4: Rotary Switch and Reset Button ..........................................................
1 Introduction 1.1 Scope of Manual The purpose of this manual is to provide planning and installation personnel with the appropriate procedures to plan and install the 2005 Trailblazer Digital Microwave Radio and accessory equipments. In order to avoid harm to persons or damage to the product, please ensure that you have read and understand the safety, unpacking, and installation sections before proceeding. 1.
our 64kbps full bandwidth PCM POTS or Leased Line cards for high quality, uncompressed audio with an excellent signal-to-noise ratio. Easy Installation The units mount on a 1"- 2.25" pipe or pole or to any vertical surface, use an external antenna, and have their own power supply (optional) or operate on 1224 VDC, easily powered by solar. Low Power Draw: Ideal for Solar Applications The low power consumption of 2 Watts makes the units very energy efficient.
10BaseT On-Board Ethernet Port On-board Ethernet satisfies simultaneous LAN / IP data and PCM voice needs with an Industry Standard RJ45 10BaseT connection. Some of its advanced features include 802.3 Ethernet supported by Transparent LAN bridging and Automatic LAN MAC address filtering at the MAC level, making it transparent to higher level protocols such as TCP/IP, DECnet, NETBIOS, and IPX network protocols.
2 Pretest and System Planning 2.1 Site Requirements and System Planning 2.1.1 Grounding A ground is a low impedance electrical connection to earth that is used to dissipate energy. Grounding your Trailblazer is very important for safety reasons as well as to protect your system from damage due to lightning and static charge build up. Since lightning strikes and surges follow the path of least resistance, all ground wires must be as short and straight as possible and not be coiled or looped.
2.1.3 Line of Sight: Is it enough? Visual line of sight (LOS) is the straight, unobstructed line between the Base unit’s antenna and the CPE’s antenna. In other words, when you stand next to one antenna, you can see the other one. Because RF waves spread out three dimensionally rather than in a straight line, LOS is important in microwave transmission but not adequate.
Zone Frequency (MHz) Wavelength (feet) Distance to start (miles) (km) Distance to end (miles) (km) Fresnel Radius (feet) (m) 60% of Zone (feet) (m) 1 2400 0.41 2.0 3.2 2.0 3.2 46.53 14.18 27.92 8.51 2 2400 0.41 2.0 3.2 2.0 3.2 65.80 20.06 39.48 12.03 1 2400 0.41 1.5 2.4 4.5 7.2 49.35 15.04 29.61 9.03 1 2400 0.41 3.0 4.8 3.0 4.8 56.98 17.37 34.19 10.42 1 2400 0.41 4.0 6.4 10.0 16.0 78.65 23.97 47.19 14.38 1 2400 0.41 6.0 9.6 6.0 9.6 80.
What’s an acceptable fade margin? A rule of thumb theory is that 10 dB of fade margin will deliver about 90% reliability, and 20 dB will deliver about 99% reliability. Because there is only a small ground wave component involved in the radio propagation at 2.4 GHz, the above numbers presume both clear LOS (line of sight) and clearing at least 60% of the first Fresnel zone. A fade margin of 16 to 20dB is suggested to overcome multi-path degradation and polarization. 2.1.
LMR400 will work fine. Heliax™ is recommended for any cable runs over 100 feet. The chart below provides the loss factor for several popular cable sizes. Coax Cable Attenuation (dB per 100 feet) Cable Type at 2.5 GHz at 5.8 GHz LMR 400 6.8 dB 10.8 dB LMR 500 5.5 dB 8.9 dB LMR 600 4.4 dB 7.3 dB 1/2 inch LDF Heliax™ 3.9 dB 7.0 dB LMR 900 3.0 dB 4.9 dB 7/8 inch LDF Heliax™ 2.3 dB 3.7 dB Table 3: Coax Cable Loss Table 2.1.
2.2 Unpacking NOTE: Always observe ESD precautions when handling circuit boards! Before opening inspect the shipping box(es) and report any damage to the shipping carrier. Unpack and compare the contents against the packing slip and inspect for damage. Report any damage to the units or missing components to your CWT sales representative.
2.3 Bench Testing Instructions Before going into the field set up the units on your bench to become familiar with their set up, operation, configuration, and verify their functionality. Each system is shipped with a handy, full-color “Quick Start Guide” for simplified step-by-step instructions for bench testing. The following section will provide you with the same information in greater detail. 2.3.
Terminal Block Negative (Normally earth ground) Positive 12 to 24 VDC Figure 2: Base Unit Power Connections If you are not using the CWT power supply, size your power supply adequately using Ohm’s law. For example, if you provide 12VDC you consume 2/12 A or about 167mA. If you provide 24VDC you use about half of that or 85mA. CWT recommends providing at least 4 times the power consumption. The Trailblazer consumes 2 Watts. CWT’s power supply with battery backup supplies 13.8VDC @ 1 A or 14 Watts.
Cable Size (A.W.G.) (mm) Ohms/100ft (both legs ) feet per Ohm (both legs) if feeding 13.8, distance with 5% (voltage loss 2pr.) if feeding 24, distance with 5% (voltage loss 2pr.) 14 1.63 0.516 194 1783 6202 16 1.29 0.818 122 1125 3912 18 1.09 1.302 77 707 2458 19 0.91 1.642 61 560 1949 22 0.64 3.3 30 279 970 24 0.51 5.24 19 176 611 26 0.41 8.32 12 111 385 Table 4: Feed Cable Sizing and Distance for the Traiblazer 2.3.
Connecting POTS lines, Repeater, and Sync For durability as well as ease of installation and acquisition, repeater and synchronization cables require standard RJ45 connectors and CAT5 cable using standard Ethernet cable wiring. Remember to feed the CAT5 cable through the weatherproof cord grips before terminating the ends. In addition to the RJ45 connector, there are (4) screw terminals for synchronization. Wire SYNC OUT to SYNC IN and vice versa. 2.3.
37 13 38 14 39 15 40 16 41 17 42 Ground E1 M1 E2 M2 E3 M3 E4 M4 Ground Ground 37 13 38 14 39 15 40 16 41 17 42 Ground E5 M5 E6 M6 E7 M7 E8 M8 Ground Ground If a standard telephone cable is used, the connections may be brought to prewired punch blocks using two 25 pair telephone cables. The location of the signals is shown in the following table as they appear on a standard punch block. The punch block terminals are numbered from top to bottom.
41 16 42 17 31 32 33 34 M4 E4 Ground Ground 41 16 42 17 31 32 33 34 M8 E8 Ground Ground Trailblazer Installation and User Manual version 1.
3 Operation 3.1 Configuring and Accessing the Trailblazer Unit 3.1.1 Connecting the Serial Cable You can access your Trailblazer with the GUI program, included on the CWT product CD, and the included serial cable. Simply plug the DB 9 connector of the serial cable into the serial port on your computer and the three pin connector to the three pin connector (COM1) on the radio board (bottom board) as shown. DO NOT USE COM2! It is currently reserved for future applications.
After you have selected the correct COM port, the software will display the connected unit’s current configuration data. The screen will look slightly different depending on whether you are connected to the CPE or Base unit. The box highlighted in green will display the type of unit that is currently communicating with the software. All systems are shipped pre-configured. Do not change any parameters unless advised to do so by a CWT technician. The integrated V.
The new CPE and Base unit software will take about a minute to download. The firmware takes about 3 or 4 minutes to download. To the right you will see a sample view of what you should see during the download. Do not interrupt the download! When the download is complete, the unit will automatically reboot and update the version numbers. Once the “Program Download” button reappears, you can select another file to download.
Click on the Terminal tab to monitor status, view and log real-time link quality reports and manually interface with the Trailblazer radio cards via the Terminal screen. In the middle of the terminal screen you will notice a command line box. One command at a time may be entered and sent to the radio card via this terminal interface or by using terminal software. GUI showing status of a CPE terminal 3.2 Accessing the Trailblazer using HyperTerminal™ 3.2.
The radio frequency and scrambling code of the Carlson Wireless radios operate on numerous band selections based on purchased configuration. Within the selected operational band, multiple frequencies are provided in combination with code variations. Selections within the offered band are provided using the 16 position rotary switch located between the 10BaseT port and the white three pin connectors.
3.3.1 Selecting the CPE Time Slot Up to (4) CPE units can communicate with each Base unit when used in a STAR topology. To distinguish between the four CPEs, a different time slot is allocated to each CPE using the rotary DIP switch located immediately behind the LEDs as shown in the figure below. Use a non-conductive trim tool to select time slots 0, 1, 2, and 3 to avoid shorting any components.
Each setting is controlled by a short “command name” followed by an EEprom register or “switch” designated by a letter or letters on your screen. Type the command name for the function you wish to implement followed by the appropriate “switch” and press enter. The Trailblazer radio card should respond by echoing the new setting back to you. It usually takes (7) sets of these commands to configure a radio card for any of its many functional states.
To allocate total data Bandwidth of the base unit: To allocate data channels in 64kbps increments, EEprom register “F” is the total number of data channels allocated to the Base unit. To allocate total data Bandwidth of the CPE terminal: To allocate channels to the CPE stations, the EEprom registers 10,11,12,13 are used. This will handle up to (4) CPEs in a star configuration. In the CPE, EEprom registers 10,11,12,13 the MSB is used to state the amount of 64kb channels bonded for data.
4 Field Installation Options 4.1 Mounting the Enclosure The versatile mounting bracket assembly (PN: 900-7200) allows the Trailblazer enclosure to be properly mounted on a pole up to 2.25” in diameter. The mounting bracket assembly also converts to a wall mount for mounting the Trailblazer enclosure on a flat surface. See below for details for the two different mounting applications.
Figure 7: Pole mounting the Trailblazer enclosure Pole Mounting Instructions: • Attach the mounting flanges to the enclosure using the ¼ -20 x 1” bolts, ¼” flat washers, ¼” lock washers, and ¼” hex nuts. • Tighten the ¼” nuts to maximum of 25 in-lbs (2.1 ft-lbs). Do not over tighten! • Position the enclosure on the pole. • Place the U-bolts around the pole, and slide the pipe flanges over them with the serrated sides facing the pole. See figure 1.
transmitting antenna does not exceed the requirements of the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 47, paragraph 15.247. This device has been designed to operate with the antennas listed below, and having a maximum gain of 26 dB. Antennas not included in this list or having a gain greater than 26 dB are strictly prohibited for use with this device. The required antenna impedance is 50 ohms.
4.2.2 Calculating the EIRP of an External Antenna The for all bands of frequency the output of the Trailblazer TB series radio is calibrated at the factory to limit the peak power output to +17dBm. Using this example one can calculate the following: Note that the radio is calibrated for a maximum output power of +17dBm. Subtract the interconnecting cable and lightning protection losses of 2dB = total power arriving to antenna of 15dBm. Now add the 2.
4.3 18dBi 2.4 GHz Directional Flat Panel Antenna This section is designed to support the installation, operation and maintenance of the 18dBi directional flat panel antenna. Due to it’s small size, ease of mounting and low maintenance it is most commonly used in conjunction with the Trailblazer system. To avoid harm to persons or damage to the product please ensure that you have read through the safety, unpacking and installation sections before proceeding. 4.3.
This is a properly mounted panel antenna. Note the ability of the mount the aim the antenna uptilt, downtilt and to either side. Trailblazer Installation and User Manual version 1.
Hint: You may want to complete the first two steps on the ground! 1. Assemble the mount to the antenna using the hardware provided as described in the diagram to the left. 2. Adjust the nuts nearest the antenna to positions that will provide the tilt angle required. Use the mounting diagram (left) with the table below to roughly align the antenna to your position requirements. 3. Assemble the antenna to the mast as shown at left.
4.5 23dBi 5.8 GHz Directional Flat Panel Antenna This antenna is similar to the 18dBi 2.4 GHz antenna except that it is properly polarized when the arrow on the back indicates a vertical line. This results in a diamond shape presented. 4.6 22dBi 4.9 GHz Directional Flat Panel Antenna This antenna is similar to the 18dBi 2.4 GHz antenna except that it is properly polarized when the arrow on the back indicates a vertical line. This results in a diamond shape presented. 4.
How close in alignment do they need to be? +/- 10 degrees will be adequate for most paths using the 14 dB gain antenna. Certain paths that have a low fade margin may require a more accurate setting. Alignment indicators: Due to the nature of digital modulation and the associated circuitry, there is no analog test point at which the signal strength may be monitored. Rather, the bit error rate is indicated on the digital board.
4.10 Lightning Protection CWT stocks in-line, gas-discharge style lightning surge suppressors as primary lightning protection for their reliability, ease of installation and low cost to the customer. In-line protectors mount in series with the coaxial cable or telephone line which provides an excellent solution for a retrofit application. The protector is grounded through an external ground screw that is attached to the body of the surge protector.
Figure 8: Surge Protection, RF Figure 9: Antenna Port Lightning Protector, VSWR and Insertion Loss Trailblazer Installation and User Manual version 1.
4.10.2 Telephone Line Port/ Subscriber Premises Protection Line 1 Tip Line 1 Ring Earth Ground Line 2 Tip Line 2 Ring Figure 10: Primary Telephone Line Transient Protection The telephone line surge protector is designed to be used as a primary station protector at the subscriber end of the loop. It provides protection against lightning surges, power cross conditions, and ground potential rises.
Telephone Line Gas Discharge Lightning Surge Protector Specifications CWT Part number 640-6500 Description Sealed gas tube station protector DC Breakdown@100V/s 300-500V Impulse Breakdown 100V/µs 10kV/µs 100V/µs, vented 600V 850V 1200V Insulation Resistance@100V/leakage current 10e10 Ω Capacitance@1kHz <15pF DC Extinguishing (Network applied) @52V, 135V, 150V Impulse Life Characteristics <150ms >400x500A 10/1000µs 10kA 8/20µs AC Life characteristics >65A, 11 cycles Enclosure Material Weathe
5 Test & Maintenance 5.1 Diagnostics 5.1.1 LED Function The Trailblazer units’ are equipped with multifunction status indication LEDs on the top and radio card. There are no LEDs on the interface card. You can read the link and alignment status as well as packet loss information quickly, without using a PC. Use the table below for translating the LED patterns.
Setting your units next to each other on your bench with the test antennas attached to the N female connectors on the enclosureThe LED will indicate from top to bottom in the preceding table, from the No Power to the Final Alignment and Errors state. The Trailblazer system should reach the CPU Operational state within 20 seconds after power is applied. The Acquired state completes when the CPE terminal has detected and locked to the radio signal from the base unit.
6 Appendix 6.1 About Carlson Wireless 6.1.1 Mission Carlson Wireless Technologies Inc. (CWT) is dedicated to designing, manufacturing and marketing innovative, low power digital WLL (wireless local loop) telephone systems that provide high-quality voice and data links for rural and remote telephone users worldwide. 6.1.2 History CWT (Carlson Wireless Technologies) Inc. was founded in 1999 by James Carlson and is a privately held California “C” corporation headquartered in Redway, California.
6.2 System Specifications Air Interface Data Throughput Rate End-to-End System Latency Fax Compatibility Modem Performance RF Performance *Proprietary DSSS CDMA using a negotiated QOS with Time Division Duplexing 512, 256, 128, 64 kbps, Configurable with GUI Less than 4.4 ms Depending on Speed Selected G3 (9.6kbps) and G4 (14.4kbps) V.34 (33kbps) via POTS, up to V.90 (56kbps) via RuralConnect™ 2.4GHz Standard. 4.9 and 5.8 GHz Options Available 4 sub channels in 2.4 GHz band, 8 sub channels in 5.
6.2.1 Block Diagram Figure 12: Block Diagram of Radio Card Trailblazer Installation and User Manual version 1.
6.3 Cable Pin outs Should you misplace or lose your serial programming cable, you can call your CWT sales rep. and order a replacement or construct a new cable from a few simple parts using the diagram below. 6.3.1 Configuration Port Pinout Configuration Port Cable Construction Table A DB9 pin Female to be fit in the PC is wired with: DCD on pin 1, A 3 pin, .
Standard “AT” Pinout for a DB9 Connector Figure 14: Serial Data Cable Schematic Serial Data Cable Pinout Pin Signal Description Direction Data Carrier Detect To PC 1 DCD 2 RD Receive Data To PC 3 TD Transmit Data From PC 4 DTR Data Terminal Ready From PC 5 GND Signal Ground Common 6 DSR Data Set Ready To PC 7 RTS Request to Send From PC 8 CTS Clear to Send To PC 9 RI Ring Indicator To PC Table 16: Serial Data Cable Pinout Trailblazer Installation and User Manual ver
6.4 Advanced Programming and Diagnostics 6.4.1 Configuring the Serial Port Parameters In order to communicate with the Trailblazer units using the Command Line Interface, the serial port parameters need to be configured. The serial port parameters are illustrated in the following figure. These settings were configured within the program by Hilgraeve (see left and below).
6.4.2 Setting the V35 enable and port location To enable the V35 data port, open up the Hyperterminal™ interface and if you are communicating with a CPE unit after booting type: [stop]. If you are connected to a base unit it will stop on it’s own after a minute. Then type in: [wee 5 1] or [wee 5 2] depending on which line no you wish to be used as a data path for the Ethernet connection. The system should respond back with: 0005: 02 as shown above.
The RSSI command can be used on the base unit. The above figure displays the results of the command. 3 of the 4 values will always read 00, just ignore these values. 1 of the 4 numbers should be greater than 7. If the value displayed contains an alphabetic character (A, B, C, D, E or F), the value is greater than 9. In the above example the RSSI value is sufficient. 6.4.
3. Download the new software/firmware program. The following two figures illustrate this step. The menu option “Send Text File …” is selected. Next, the dialog box will appear which allows the selection of the file to download to the Trailblazer unit. After the file is selected, click the “Open” button. The download will proceed automatically from this point. 4. Download has completed. The end of the download is illustrated below.
6.5 Antenna Patterns and Specifications 6.5.1 18dBi Directional Panel Plots and Specs 18dBi Directional Panel Specifications Pole Size Weight Dimension (W x L) Wind Load Frequency Range 3 deg beam width Front to Back VSWR Impedance Input Power Operating Temperature Gain Bracket Tilt 1” (25) to 2.88” (73) 3.9(1.76) 15.1 x 13.9 x 1.9 (384x353x48) 85 2300-2500 In (mm) Lbs. (kg) In (mm) @100MPH MHz 19 vertical, 18 horizontal deg 25 dB 1.6:1 50 20 -40 to +70 ohms watts Deg C.
6.6 Warranty Limited Warranty, USA Carlson Wireless Technologies Inc. (CWT) or Carlson Wireless USA, collectively referred to as "Carlson“), will repair this product with new or rebuilt parts, free of charge, in the USA or Puerto Rico for one (1) year from the date of original purchase in the event of a defect in material or workmanship. Mail-in service in the USA can be obtained during the warranty period from a Carlson Factory Service center by calling +1.707.923.
6.7 Acronyms/Abbreviations ANSI ................. American National Standards Institute async ............... asynchronous CCITT................ Comité Consultatif International Téléphonique et Télégraphique CD ..................... carrier detect CPE.................... customer premise equipment CS ...................... clear to send CSU ................... channel service unit CTS ................... clear to send CO ……………... central office dB....................... decibel DCE ...................
6.8 Glossary ANSI Acronym for American National Standards Institute. Devises and proposes recommendations for international communications standards. asynchronous A method of data transmission which allows characters, that are preceded by a start bit and are followed by a stop bit, to be sent at irregular intervals. bandwidth A range within a band of frequencies or an amount of data that can be transmitted in a preset amount of time. The bandwidth determines the rate at which information can be sent.
Acronym for Data Terminal Equipment. It is the end-user terminal or computer that plugs into the termination point (DCE) of a communications circuit. gateway Is a device which enables information to be exchanged between two dissimilar systems or networks. HDLC Acronym for High Level Data Link Control. It is a generic link-level communications protocol developed by ISO, that manages synchronous code-transparent serial information transfer over a link connection. See also SDLC.
Acronym for Simple Network Management Protocol. It is a control and reporting scheme widely used to manage devices from different vendors and operates on top of the Internet protocol. switched network Is a network of dial-up telephone lines that uses circuit switching to provide communications services to network users. synchronous A method of data transmission in which timing information is sent along with the transmitted data. Synchronous communication is achieved when timing shares a single clock.
