Transmit power and range

[brinzlee]

Lee have you managed a trial yet with the mod.....I know you mentioned the better transmission without the pigtail but I'm just wondering if there are any other issues with the ARF version 2.0.
When you did your initial testing was it all with version 1
Thanks
Brinsley

[Admin]

I Plan to do some tests in the air this weekend, but what I can see is that the RSSI (Received signal strength indicator) value is 8dBm (dBi ?) better using an end launch SMA.
So I would say yes. this is a great improvement, but if you want to wait till I publish my findings after the weekend ....

When I release the next version of PilotAware you can configure your PilotAware to go into a test mode as either a Master or a Slave (you will need 2 units)
this will send a short packet of info from Master->Slave and then from Slave ->Master, the master will print the RSSI reported by the Slave, and the RSSI at the Master

Thx
Lee

[stephenmelody]

That's great news Lee, I'm currently building unit 2, so testing this would be great!!!

[brinzlee]

That's a significant improvement Lee...I'll get on the case of changing over to the SMA's.....love the self test feature with two units....that'll make life easier testing......
Thanks again
Brinsley.

[Bill Maxwell]

Probably totally unnecessary on this forum but just in case, a caution to others looking to buy SMA sockets to replace pigtails. Both SMA plugs and sockets come in both male and female gender, so make sure you order the correct gender. The presence of a centre pin determines male gender, the presence of a centre hole determines female gender. Some newcomers to the use of SMA mistakenly consider the threaded portion of the connector to indicate that it is of male gender....

Bill

[Wadoadi]

I'm wondering if changing the connector on the board is removing the problem by getting rid of the small pigtail i.e. that its not the connector at fault but the pigtail cable / quality of the coax used.

Thus we may just need to swap that out to something like http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321730793221 the cable used seems a resonable spec if the ad is correct uses RG178 coax,  from the spec http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/1504033.pdf the loss in the tail should be around 0.19db

thoughts?

I have ordered one to try, but I have only one PA unit, so if anyone is near King's Lynn and wants to meet up to try out the power test once Lee has that build out and the cable has arrived, let me know...

[JCurtis]

I've done some measuring of the TX power levels with and without the pigtail, there is virtually nothing between them.  So it looks like the issue is on the RX side, where attenuation will be the problem.  This points at the pigtail as the culprit.

Thinking much the same, I had some new pigtails delivered today but they have sent me male not female. Hunting around I don't have a gender changer, so these need to get swapped.

[stephenmelody]

I'm getting this with a master / slave config in the log...

ARF-SER: (24) aSSRSSIS-025aMMRSSIM-22 or sometimes 23...

Is that good / bad??

[Admin]

I'm getting this with a master / slave config in the log...

ARF-SER: (24) aSSRSSIS-025aMMRSSIM-22 or sometimes 23...

Is that good / bad??

I am getting figures of about -020 at a range of about 30ft.
Do you have the pigtail or SMA, and how close are your units ?

Thx
Lee

[stephenmelody]

I have pigtails and they're directly above each other, separated by one floor...

[ianfallon]

I have pigtails and they're directly above each other

I don't think your hair style will have much, if any, effect on it 

[stephenmelody]

I found power source issues today... My battery pack doesn't seem to provide enough juice and the PA unit kept crashing. Once I plugged it into the aircraft it was rock steady.

Still didn't pick up anyone, or my home ground station, but I think that crashed today.

[stephenmelody]

hi Lee,

Was there any update on the testing you were planning to do?

Cheers,

SM.

[Admin]

hi Lee,
Was there any update on the testing you were planning to do?
Cheers,
SM.

Unfortunately Long Marston had both runways closed due to the 'International Jet Meet', so unfortunately not 

[Richard W]

When I release the next version of PilotAware you can configure your PilotAware to go into a test mode as either a Master or a Slave (you will need 2 units)
this will send a short packet of info from Master->Slave and then from Slave ->Master, the master will print the RSSI reported by the Slave, and the RSSI at the Master

I gather that this is now possible, but please can anyone tell me how to configure two units to perform this test?