Not even worth $5 IMO. I've never ever once used the feature on your products. I measure the amperage with an amp meter to know the draw. That's the end of it.
I would MUCH prefer self resetting fuses - faster and cheaper. Josh Luthman Office: 937-552-2340 Direct: 937-552-2343 1100 Wayne St Suite 1337 Troy, OH 45373 On Wed, Sep 23, 2015 at 8:10 PM, Forrest Christian (List Account) < [email protected]> wrote: > So, I think I've about got the design for the next iteration of injectors > nailed down, with one exception. > > I'm not quite sure what to do about overcurrent protection. > > Let me ask this question up front: > > How important is it to be able to read the current being drawn by each > radio? > > In the current SyncInjectors, Airfiber injectors, and 5 channel PDU's, I > do active overcurrent protection. In short, the microcontroller measures > the current through each channel using a hall effect sensor and when it > detects an overcurrent it just shuts off the port. > > The advantage of this is that we get very rough current measurements (like > you can usually tell if a radio is on or off, or drawing more power than > normal, but NOT anything close to an exact measurement), and I can somewhat > adjust the response to the overcurrent to handle inrush and the like. > This is also fairly expensive per port (like they add around $5 per > injection port to the cost of the product). With the altered design I'm > looking at the current measurement accuracy would go up for around the same > cost. > > On the other hand, In the past I've just used self-resetting (aka PTC) > fuses, which are simple and very robust, but don't end up with current > reading as a side effect since the microcontroller doesn't get involved. > I can definitely detect a overcurrent (aka fuse has been tripped) easily > and expensively, but can't tell how much current is actually being drawn. > > My decision is coming down to a perceived value choice. Is it worth > $5/port on an injector to be able to read the actual current used? > > -- > *Forrest Christian* *CEO**, PacketFlux Technologies, Inc.* > Tel: 406-449-3345 | Address: 3577 Countryside Road, Helena, MT 59602 > [email protected] | http://www.packetflux.com > <http://www.linkedin.com/in/fwchristian> <http://facebook.com/packetflux> > <http://twitter.com/@packetflux> > >
