I have 11 sites, each includes a mast, and most masts are 15 meters high or less.
I use 5.7 GHz for all radios (AP, BH). In most sites the distance seperating APs from BHs is at best 5 meters, sometimes the BH reflector dish is a few centimeters away from the AP, and some sites have 2-3 BH units + APs.
My network suffers at times and I suspect internal interference. I read somewhere that I should separate APs from BHs with an RF shield but I have no idea what it looks like and how to make one.
Does anyone have pictures of an RF shield, preferable one that is mounted on a mast. I will also need some technical information on how to manfacture one (material to use, size, thickness, etc.)
Thanks. Greg
You do not need a shield if everything is properly synchronized. The Canopy documentation discusses synchronization, and what works and what doesn’t work.
If you do need a shield, solid aluminum or galvanized steel of any thickness will do. The problem you’ll have is making it light enough to get it up the pole, and keep it there, but strong enough to withstand the wind and ice loading.
They’re often made from perforated sheet metal or wire mesh to reduce the wind load and make them lighter, but then you have to calculate the maximum hole size in the sheet for the particular frequency. I don’t know if the holes have to be smaller than a wavelength, half a wavelength, or even smaller.