PilotAware

British Forum => General Discussion => Topic started by: the_top_pilot on October 21, 2015, 02:48:36 pm

Title: RFSolutions RF Board
Post by: the_top_pilot on October 21, 2015, 02:48:36 pm: In my Old Job as a BBC Special Cameras Engineer we used RFSolutions equipment a lot.

I notice on their website they have a beta version of an 868mhz TX with impressive claims

http://www.rfsolutions.co.uk/acatalog/RF-Telemetry-module-GAMMA_868.html

Might be worth a look.

Steve
Title: Re: RFSolutions RF Board
Post by: Paul_Sengupta on October 21, 2015, 03:42:25 pm: +13dBm. About 20mW.
Title: Re: RFSolutions RF Board
Post by: The Westmorland Flyer on October 21, 2015, 04:17:06 pm: Good RX sensitivity though: -121dBm is decent by anyone's standards.

What we need is +27dBm TX; -121dBm RX (or better :) )
Title: Re: RFSolutions RF Board
Post by: trapdoor on October 21, 2015, 06:14:34 pm: This looks quite interesting - +30dBm max but at over 500mA ...

http://www.hoperf.com/upload/rf/RFM23BP.pdf

Also has the ability to run antenna diversity. Only did a quick scan but looks like PAW would need a complete rework to integrate.
Title: Re: RFSolutions RF Board
Post by: scsirob on October 21, 2015, 06:39:15 pm: It looks like anything over 25mW is illegal at the current frequency (868.3MHz):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Range_Devices#SRD860
Title: Re: RFSolutions RF Board
Post by: trapdoor on October 21, 2015, 06:42:57 pm: Quote from: scsirob on October 21, 2015, 06:39:15 pm
It looks like anything over 25mW is illegal at the current frequency (868.3MHz):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Range_Devices#SRD860

But PAW runs at 869.4MHz and <10% duty
Title: Re: RFSolutions RF Board
Post by: SteveN on October 22, 2015, 10:42:20 am: Selected by the glider boys for their DIY tracker

http://www.hoperf.com/rf/fsk_module/RFM69HW.htm (http://www.hoperf.com/rf/fsk_module/RFM69HW.htm)
Title: Re: RFSolutions RF Board
Post by: Robski on October 22, 2015, 12:00:12 pm: I notice Lee hasn't contributed here so I'll start by saying I am totally unofficial and I'm definitely not trying to put words in his mouth... :-X

With all alternative hardware suggestions it should be borne in mind that the availability of the physical hardware is just part of the picture. That hardware has to be able to physically/electrically interface with the RPi in some way (GPIO / USB) and, equally as importantly, there needs to be suitable driver support so the RPi operating system can actually communicate with the hardware.

How you discover whether such software support is available, and where one would actually find it (other than 'somewhere on the internet'), I wouldn't know.

The driver issue is the reason that we have a limited selection of WiFi dongles, DVB dongles etc. that work with the RPi / PAW, and also why the RPi 2 is not supported.

Having said all that - keep the suggestions flowing - knowledge is power!
Title: Re: RFSolutions RF Board
Post by: Michael Clarkson on October 22, 2015, 08:13:22 pm: And another one
http://www.nicerf.com/product_view.aspx?id=9
Title: Re: RFSolutions RF Board
Post by: JCurtis on October 22, 2015, 09:15:43 pm: At an electronics design show today I saw several fully certified radio modules that would be easy to interface to the Pi with good specs. Price range similar to the current ARF with the benefit if full support with the EU. Depending on supplier some would also help with antenna designs too.

Certified is handy to keep interference down and also to help with immunity from anything lurking around RF wise. Manufacturing tolerances are also tighter, which is good with lots of radios in a net.

Lots of nice test gear too, but thats another story....