RFI-148 250W VHF PAGING TRANSMITTER USER MANUAL
RFI-148 250W VHF Paging Transmitter User Manual DISCLAIMER © 2013 RF Innovations Pty Ltd. All rights reserved. RF Innovations reserves the right to make improvements on the product in this manual at any time without notice. No part of this manual may be produced, copied, translated, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of RF Innovations. Information provided in this manual is intended to be accurate and reliable.
Contents Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 2. Installation ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 6 2.1 General Considerations.....................................................................
Contents 5.1.1 Conditional Cut-off Checking......................................................................................................................................... 21 5.1.2 Minimum and Maximum Sensor History ....................................................................................................................... 22 5.2 Faults .........................................................................................................................................................
Introduction 1. Introduction The RFI-148 250 is a high power output paging transmitter operating in the VHF band. VHF band operation (138 MHz – 174 MHz) with 2 MHz switching bandwidth. 250 W (54 dBm) maximum transmit power Compatible with: POCSAG 512, 1200, 2400 bps (2-level FSK). FLEX 1600 (2-level FSK), 3200 (2- or 4level FSK), 6400 bps (4-level FSK). Windows GUI for configuration and diagnostics over serial or network (Cruise Control). SNMP diagnostics. DSP precision modulation.
Installation 2. Installation 2.1 General Considerations There are a number of rules to observe when installing a paging transmitter. Antenna selection is vital to a good RF link. Different antennas are required depending on the application. Please contact your antenna manufacturer or RF Innovations for correct antenna selection. Antenna placement has a significant impact on RF link performance. In general, higher antenna placement results in a better communication link.
Installation 2.3 Product Installation The back panel of the paging transmitter is shown below in Figure 1. 1. System Ground 5. DC Input 24 V Nominal 3. External Frequency 2. RF Output 6. DC SW 7. RF Diag 8. LIU Interface 4. Ethernet 9. RS232 Figure 1: Paging Transmitter Back Panel 1. System Ground: External connection for system ground. 2. RF Output: Modulated RF output from the paging transmitter. N-type female connector. 3.
Installation 2.4 Safety and Compliance 2.4.1 Human Exposure to Emissions To limit human exposure, the following guidelines need to be observed: 1. Take reasonable precautions in any installation to maintain a clearance from the antenna of no less than 4 m (four metres) to the general public and 2 m (two metres) to service and maintenance personnel. 2. Do not apply power to the device unless the clearance described in 1 above has been allowed.
Configuration 3. Configuration 3.1 Overview The RFI-148 250 provides six interfaces that allow the transmitter to be configured and diagnostic information to be monitored: Cruise Control management interface: All configuration and diagnostics parameters can be accessed using the Windows-based Cruise Control Graphical User Interface (GUI). SNMP interface: Support for diagnostics using SNMP.
Configuration Figure 2: Cruise Control Interface 3.2.1 Installation The requirements for using the Cruise Control application are: Pentium III+ Processor. Windows XP (x86) or Windows 7 (x86 and x64). At least 1 available serial port or a network connection to the device. 3.2.2 Connecting to the Paging Transmitter SERIAL To connect to a device with RS-232, attach the paging transmitter to the PC running Cruise Control via a serial port.
Configuration Communications, ensure that Serial is selected from the dropdown box and enter in the serial settings (19200 8N1 by default). Use the Device -> Connect to Local Device menu item to connect to the local device. ETHERNET To connect to a device over a network, the device IP address must be known. Configure the Cruise Control communication settings using Device -> Configure Communications, ensure that UDP is selected from the dropdown box and enter the device IP address.
Configuration Figure 3: Cruise Control Sensor Gauges Plugin To view Sensor Gauges for a paging transmitter, first connect to the paging transmitter using Cruise Control. Then use the Tools -> Plugins -> Sensor Gauges menu item to open the Sensor Gauges plugin. The Sensor Gauges will automatically update, with the needles showing the current value of the gauge parameter. The green region indicates the expected normal operating value for the parameter.
Configuration 3.2.5 Firmware Update Cruise Control supports the updating of device firmware from Motorola S-Record image files (*.mot). Cruise Control will only allow firmware images that are compatible with the paging transmitter to be uploaded. To upload a firmware image use the Device -> Load Firmware menu item. A windows explorer dialog will open, navigate to where the firmware image is on the computer, select the image and click upload.
Configuration Where: AT is the attention code. All AT commands must be prefixed with AT. This is case insensitive, so At, aT, or at can also be used. xxx is the actual command. The list of valid AT commands is given in Appendix D on page 33. <[I1, I2, … In]> is an optional section that allows the specification of an index. Indexes are used to access one of an array of similar items. For example, the Crescendo radio has two serial ports which can both have different configurations.
Configuration TRANSMIT ON FAULT LOW POWER HIGH VSWR SERIAL/ETHERNET POWER 25 125 250 TX POWER (W) Figure 4: Front panel display 3.7 LIU Interface The LIU interface is a DC-37 female connector at the rear of the paging transmitter.
Configuration Spare Alarm 1 Spare Alarm 2 Spare Alarm 3 Spare Alarm 4 Use of the hardware PTT, protocol select and frequency select inputs are all optional and may be disabled in software. The use of the transmit clock is optional for 2-level protocols, but required for 4-level protocols. The pin-out for the LIU Interface can be found in Appendix A.
Operation 4. Operation 4.1 Serial Port Operation 4.1.1 Overview The RFI-148 250 has two DCE RS-232 serial ports. The front serial port has a female DE9 connector (DCE) and the rear serial port has a male DE9 connector (DTE). The serial port pin outs can be found in Appendix A.3 on page 26. The main port (at the back of the transmitter) supports: TX, RX, and GND. RTS and DTR inputs. CTS and DCD outputs. The auxiliary (at the front of the transmitter) port supports: TX, RX, and GND. 4.1.
Operation 4.2.2 IP Addressing The paging transmitter supports IPv4. The IP address may be configured with a single static address. A subnet mask and default gateway may be configured to allow communication across sub-networks. 4.3 Transmitter Operation 4.3.1 Transmit Power The RFI-148 250 supports transmit power from 20 to 250 Watts in 1 Watt increments. 4.3.2 Channel Selection The transmitter supports four channel rasters: 5 kHz; 6.25 kHz; 10 kHz; and 12.
Operation 4.3.4 External Reference The transmitter supports an external reference for channel frequency generation. To use the external reference, a 10 MHz sine or square wave -10 dBm to 0 dBm signal must be applied to the “External Frequency” input BNC connector on the back panel. The paging transmitter will attempt to use an external reference by default.
Operation 2-level FSK protocol data may optionally be clocked into the paging transmitter using the external data clock or may run asynchronously. 4-level FSK protocols must use the external data clock. Once the desired paging protocol, deviation and carrier offset settings have been selected, the Save Protocols routine must be executed to apply the selected settings. 4.5 Fan Control The transmitter has two fans for cooling; the front fan is an intake and the rear fan is the exhaust. 4.5.
Diagnostics 5. Diagnostics 5.1 Status Monitoring The paging transmitter has a number of sensors which are continuously monitored. The sensors are used to monitor: Internal voltage and current levels. Ambient and transmitter temperature. Fan operation. Transmitted and reflected power. Each sensor has configurable upper and lower cut-offs that will cause a fault when exceeded. For example, if the driver temperature upper cut-off is exceeded, the high driver temperature fault will be set active.
Diagnostics 5.1.2 Minimum and Maximum Sensor History When a sensor exceeds a previous minimum or maximum value for that sensor, the new minimum or maximum value is saved to non-volatile storage. The minimum and maximum sensor values also use the conditional cut-off checking. For example, minimum and maximum transmit power values are only recorded during transmission. 5.2 Faults Undesirable operating conditions are reported using the faults feature of the paging transmitter.
Diagnostics Each fault action operates as a fault itself; therefore when a fault action is taken, it can be seen as latched in the faults menu and logged in the fault history. Fault actions are latch-only and can only be cleared through user intervention. Any actions performed are reverted once the fault action is cleared. To protect the paging transmitter hardware fault actions can only be changed by users with the distributer password. 5.2.
Diagnostics 5.3.2 Recovery The paging transmitter can save the current firmware and configuration to non-volatile storage. The recovery image can be reverted to in case of configuration loss, or a new firmware image loaded has undesired behaviour. After a firmware recovery the paging transmitter will latch a firmware update exception fault. 5.4 Time 5.4.1 Real Time Clock A real time clock is used to track the passage of time. The clock is used for: Keeping a time-stamped history of faults.
Appendix A Technical Specifications Appendix A Technical Specifications A.1 Type Approvals Australia / New Zealand AS NZS 4769.1 Australian Supplier ID: N161 FCC CFR 47 Part 15 and Part 90 FCC ID PSM RFI148 ETSI (Planned) ETS 300 113 N/A Table 3: Type approvals A.2 RFI-148 250 Specifications RF Operating Bandwidth 138 MHZ – 174 MHz RF Switching Bandwidth 2 MHz RF Channel Bandwidth 12.5 kHz, 25 kHz RF Frequency Raster Selectable: 25 kHz, 12.5 kHz, 6.
Appendix A Technical Specifications Power Supply Alarm Reference Out-of-Lock Alarm Reference Switchover Alarm High Output Power Alarm Low Output Power Alarm High VSWR Alarm High Temperature Alarm Fan Failure Alarm Exciter Out-of-Lock Alarm Combined Alarm Spare Alarm 1 Spare Alarm 2 Spare Alarm 3 Spare Alarm 4 Input Voltage DC: 20 V to 31.2 V Typical Current Draw at 24 V DC. Fans off: Idle: 0.3 A 25 W: 7.0 A 100 W: 12.5 A 250 W: 20.3 A Fans on: Idle: 0.
Appendix A Technical Specifications 3 TxD Output 4 DTR Output 5 GND 6 N/A 7 RTS Output 8 CTS Input 9 N/A Table 5: Back Panel Connector Pin Out A.3.2 Auxiliary Serial Port (Front) Pin Function Direction 1 N/A 2 RxD Output 3 TxD Input 4 N/A 5 GND 6 N/A 7 N/A 8 N/A 9 N/A Table 6: Front Connector Pin Out A.
Appendix A Technical Specifications 12 Combined Alarm Output 13 N/A 14 Power Supply Alarm Output 15 Tx Data L-bit Input 16 Tx Data H-bit Input 17 LIU Detect Input 18 Tx Data Clock Input 19 GND 20 Reference Out-of-Lock Alarm Output 21 High Temperature Alarm Output 22 High Output Power Alarm Output 23 Spare Alarm 3 Output 24 Spare Alarm 4 Output 25 N/A 26 Exciter Out-of-Lock Alarm 27 N/A 28 N/A 29 Low Output Power Alarm Output 30 High VSWR Alarm Output 31 F
Appendix B Controller Configurations Appendix B Controller Configurations The following section provides example wiring between the transmitter and some common controllers. B.1 Motorola NIU Controller / FLEX Mode External NIU(TB3, TB4) Transmitter (LIU, DB37) TB3-2: Tx Clock DB37-18: TX SYNC CLK TB3-4: Tx key DB37-11: TX ON EXT TB3-8: GND DB37-19: GND TB4-2: Rx FQ1 DB37-16: TX DATA H-BIT TB4-3: Rx FQ2 DB37-15: TX DATA L-BIT Table 8: Motorola NIU controller / FLEX mode connection B.
Appendix B Controller Configurations B.
Appendix C Management Reference Appendix C Management Reference C.1 Serial Port Diagnostics Name Description AT Rx Total The size of the input buffer. I20[p,0] Rx Used The number of bytes currently stored in the input buffer. I20[p,1] Rx Bytes The total number of bytes received. I20[p,2] Rx Errors The total number of receive errors that have occurred. Sum of Rx Overflows, Rx Overruns, Rx Framing, and Rx Parity errors.
Appendix C Management Reference rfiCrFltsFltIdxTable rfiCrFltsFltIdxEntry rfiCrFltsFltIdxIndex Table containing configuration and status of all fault conditions. rfiCrFltsFltNm Name of the fault in this row of the table. rfiCrFltsFltStts Indicates whether or not this fault condition is currently active. rfiCrFltsActvDrtn Duration for which this fault has been active, or 0 if the fault is not active. rfiCrFltsFltActn Configured action to be taken when this fault occurs.
Appendix D Hayes References Appendix D Hayes References D.1 General Commands Command Name Notes ATI100 Read All Sensors Returns a list of the current value of all sensors, separated by commas and ended by a period, carriage return and line feed. See Appendix E for the sensor reference. ATI101 Read Active Faults Returns either: a variable list of active fault indexes separated by commas; or “None”, followed by a period, line feed and carriage return. See Appendix E for the fault reference.
Appendix D Hayes References ATI90[p] Current status parameter Returns the current value of a status parameter where p selects a parameter. See Appendix E for the sensor reference.* ATI91[p] Maximum status parameter Returns the maximum recorded value of a status parameter. See Appendix E for the sensor reference.* ATI92[p] Minimum status parameter Returns the minimum recorded value of a status parameter. See Appendix E for the sensor reference.
Appendix D Hayes References Command Name Notes 0: 1 1: 2 ATS104 Main Port Flow Control Note that this command cannot have a [p] port specifier.
Appendix E Sensor and Fault List Reference Appendix E Sensor and Fault List Reference Index Sensor Unit Range Default Upper Cut-off Default Lower Cut-off 0 PA Temp ºC -128 to 126 80 -20 1 Driver Temp ºC -128 to 126 80 -20 2 PA Ambient Temp ºC -128 to 126 80 -20 3 Isolator Temp ºC -128 to 126 80 -20 4 Baseband Temp 1 ºC -128 to 126 60 -20 5 Baseband Temp 2 ºC -42 to 152 60 -20 6 24V Voltage mV 0 to 32767 30000 18000 7 12V Voltage mV 0 to 14833 15000 10000
Appendix E Sensor and Fault List Reference Index Fault Latching Default Fault Action Default Alarm 0 High PA Temperature Configurable Disable Transmission High Temperature 1 High Driver Temperature Configurable Disable Transmission High Temperature 2 High PA Temperature Configurable Disable Transmission High Temperature 3 High Isolator Temperature Configurable Disable Transmission High Temperature 4 High Baseband Temperature 1 Configurable None High Temperature 5 High Baseba
Appendix E Sensor and Fault List Reference 30 Low Isolator Temperature Configurable None None 31 Low Baseband Temperature 1 Configurable None None 32 Low Baseband Temperature 2 Configurable None None 33 Low 24V Voltage Configurable None Power Supply 34 Low 12V Voltage Configurable None Power Supply 35 Low 5V Voltage Configurable None Power Supply 36 Low 3.
Appendix E Sensor and Fault List Reference 61 Watch Dog Reset Latch-only None None 62 Assertion Reset Latch-only None None 63 Firmware Exception Latch-only None None 64 Reference Switchover Latch-only None Reference Switchover 65 Disable Transmission Latch-only None None 66 Scale Transmit Power Latch-only None None 67 Enable Foldback Current Latch-only None None 68 Enable Reverse Foldback Power Latch-only None None Update PA Table 18: Fault Reference RFI-148 250
Appendix F Factory Defaults Appendix F Factory Defaults If a setting is not specified in the factory defaults table then it is not changed during a factory reset.
Appendix F Factory Defaults Diagnostics Main RTS Mode Always High Main Port Baud Rate 19200 Main Port Data Bits 8 Main Port Parity None Main Port Stop Bits 1 Auxiliary Port Baud Rate 19200 Auxiliary Port Data Bits 8 Auxiliary Port Parity None Auxiliary Port Stop Bits 1 SNTP Server 0.0.0.
Appendix G Glossary Appendix G Glossary BNC British Naval Connector CTS Clear To Send DCD Data Carrier Detect DCE Data Communications Equipment (radio modem) DTE Data Terminal Equipment (computer device) DTR Data Terminal Ready EIRP Effective Isotropic Radiated Power GUI Graphical User Interface PA Power Amplifier PTT Push-To-Talk RF Radio Frequency RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator RTS Request To Send Rx Received SNMP Simple Network Management Protocol SNTP Simple Netw
Index Appendix Controller Configurations Glenayre C2000 Controller / FLEX Mode ............... 29 Glenayre C2000 Controller / POCSAG Mode .......... 29 Motorola NIU Controller / FLEX Mode ................... 29 Zetron Model 66 Controller / POCSAG Mode ......... 30 Configuration ....................................................................... 9 Auto PTT ....................................................................... 18 Carrier Offset ............................................................
