Testing Antenna Handoff; Assigning Beltpacks To Coverage Areas - Clear-Com ECLIPSE DIGITAL WIRELESS User Manual

E C L I P S E W I R E L E S S C O M M U N I C A T I O N S Y S T E M

TESTING ANTENNA HANDOFF

After you test the coverage areas for individual antennas, test the handoff
between the antennas. When you walk through a coverage area with the beltpack,
the beltpack searches to find the antenna with the best signal strength, and
switches transmission to that antenna. Therefore the beltpack continually hands
off transmission among antennas as you move through the coverage area.
To test antenna handoff, connect any additional antennas in the installation and
walk through the coverage areas to ensure that the coverage is continuous and
complete, without audio breakups. You can tell which antenna the beltpack
transmits to by looking at the RPN number in the top rightmost corner of the
beltpack's display when the beltpack is in "site survey" mode. Reposition
antennas if necessary. Note that the numbering to identify antennas starts at "6"
to identify the first antenna, as shown in the table below.
BELTPACK SCREEN DISPLAYS:
RPN 6
RPN 7
RPN 8
RPN 9
RPN 10
RPN 11
RPN 12
RPN 13
RPN 14
RPN 15
Table 4-1: How antennas are numbered

ASSIGNING BELTPACKS TO COVERAGE AREAS

Each antenna is designed to handle five beltpacks simultaneously. Although it
can achieve this in good conditions, this may not always be possible for a number
of reasons. First, interference or propagation problems may mean that not all
antenna slots are available all the time. Second, a beltpack constantly searches for
the best antenna signal, and may frequently switch antennas. To make this
transmission seamless, a beltpack maintains the connection to its current antenna
until it is confident that the new antenna is functioning well. Therefore, for a
short period of time during this transition, a single beltpack can occupy slots on
more than one antenna.
This means that for zones in which you are likely to need coverage for five or
more beltpacks simultaneously, it is recommended that you install a second
antenna. Similarly, for good coverage for nine or more beltpacks simultaneously,
a third antenna may be required.
WHICH SIGNIFIES:
Antenna 1 on transceiver port 1
Antenna 2 on transceiver port 1
Antenna 3 on transceiver port 1
Antenna 4 on transceiver port 1
Antenna 5 on transceiver port 1
Antenna 1 on transceiver port 2
Antenna 2 on transceiver port 2
Antenna 3 on transceiver port 2
Antenna 4 on transceiver port 2
Antenna 5 on transceiver port 2
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