Got some 2.4Ghz ePMP 1000 with Sync off ebay and they have obviously been “refurbished” or “repaired” but so far everything works but 2 things are odd.
(1) They will not power up using the usual 56v ePMP power supply , but power up and appear to work fine with the ePMP 30v or connected to a Sync Injector at 24-30v ( I’m not brave enough to try plugging them into a Sync Injector at 48-56v as they tend to fry 30v radios, like 3000L).
They have obviously been taken apart and the back of the PCB where the ethernet port is is covered with flux on all of them so I’m pretty sure the ethernet port/chip has been replaced on them… was there ever a 30v only version of the 1000 with Sync or did they possibly use chips from 30v 1000 subscriber radios to repair ?
(2) The firmware / GPS software on every other 2.4Ghz AP on the network is:
U-Boot 9350_PX 1.1.4.e (Feb 24 2016 - 20:14:38) time/date varies
AXN_5.1._8174
But all of these ebay radios are:
U-Boot 9350_PX 1.1.4.e (Mar 31 2017 - 17:17:18) time/date varies
AXN_1.51_2838
So all (ebay and on network) are the same firmware but the gps software is different. I’m assuming that the v5.1 is newer than the v1.51 on the ebay radios ? Ebay radios updated to v4.8.1, both banks, gps version says it’s up to date and continuing to upload v4.8.1 to them doesn’t change GPS version.
So is v1.51 really “Up to date” and will it be in Sync with other radios running v5.1 ?
I repaired those devices too.
As far as I know, they have a wide range of 22-56 VDC power supplies, and it doesn’t matter if it’s a direct or inversely polarized POE power supply.
Of course you can go to 56VDC
Does it say voltage range on the device?
The stickers are long faded out but even if it wasn’t the stickers are on the case not the main board so the sticker and the board may or may not match. I’m pretty sure they bought the rest of the radios from the link you posted here and those tested out fine, I updated the software, uploaded a config and made sure sync worked on all of them. Then I opened a box they got from another ebay auction, and using the exact same set up, literally unplugged the last radio from the 56v cambium PS then plugged in the first of these other radios, none of them would even power up. I thought at first they got scammed, but just in case I tried another cambium 56v PS and they would not light up , at all, no flash no nothing, just dead.
They had the SMA connector for the GPS antenna and I’m thinking at this point they bought a box of dead radios. I have no idea what made me try a Cambium 30v PS but I did and was really surprised when they powered up. Honestly at that point thought they had been scammed and the seller had somehow stuck an GPS SMA connector on subscriber radio. But logged into them and yeah, they were Access Points.
Except for one of them they all appear to work just fine other than the GPS software version not updating and the fact that they will not run on Cambium 56v PS.
So the most important thing at this point I think is figuring out if the GPS on these radios is compatible with the GPS of all the others and if not can it be upgraded and how.
Edit: The ePMP 1000 subscriber radios will not work on 48 or 56v power only 20-32v so I assumed, very possibly incorrectly, that when they repaired these AP’s power circuit they used parts from subscriber radios (if that is even possible or if it even works that way).
Cambium 30v POE is the correct power supply. I have one AP with GPS Version
AXN_1.51_2838. I have not had any issues with it, so it seems like it’s working. All the others I have are GPS Version AXN_5.1._8513
As for Power Supply, the ePMP 1000 Access points are 23v to 56v and while I don’t remember what power supply they came with, it might have been the 30v ones, they should also run on the 56v PS (while the subscriber radios are only 10v to 33v and will not run on a 56v power supply). These are the only ePMP GPS Sync radios I have ever run accross that will not run on 56v.
Every ePMP access point we have is powered by a 48v packetflux sync injector (ePMP 1000, 2000 and 3000).
Yep I opened an old 5Ghz 1000 AP and it has the old 30v PS with the hard to read gold on black lettering. That said, my question isn’t “will they run at 30v” I know they will , it’s “why do these 6 Access Points not run at 56v” and/or “Did cambium make a batch of ePMP 1000 Sync APs that won’t work at 56v ?”
There are two types of GPS receivers used in ePMP1000 units.
Having different receivers within the same network is not an issue.
I hope the table in the article clarifies everything.
That is great information and explains the GPS quesiton. Do you happen to know if some of these first gen ePMP 1000 GPS Sync radios were not 23v to 56v or any reason a 1000 Sync AP would only run at 10v to 30v like the CPE’s ?
I have always used 30v POEs for the ePMP 1000 GPS sync radios, but I just tested the 4 I have on the shelf I had ordered a few years ago, and they powered up with the 56v POEs also. Looks like the older ones would only power up with the 30v, but the newer ones will power up with 30v and 56v.
The ePMP-1000 was designed to be used with a standard 30 Volt DC output Cambium power supply. It was never designed to be used with a 56 volt DC Cambium Power Supply.
It you plug a factory 56 VDC Cambium power supply, you are damn lucky if you didn’t blow up your ePMP radios!
A few years ago at the Cambium conference in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambium engineer Sebastian Opiela answered my question about confusion and a wide range of power supplies.
To avoid confusion, all Cambium devices from the ePMP family that do not have GPS synchronization are powered by 12-30V POE.
devices that have GPS synchronization 42-56V POE.
The GPS sync AP1000 2.4 and 5.8 GHz radios I have can operate from 22-56V (POE doesn’t matter which polarity).
AP 2000 can work on 42-56 V (the polarity is also irrelevant).
As far as I know and I have serviced many, the GPS chip is powered at 3.3 V after the step down converter and the design of the converter is questionable.
Is it limited to 30V or 56V at the POE input to the radio.
I’ve never come across an ePMP GPS sync that only works up to 30V.
Maybe there’s a 2.4 GHz series that even Sebastian Opiela didn’t know about, nothing is ruled out.
The ePMP-1000 with Sync (aka Access Points) are absolutely designed to work with the 30v or the 56v DC Cambium Power Supply. The CPE aka Subscriber Radios, you are correct they will not work above 30v and there is potential for damaging them if plugged into a 56v PS.
Literally the sticker on this 2.4Ghz ePMP 1000 with Sync that will not power up connected to a 56v PS. However these boards are not in their orignal cases as the ESNs on the cases do not match the radios.
Don’t forget the wonderous 3000Lostsync ! I never even considered it wasn’t 56v like every single other GPS sync ePMP. Found out they were in fact 30v about 10 seconds after our first one was installed on the tower. I configured it with a 30v PS on the bench but then plugged into a 48v packetflux at the tower and fried it. Extra aggravation for the fact the even cambium repeats the “all GPS sync can do 56v!” even here they have posted what radios work with what power supplies and misfit 3000L just doesn’t get mentioned.
But yeah, other than the 3000L and these 6 2.4Ghz ePMP APs , I’v never seen an ePMP with sync that wouldn’t run on 48/56v power. They are just weird. I know they have been repaired and I can’t help but think that they used some part that is preventing them from powering up when plugged into 56v.
