|
|
Revised January, 2008
A collection of often asked questions, answers, and helpful hints.
Q. Can I mix HF and UHF sensors in the same system without calibration?
A. Yes, any combination of HF, 8KW, QRP, and UHF sensors can be mixed on the
same system. The software will allow you to identify which type of sensor is
located at each input plug. The calibration of the sensor is in the sensor,
not the WN-2 control box. Sensors are shipped tested, calibrated and ready
for immediate use. You can add additional sensors at any time.
Q. How fast is the Peak Detector in the WN-2?
A. The peak detector time constant is ~100 microseconds. This is fast enough
to fully capture any voice peak as well as SWR transients caused by faulty
antenna or feedline transients. A separate peak detector is provided for
forward and reflected power on each sensor, a total of 8 peak detectors in
the display unit.
Q. Why put the calibration of the system in the sensor and not the control
Unit?
A. Sensors can be sent back to WaveNode at any time for calibration or test
without sending back the rest of the system. Also, sensors can be moved from
unit to unit, or purchased separately at any time ready to use.
Q. Can the WN-2 run in Stand-Alone operation without a PC attached?
A. Yes, you can monitor any of the four sensors for Power and SWR without
the PC. You can also monitor the analog and logic inputs and outputs from
the LCD screen on the WaveNode front panel.
Q. Can multiple WN-2 units be run on the same PC simultaneously?
A. Yes, you can run as many WN-2 units on the same PC as you wish. The
software would be installed in a separate folder for each WN-2 in order to
allow customizing the settings for each unit.
Q. What Windows Operating System must be installed on the PC?
A. Windows XP, XPpro, 2000, NT or Vista are all compatible with the WN-2.
Either 32 or 64-bit systems can be used.
Q. Can I install the RT1/RT2 Rotator Controller later?
A. Yes, the rotator controller installs with two screws and the cable plugs
into the PC board with the supplied ribbon cable.
Q. What else is necessary to run the WN-2 on my computer?
A. The WN-2 system is supplied complete with CDROM, USB cable, wall
transformer power supply (either US or EU style), control unit and sensor(s).
Q. For usage of the Tones/Messages utility, how do the tones get inserted
into the transceiver audio input?
A. Any of the common Transceiver to Computer audio Interfaces can be used,
such as those available for digital mode communications. The Tones/Messages
utilities generate audio with the PC audio as any other piece of software.
Q. I would like to build my own sensor. How do I calibrate it?
A. Wavenode sensors are calibrated according to the Excel sheet on our
Documents webpage, and included on our CDROM. Your sensor will be terminated
by 1megohm in the WN-1, so the output impedance of your sensor to the WN-2
control box should be <10K ohm.
Q. How do I interface to the analog auxiliary inputs, if I want to use them?
A. The Wavenode website (and CDROM) offers a schematic on the
support/hardware page describing how to interface properly to these inputs.
The applied voltage should be 0-20 volt range.
Q. What is the maximum voltage that can be applied to the terminal strip on
the back?
A. Maximum safe voltage is 18 volts DC.
Q. How long does an unsafe SWR condition last before it trips the SWR
protection relay?
A. The relay is tripped after 3 successive samples of SWR above the limit
set by the operator, which is
about 160 milliseconds.
Q. If I have two sensors, one before and one after a linear amplifier, which
sensor should be monitored for
SWR fault protection?
A. In most cases, the sensor after the linear. Some linear amps may present
a high SWR at their input
for several hundred milliseconds, and could generate a false SWR fault
trigger. Also, the linear amp is probably the device you wish to protect
from a faulty antenna or feedline condition.
Q. What sensor RF connectors should I specify?
A. If you are currently using PL-259 connectors, but think you may at some
time switch to type N
connector, choose the type N connector on your sensors. We can offer you
PL-259 to type N adapters
to get you through the transition period.
Q. Can I make the in-line sensor cable to the WN-2 control unit longer?
A. Yes, you can make it longer with off-the-shelf 6-pin Minidin cable
extenders used commonly for PC keyboards and mouse. These are typically
available at any computer supply outlet, or you can purchase them from
WaveNode. Alternately, you can make a cable with 2-wire shielded cable for
very long runs to a remote antenna base if desired. Several installations
have successfully extended the sensor distance > 500 feet.
Q. Can I adjust the calibration to make two sensors exactly match, or agree
with another meter?
A. Yes, the sensor has a potentiometer on the PC board that you can adjust
to exactly match another sensor
or power meter.
Q. Can I put the sensor in an outdoor environment?
A. Yes, but you will need to seal the sensor from rain and/or snow. This can
be done with coax seal,
which can be easily removed if the sensor needs repair or inspection. You
should cover the sensor
cable to protect it from UV sunlight; consider PVC tubing or some other
inexpensive cover. Don't forget
to seal the screw heads, cable clamp and enclosure seams if the sensor is on
the tower in direct weather.
Q. Does the SWR limit protection work if the software is running but
minimized on the screen?
A. Yes, as long as the "USB" LED on the front panel is blinking, the SWR
protection is running.
Q. Can I run other applications, such as digital mode software,
simultaneously with the WN-2 software?
A. Yes, but if you are using the computer to run digital mode software via
the sound card, then you should
not use the audio announcing feature in the WN-2 software at the same time.
Obviously, the announced
sound will also go to the audio output. Audio from the digimode software and
the WN-2 are compatible,
but the Wavenode audio should be turned off if digimode software is in use.
Q. What happens to the SWR protection if my computer is turned OFF?
A. If the WN-2 software is not running, the protection relay will always be
OFF. This will allow normal Linear
Ampifier operation, but without SWR protection. You can start the WN-2
software and then minimize it so
it is not visible on the screen. SWR protection will then be operational,
and if an SWR fault occurs a
message will pop up on your screen to warn you.
Q. What are the little color circles for on each meter?
A. These are a simple aid to help keep the sensors identified. Put a small
piece of colored tape on each
sensor the same color and it will help identify which sensor is in each coax
position.
Q. Are Sensor Power Specifications rated for SSB or Continuous Power?
A. All Wavenode sensor power specifications are for 100% duty cycle
operation.
|
