When we are out doing site surveys in the past we just guessed at weather we could provide service or not, then we heard about this IPAQ methood and we had no idea where to start. So, now we have bought a cheap dell notebook and use that for fine tunning the radios while on the roof of the customers home. Its easier, and don’t have to mess with having the customer over your shoulder or yelling to a partner on the roof…what other ways have you done site surveys?
Unless the link is marginal, I find the LED indicators in Aiming Mode are sufficient. I haven’t tried the audio method.
My decision on whether to use this method rarely depends on the weather.
Teknix wrote: Unless the link is marginal, I find the LED indicators in Aiming Mode are sufficient. I haven't tried the audio method.
My decision on whether to use this method rarely depends on the weather.
I find the LED indicators hard to see especially at different angles. If only
Motorola would build the LEDs so they could be seen from the outside of
the case...
I, however, prefer the audio method. I built a small audio amplifier that
just hangs down under the radio and is loud enough (I designed it that
way) so I don't have to have headphones. That's for rough alignment
only.
I then switch to a laptop.
Dan
I have wondered about this. I was told it was useless, but I have never tried it. We use a laptop on the roof. I also agree with the LED lights being hard to see. Also, if your antenna is mounted to an telescoping antenna, you can’t get back up to put the cover on the lights without moving the antenna. Also, just how touchy are these antennas in terms of aiming. I can understand small turns can make a huge differnece at distance, but what constitutes a small turn. 1 mm? 2mm?
Ditto on the “LEDs are hard to see” sentiments. They are next to useless on connectorized SMs.
The audio tuner works well. Use good quality headphones which enclose the ear(s). We still use two people one on the ground with the laptop and one at the SM with the headphones.
This helps us tweak an install and minimize jitter.
I’ve always used dead reckoning on SMs without a reflector. The reflectors, however, have a very narrow beam and fine adjustments are needed.
I’ve never attempted to mount a reflector on a telescoping pole – because of concerns about torsion – but I have considered what it would take to get it done and, Bandit is right, the LEDs would be useless.