Re: [AFMUG] Rack Injector power question

2020-02-19 Thread Forrest Christian (List Account)
Not disagreeing with you at all.  One challenge we always seem to have is
about how to keep up documentation on how to configure the device for
specific radios and what voltages work with which radios, and how to do
this in a way which doesn't bite someone in the rear when the radio
manufacturer changes something without us being aware of it.

Take for example the airfiber product line.   Originally they were all
48VDC, all 4 pair,   Then they released the AF-5X, and it could only do 25V
max, until they changed it at a certain mac address and now they do up to
54V again.Some of them will do positive or negative power.   Some of
them don't care which pins they're on and some do.   Some are isolated
ground.  Some aren't.   And this is just with one product line - you
probably have 6 different configurations with just that one set of radios.
Add all of the radios that someone might want to plug into the RackInjector
and you get the idea of the scale of the challenge.

I'm (still) working on some solutions which may resolve this issue, but
I've also been down various paths trying to solve this issue several times
and nothing useful has come from it.  I've tried getting this information
from radio manufacturers and in many cases it is like pulling teeth - for
some it seems like how to power their radios safely is a trade secret or
something.   I've tried reverse engineering radios on the bench here, but
that is expensive since I end up having to buy a copy of each various radio
to do this.   I've tried obtaining information from customers about what
works, but that has proven to have it's own set of issues including greatly
varying quality of information.And so on.   I believe I might have a
technical solution here which involves a piece of custom test equipment
which I can ship to customers to gather the correct information,  but this
is going to need some relatively minor engineering, and the Base 3 is
pretty much consuming 100% of the engineering time at this point, for at
least another few weeks.

In relation to docs in general, I really would like to just hire someone
who takes care of all of this for me, but that's been it's own challenge
(I've hired or attempted to hire at least 5 different
people/contractors/firms of various qualifications, and none have produced
useful docs).   I'm working on a possible summer intern from one of the
schools who have a technical writing program, but that may or may not work
out just because of the timing of WISPAMERICA and another show we're
attending being right on top of the interview weeks at the local colleges.


In case you sense you've touched a bit of a frustration for me, you're
right.   Since I know this *has* to be fixed, and so far I haven't figured
out how to fix this particular issue, and the fact that I've tried several
times and failed isn't making me very non-grumpy about it.   The good news
is that once I get the Base3 cleared off the plate, we can circle back to
this and hopefully figure out a solution this go around.

On Wed, Feb 19, 2020 at 4:24 PM Tyson Burris  wrote:

> We blew two radio ports today on the old style gear.  Hopefully the
> documents clarify things better moving forward.
>
> Love the product but honestly the lack of current and accurate documents
> is the main shortcoming that cost us a tower climb.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *Tyson Burris, President*
> *Internet Communications Inc.*
> *739 Commerce Dr.*
> *Franklin, IN 46131*
>
> *Office #* *317-738-0320 *
> *Cell/Direct #* *317-412-1540 *
> *Online: **www.surfici.net* <http://www.surfici.net>
>
>
>
> [image: ICI]
>
> *What can ICI do for you?*
>
>
> *Broadband Wireless - PtP/PtMP Solutions - Mesh Wifi/Hotzones - IP Cameras
> - Fiber - Towers - Infrastructure.*
>
> *CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail is intended for the*
> *addressee shown. It contains information that is*
> *confidential and protected from disclosure. Any review,*
> *dissemination or use of this transmission or its contents by*
> *unauthorized organizations or individuals is strictly*
> *prohibited.*
>
>
>
> *From:* AF  *On Behalf Of * Forrest Christian
> (List Account)
> *Sent:* Wednesday, February 19, 2020 4:59 PM
> *To:* AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group 
> *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] Rack Injector power question
>
>
>
> The manual is out of date.The current revision (B0) boards don't
> care.   I've got a lot of documentation work to catch up on starting right
> after the Base3 starts shipping.   The documentation changes are pretty
> much all things like this which just make things easier for people instead
> of things which they *have* to do differently.
>
>
>
> The only thing which needs positive power is the old-style canopy sync

Re: [AFMUG] Rack Injector power question

2020-02-19 Thread Tyson Burris
We blew two radio ports today on the old style gear.  Hopefully the documents 
clarify things better moving forward.
Love the product but honestly the lack of current and accurate documents is the 
main shortcoming that cost us a tower climb.



Tyson Burris, President
Internet Communications Inc.
739 Commerce Dr.
Franklin, IN 46131

Office # 317-738-0320
Cell/Direct # 317-412-1540
Online: www.surfici.net

[ICI]
What can ICI do for you?

Broadband Wireless - PtP/PtMP Solutions - Mesh Wifi/Hotzones - IP Cameras - 
Fiber - Towers - Infrastructure.

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail is intended for the
addressee shown. It contains information that is
confidential and protected from disclosure. Any review,
dissemination or use of this transmission or its contents by
unauthorized organizations or individuals is strictly
prohibited.

From: AF  On Behalf Of Forrest Christian (List Account)
Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2020 4:59 PM
To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group 
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Rack Injector power question

The manual is out of date.The current revision (B0) boards don't care.   
I've got a lot of documentation work to catch up on starting right after the 
Base3 starts shipping.   The documentation changes are pretty much all things 
like this which just make things easier for people instead of things which they 
*have* to do differently.

The only thing which needs positive power is the old-style canopy sync board, 
since canopy sync pretty much requires positive power to operate.

The return connection on each input is tied together and should be the grounded 
conductor, if you are grounding a site at all.   If you're doing the DC to DC 
output thing, your -48VDC input should be hooked to the rackinjector such that 
the -48VDC is on the Vin pin and the return (or + in this case) is on the 
return.   On the DC - DC converters, you tie the - output of each converter to 
this same point (the +/return on the -48VDC), and then you end up with +24VDC 
or +48VDC.So the +output goes to Vin and the - output goes to return, and 
the 'ground' side of everything else.





On Wed, Feb 19, 2020 at 11:04 AM Adam Moffett 
mailto:dmmoff...@gmail.com>> wrote:
 From the manual:

"Important: At least one of the power sources must be of positive
polarity – the current revision of the RackInjector control board needs
at least one positive voltage in order to operate. If multiple positive
power sources are available, it will pull power from the input with the
highest voltage."

Should I take that to mean a negative terminal needs to connect to
ground for some reason?

I intend to connect a rectifier (-48V) and Meanwell RSD converters to
other voltages.  The RSD's don't have a ground reference on the output
side if I recall correctly.  I can add a connection from neg to ground
on the 24V converter, but is that really what they mean by positive
polarity?



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Re: [AFMUG] Rack Injector power question

2020-02-19 Thread Forrest Christian (List Account)
The manual is out of date.The current revision (B0) boards don't care.
 I've got a lot of documentation work to catch up on starting right after
the Base3 starts shipping.   The documentation changes are pretty much all
things like this which just make things easier for people instead of things
which they *have* to do differently.

The only thing which needs positive power is the old-style canopy sync
board, since canopy sync pretty much requires positive power to operate.

The return connection on each input is tied together and should be the
grounded conductor, if you are grounding a site at all.   If you're doing
the DC to DC output thing, your -48VDC input should be hooked to the
rackinjector such that the -48VDC is on the Vin pin and the return (or + in
this case) is on the return.   On the DC - DC converters, you tie the -
output of each converter to this same point (the +/return on the -48VDC),
and then you end up with +24VDC or +48VDC.So the +output goes to Vin
and the - output goes to return, and the 'ground' side of everything else.





On Wed, Feb 19, 2020 at 11:04 AM Adam Moffett  wrote:

>  From the manual:
>
> "Important: At least one of the power sources must be of positive
> polarity – the current revision of the RackInjector control board needs
> at least one positive voltage in order to operate. If multiple positive
> power sources are available, it will pull power from the input with the
> highest voltage."
>
> Should I take that to mean a negative terminal needs to connect to
> ground for some reason?
>
> I intend to connect a rectifier (-48V) and Meanwell RSD converters to
> other voltages.  The RSD's don't have a ground reference on the output
> side if I recall correctly.  I can add a connection from neg to ground
> on the 24V converter, but is that really what they mean by positive
> polarity?
>
>
>
> --
> AF mailing list
> AF@af.afmug.com
> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
>


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[AFMUG] Rack Injector power question

2020-02-19 Thread Adam Moffett

From the manual:

"Important: At least one of the power sources must be of positive 
polarity – the current revision of the RackInjector control board needs 
at least one positive voltage in order to operate. If multiple positive 
power sources are available, it will pull power from the input with the 
highest voltage."


Should I take that to mean a negative terminal needs to connect to 
ground for some reason?


I intend to connect a rectifier (-48V) and Meanwell RSD converters to 
other voltages.  The RSD's don't have a ground reference on the output 
side if I recall correctly.  I can add a connection from neg to ground 
on the 24V converter, but is that really what they mean by positive 
polarity?




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