Difference between revisions of "Gage Reliability"
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The current Floodzilla gage network physical layout is pushing the limit of what the Senix transmitters and receivers can do in terms of transmission | The current Floodzilla gage network physical layout is pushing the limit of what the Senix transmitters and receivers can do in terms of transmission | ||
distance and reliability. | distance and reliability. | ||
| − | |||
| − | * Dave: Gather statistics about reliability (how many lost updates, how many outages) | + | '''RSSI Considerations''' |
| − | * Dave: Chart RSSI and S/N ratio per gage (the data is already being recorded, but it's not in a directly accessible format currently) | + | |
| − | * Andy: Change TxRetryCount on a sensor; monitor how reliability and battery life change, if at all | + | 1. Does the type of metal make a difference? Some of the metal housings are zinc and some are steel. |
| − | * Andy: Mount a second transmitter at an existing site but with the antenna higher; monitor how reliability compares with existing transmitter | + | |
| + | '''As a practical matter, the type of metal won’t really make any difference, no.''' | ||
| + | |||
| + | a. To follow up on that, is there anything we can put over the housings to minimize interference….some sort of special coating or paint? | ||
| + | |||
| + | '''No.''' | ||
| + | |||
| + | 2. If the line of sight between the receiver and the antenna is being physically blocked by the metal housing would that impact RSSI? | ||
| + | |||
| + | '''Yes. You want to make sure that if there’s metal nearby, it’s not close to the antenna and not in the line of sight between the transmitter and the receiver. In this case both the base and remote are both transmitters and receivers (the link is actually bidirectional) but that doesn’t make much difference. If the direction to the other end of the link is through the metal bracket, and the antenna is right against the bracket, that’s a real problem. You want the antenna not next to the metal bracket, and if possible you really want the antenna *above* the bracket. In any case you want more separation between the antenna and the metal bracket.''' | ||
| + | |||
| + | a. Could we address this by just orienting the antenna on the same side as the receiver? | ||
| + | |||
| + | '''Yes, definitely. You want both antennas vertical you and you want nothing between them except air, to the extent that you can arrange that.''' | ||
| + | |||
| + | 3. Is it possible to raise the antenna at all on the transmitter by coupling it with a coax? We were thinking we could possibly just raise it above the metal housing this way….or would that inhibit the RSSI by causing too much power loss? | ||
| + | |||
| + | '''Yes, definitely. But yes, there’s loss in the coax cable, so you don’t want a very long run.''' | ||
| + | |||
| + | 4. We have all our transmitters set to sub-band 3. Do you recommend using another sub-band? | ||
| + | |||
| + | '''In general, unless you’re running into interference switching bands will not help. But there are a lot of things that might generate interference, so trying a switch is not unreasonable.''' | ||
| + | |||
| + | <br /> | ||
| + | ===To Do=== | ||
| + | |||
| + | *Dave: Gather statistics about reliability (how many lost updates, how many outages) and battery usage (ignore temperature fluctuations if possible) | ||
| + | *Dave: Chart RSSI and S/N ratio per gage (the data is already being recorded, but it's not in a directly accessible format currently) | ||
| + | *Andy: Change TxRetryCount on a sensor; monitor how reliability and battery life change, if at all | ||
| + | *Andy: Mount a second transmitter at an existing site but with the antenna higher; monitor how reliability compares with existing transmitter | ||
Latest revision as of 17:11, 23 July 2020
Gage Reliability
The current Floodzilla gage network physical layout is pushing the limit of what the Senix transmitters and receivers can do in terms of transmission distance and reliability.
RSSI Considerations
1. Does the type of metal make a difference? Some of the metal housings are zinc and some are steel.
As a practical matter, the type of metal won’t really make any difference, no.
a. To follow up on that, is there anything we can put over the housings to minimize interference….some sort of special coating or paint?
No.
2. If the line of sight between the receiver and the antenna is being physically blocked by the metal housing would that impact RSSI?
Yes. You want to make sure that if there’s metal nearby, it’s not close to the antenna and not in the line of sight between the transmitter and the receiver. In this case both the base and remote are both transmitters and receivers (the link is actually bidirectional) but that doesn’t make much difference. If the direction to the other end of the link is through the metal bracket, and the antenna is right against the bracket, that’s a real problem. You want the antenna not next to the metal bracket, and if possible you really want the antenna *above* the bracket. In any case you want more separation between the antenna and the metal bracket.
a. Could we address this by just orienting the antenna on the same side as the receiver?
Yes, definitely. You want both antennas vertical you and you want nothing between them except air, to the extent that you can arrange that.
3. Is it possible to raise the antenna at all on the transmitter by coupling it with a coax? We were thinking we could possibly just raise it above the metal housing this way….or would that inhibit the RSSI by causing too much power loss?
Yes, definitely. But yes, there’s loss in the coax cable, so you don’t want a very long run.
4. We have all our transmitters set to sub-band 3. Do you recommend using another sub-band?
In general, unless you’re running into interference switching bands will not help. But there are a lot of things that might generate interference, so trying a switch is not unreasonable.
To Do
- Dave: Gather statistics about reliability (how many lost updates, how many outages) and battery usage (ignore temperature fluctuations if possible)
- Dave: Chart RSSI and S/N ratio per gage (the data is already being recorded, but it's not in a directly accessible format currently)
- Andy: Change TxRetryCount on a sensor; monitor how reliability and battery life change, if at all
- Andy: Mount a second transmitter at an existing site but with the antenna higher; monitor how reliability compares with existing transmitter
