ThinkRF H1000A User Manual

Rf power amplifier

Hide thumbs

Table Of Contents

Table of Contents

Quick Links

Download this manual

ThinkRF H1000A

RF Power Amplifier

User Guide

Version 1.1

Dec 2021

Document no. 75-0047-210915

All product names are trademarks of their respective companies.

Table of Contents

Need help?

Do you have a question about the H1000A and is the answer not in the manual?

Questions and answers

Summary of Contents for ThinkRF H1000A

Page 1 ThinkRF H1000A RF Power Amplifier User Guide Version 1.1 Dec 2021 Document no. 75-0047-210915 Copyright © 2021-present ThinkRF Corporation, All rights reserved. All product names are trademarks of their respective companies.
Page 2 (1) year from the date of shipment as identified by the Customer’s without notice. ThinkRF packing slip or carrier waybill. ThinkRF reserves the right to void the warranty on any Corporation assumes no equipment that has been altered or damaged due to Customer negligence,...
Page 3: Table Of Contents
Connecting the Exciter, RF Output, Ethernet, and Power Cables ........15 Installing the v-mount Battery Plates ................16 Choosing a Mount Location for the H1000A ..............17 The ThinkRF H1000A Hardware Architecture ............19 Connecting to the ThinkRF H1000A ................21 Connecting the RF input ....................
Page 4 Hardware Reference ....................43 System Specifications ..................... 43 TNC Connectors ......................43 DC Input Connector & Pinout ..................44 Ethernet RJ-45 Port Pinout ..................... 45 RJ-45 Straight-Through Ethernet Cable ................46 RJ-45 Crossover Ethernet Cable ..................46 Operational Considerations and Maintenance ..............46...
Page 5: Preface
Preface Thank you for your purchase of the H1000A RF Power Amplifier. The H1000A has been designed to the highest standard of technical workmanship and we believe that it will benefit the user substantially when compared to previous solutions. This section describes the audience for, the organization of, and conventions used in this document.
Page 6: Audience
Audience This document is written for technical people who have basic understanding, familiarity, and experience with RF transmission equipment.
Page 7: Conventions
Conventions The following conventions and notations are used in this document: Note: This symbol means take note. Notes contain helpful suggestions or references to additional information and material. Caution: This symbol means be careful. In this situation, you might do something that could result in equipment damage or loss of data.
Page 8: Obtaining The Latest Documentation And Software
Obtaining the Latest Documentation and Software Please visit the ThinkRF website at https://www.thinkrf.com/documentation/ to obtain the latest H1000A documentation. Latest software and firmware releases are also available on the ThinkRF website at https://www.thinkrf.com/download-updates/.
Page 9: Document Feedback
Document Feedback Please send your comments about this document or any ThinkRF documentation to support@thinkrf.com. We appreciate your feedback.
Page 10: Obtaining Technical Assistance
9 AM to 5 PM Eastern Time, Monday to Friday. Contact us at support@thinkrf.com or by calling +1.613.369.5104. Before contacting support, please have the following information available: • H1000A serial number (located on the identification label on the H1000A device’s underside) • The product version. •...
Page 11: Overview Of The Thinkrf H1000A
RF gain and to monitor the operation of the unit using a standard web browser. The H1000A leverages the web browser interface and therefore there is no need to install software on any computer that is connected to the H1000A, provided it already has a web browser.
Page 12: Getting Familiar With The Thinkrf H1000A
H1000A power amplifier. Top Panel The front panel of the H1000A contains the power switch, status indicator LEDs, and the input connector for the RF input and two RF output connectors – Low-band and High- band. In addition, the top panel has an RJ-45 Ethernet port for diagnostics.
Page 13 Overview of the ThinkRF H1000A Underside The underside of the ThinkRF H1000A incorporates a removeable mounting plate with notches for mounting bolts. The bottom plate may be removed and replaced with a custom mounting plate if required for certain installation scenarios.
Page 14: Installing The Thinkrf H1000A
Electrostatic discharge is more likely to occur with the combination of synthetic fibers and dry atmosphere. Always follow these steps to prevent ESD. Warning: Never open the side or top panels of the H1000A as personal injury may result and opening the chassis will void the warranty. There are no user-serviceable parts inside.
Page 15: Unpacking The Box
Installing the ThinkRF H1000A Unpacking the Box This section lists the items that come with your H1000A high power amplifier. If any of the items are missing or damaged, please contact your ThinkRF customer service representative. The H1000A shipping box contains the following: H1000A High Power Amplifier •...
Page 16: Installing The V-Mount Battery Plates
The H1000A can be operated either from 12v (nominal) vehicle power using the power cable or it can be operated from v-mount batteries. In order to use the H1000A with v- mount batteries, the v-mount battery adapter plates need to be installed as described below.
Page 17: Choosing A Mount Location For The H1000A
H1000A. Choosing a Mount Location for the H1000A The H1000A is designed to be mounted in a vertical orientation so that the heat sink fins are vertical. It must therefore be operated in an orientation that ensures that the heatsink fins are vertical.
Page 18 Installing the ThinkRF H1000A ThinkRF H1000A RF High Power Amplifier User Guide...
Page 19: The Thinkrf H1000A Hardware Architecture
Finally, there is a micro-controller (MCU) which continuously monitors the drive level and various health parameters on the H100AA. The MCU also provides access to a GUI for the user to set up the gain and monitor the health of the H1000A through the Ethernet port.
Page 20 The ThinkRF H1000A Hardware Architecture For more detailed instructions in setting the High-band or Low-band RF gain, refer to Figure 2: Main Page: Low-band Module Panel or Figure 3: Main Page: High-band Module Panel. ThinkRF H1000A RF High Power Amplifier User Guide...
Page 21: Connecting To The Thinkrf H1000A
Warning: Before installing or removing the cable connected to either of the RF outputs, ensure that the H1000A is powered OFF. Failure to do so may result in painful RF burns. The two outputs port are intended to work with an antenna optimized for each band.
Page 22: Connecting To The Ethernet Diagnostic Port
The Ethernet connection is required only for initial configuration of the H1000A. The cable can be removed once the system is configured. Note: The Ethernet interfaces on both the PC and the H1000A must be configured for the same IP address allocation method before you can make a direct connection.
Page 23: H1000A Operating System Functions
Each of these functions are explained in more detail in the following sections. PA Configuration There are two RF power amplifier (PA) modules in the H1000A: the Low-band (LB) and the High-band (HB). Each module has three parameters which are controlled by the user, as shown below.
Page 24: Network Configuration
The DHCP method means the H1000A will power up with no IP address assigned. It will communicate with a DHCP server on the LAN and obtain an IP address from the server. If the DHCP server does not respond within a certain time limit, the H1000A will assign an AutoIP address to itself.
Page 25 The RF Input Power fault is a non-recoverable fault. When the fault occurs, the PA modules will be shut down and will remain in that state until the main power is switched ThinkRF H1000A RF High Power Amplifier User Guide...
Page 26 The second category of fault conditions are Hardware Faults. This type of fault occurs if the operating system detects a failure within an internal component in the H1000A. This type of fault may also occur if certain internal operating conditions are exceeded, such as the internal operating current of the amplifier circuits.
Page 27: Using The H1000A Web Interface
This is the URL for the Main page of the H1000A web interface. If you enter only the IP address of the H1000A in your browser's address bar, the system will return the Main page by default. So, another way to access the Main page is to simply use the IP address of the device, such as http://192.168.1.2.
Page 28: Main Page
The Hardware Fault Status table summarizes the hardware fault status for the control board and the two PA modules. The Power Supplies table displays the voltage, current, power, and status of the three input power sources. ThinkRF H1000A RF High Power Amplifier User Guide...
Page 29 Even though there is a 20 dB range for the attenuation setting, it does not mean that all values in that range can be used in all situations. Please note that the H1000A is factory calibrated for a RF gain of 43dB with Attenuation set to 0dB.
Page 30 The final table in this sub-panel is the RF Power table. It displays the RF input power, in dBm. The fault status for the RF power level is displayed below the power measurement. ThinkRF H1000A RF High Power Amplifier User Guide...
Page 31 Low-band. The final panel at the bottom of the main page is the LED Control panel. Figure 4: Main Page: LED Control Panel ThinkRF H1000A RF High Power Amplifier User Guide...
Page 32 LEDs. Click the Disable button to permanently turn off the top panel LEDs. If the LEDs are disabled, the user must connect to the web interface to determine the device status. ThinkRF H1000A RF High Power Amplifier User Guide...
Page 33: Network Settings Page
To change any row in the table, enter the four numbers in each field and click Apply. All four values must be entered even if some of the values are the same as existing values. ThinkRF H1000A RF High Power Amplifier User Guide...
Page 34 Any changes made in this sub-panel will not take effect until the next system restart. Therefore, after you have applied your changes to the network settings, the power should be switched off and then on again to use the new network settings. ThinkRF H1000A RF High Power Amplifier User Guide...
Page 35: Maintenance Page
The page may also be found by clicking the Maintenance link in the navigation bar at the top of any H1000A web page. The first panel on this page is the Device Information panel, shown below. Figure 6: Maintenance page: Device Information This panel displays the device name, serial number, and bootloader version.
Page 36 The bbbbb value is the session ID and it is an incrementing number which begins at zero and is incremented by 1 each time the H1000A operating system boots up. All system log messages use the same session ID until the power is shut off. The next time the power is turned on, a new session ID is generated.
Page 37: Updating The H1000A Firmware
Updating the H1000A Firmware This section describes how to update the H1000A firmware. You can obtain the latest H1000A firmware file from the ThinkRF website (at https://www.thinkrf.com/firmware-updates/). To load a new firmware version, visit the Maintenance page by selecting the link in the navigation bar at the top of any web page, or use this URL: http://192.168.1.2/maintenance.shtml...
Page 38 If the Top plate LED activity is disabled, both LEDs will turn off when the install process is complete. Warning: Do not remove power from the H1000A during this process, except at step 6 where the system restart is required.
Page 39: Status Indicator Leds
Status Indicator LEDs Status Indicator LEDs The top panel of the H1000A includes two (2) status indicator LEDs as shown in the following figure and described in the following sections. The LED descriptions below assume that the Top Plate LED Activity is set to Enabled (see the LED activity setting described on page 31).
Page 40 Both PA modules are configured in the Disabled state, so they are powered off. Therefore, there is no RF output from the H1000A because both PA modules are off. Green The solid green LED indicates the following are all true: The system is ready and there are no fault conditions.
Page 41: Troubleshooting Procedures
Troubleshooting Procedures Troubleshooting Procedures This section describes some problems which may occur when using the H1000A and the suggested troubleshooting steps to resolve the problem. Problem Possible causes Cannot communicate with the Damaged Ethernet cable or connector. H1000A through the ethernet...
Page 42 HW fault should not occur. If the HW fault is due to an internal component failure, the unit may be damaged. Contact support at ThinkRF. The unit does nothing when It is possible that the system is damaged, or an internal the power switch is turned on.
Page 43: Hardware Reference
Hardware Reference Hardware Reference This section provides physical and performance specifications, and port and cable pinouts for the H1000A. System Specifications The following table outlines the physical and electrical specifications for the H1000A. Description Design Specification Notes Dimensions 10.5 x 8.9 x inches Without battery mounts installed (26.7 x 22.7 x 20 cm)
Page 44: Dc Input Connector & Pinout
The DC input connector on the top panel is a 4-pin LEMO connector. This connector is polarized and uses a latching sleeve to lock the mating DC cable to the H1000A. The mating connector to be used on the DC power cable is LEMO p/n FGG.3T.304.CLAC11.
Page 45: Ethernet Rj-45 Port Pinout
Hardware Reference Ethernet RJ-45 Port Pinout The following figure shows the H1000A Ethernet RJ-45 pinout: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Signal ThinkRF H1000A RF High Power Amplifier User Guide...
Page 46: Rj-45 Straight-Through Ethernet Cable
The H1000A should be operated only within its specified operation temperature and specification of -10°C to +55°C. Caution: When possible, avoid exposing the H1000A to direct sunlight or radiation from other sources of heat as it may cause the unit to exceed operating temperature limits.