Contact Details:
Pendulum Instruments Inc.
Karlsbodavägen 39
Sundbyberg
Sweden
SE-161 02
Sweden
Tel: +46 8 598 510 55
Fax: +46 8 598 510 40
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Microwave Antenna Path Alignment
Product News Monday, February 6, 2006: Pendulum Instruments Inc.
Pendulum Instruments, Inc. Releases the Model 2240/41 Path Align-R™ …Microwave Antenna Path Alignment Made Simple…
Stockholm, Sweden – December 20, 2005 – Pendulum Instruments, Inc. (incorporating XL Microwave), a world leader in microwave and millimeter wave test and measurement instruments, today announced the release of the Path Align-R™, Model 2240 & 2241 Microwave Antenna Path Alignment Test Set. This unique product with its simple interface is specifically designed to greatly simplify and quickly align microwave antenna links. The 2240/41 is very accurate and adds frequencies to the model 2200/01 which has become the industry standard in alignment instrumentation. The Path Align-R™ provides non-technically trained personnel the ability to make highly accurate alignments in an affordable package. If the path under test is questionable, the Path Align-R™ can step right in with minimal effort to verify any problems. In addition, the Path Align-R™ , with a pair of antennas, is all that is needed for doing site surveys to verify the link prior to expending resources on land acquisition, tower installation, equipment purchase, etc.
Portable – Each unit of the two unit set is approximately 7 pounds in weight and 3½” x 8¼” x 13” in size. Each unit is contained in a custom designed Weather-resistant Instrument Back-pack to facilitate ease of transport when climbing towers.
Battery powered – A rechargeable lead acid battery is fitted to provide 4 to 5 hours of operation. It is ideal for field use and can easily be taken up the tower, in its Weather-resistant Instrument Back-pack, and hung from the tower, directly behind the antenna.
Ease of Use – A pair of units, one at each site, reads out the path loss, identically, at both ends of the link. Turn the units on; connect the output to the antenna by way of a coax cable; tune the frequency with the thumbwheels; connect the included headset; and you’re ready to align…a process now reduced to minutes instead of hours with conventional equipment.
Performance – The receiver section of the Path Align-R™ provides 100 dB of effective dynamic range. The transmitter section provides a fixed 0 dBm output…enough power to align any link, while low enough to prevent interfering with adjacent active antennas. The Model 2240/41 has four frequency bands:
- Band 1: 1.8–25. GHz
- 3.5–5.0 GHz & 5.8–6.6 GHz
- 7.5–10.0 GHz & 11.0–12.0 GHz
- 18.1–19.4 GHz & 22.0–23.5 GHz
The specific band operating frequency is tuned, using the front panel thumbwheels, to a resolution of 1 MHz.
Speed – An LCD readout of direct path loss with a 0.1 dB resolution, updating every 300 milliseconds, can quickly find subtle changes to the antenna response thus allowing for small adjustments to antenna azimuth or elevation for optimum signal transfer…especially useful with very narrow beam widths.
Voice Channel – Communication between sites is provided by a full duplex voice channel (simultaneous transmit and receive). Each tower technician can speak to the other through the included headset. Voice communication is enabled immediately after setup and activation (the antennas do not have to be aligned for the voice channel to work).
Tone Ranging – This feature provides initial alignment by use of the audio alignment tone, increasing in frequency as path loss decreases. Path loss is then fully optimized using the digital front panel meter.
Data Recording - The Model 2241 contains a data logger, with an embedded GPS receiver and GPS-disciplined real-time clock. Each record contains Received Signal Level (RSL), frequency, and GPS position/date/time data. Up to 250 records can be saved to the instrument’s non-volatile internal memory. The instrument includes RS-232 and USB interfaces
Log View-R - The Log View-R™ companion software provides a display of the original recorded data and is used for measurement analysis and data transfer from the instrument to a PC.
Accurate – When compared to a synthesized source and a fully featured spectrum analyzer, the Path Align-R™ test set measures the path loss within one dB of each other and the repeatability of the measurement is precise to within a few of tenths of a dB. The Path Align-R™ can match toe-to-toe with most sophisticated instrumentation with reliable and accurate results.
Cost Effective – The Path Align-R™ test set is priced far below that of a synthesized source and spectrum analyzer. However price is not the only savings achieved with the use of the test set. The cost of communicating between sites can become quite expensive when using cellular technology (about $300 per event when considering long distance and roaming charges that are typically the case in a remote microwave test). The use of four technicians, two testing the radios and two working behind the antennas, can be potentially reduced to three with a supervisor level on the ground floor.
Training – The level of expertise required to use the Path Align-R™ test set has been simplified enough to allow more users to learn how to use the systems therefore reducing training costs and developing more testers which translates to more revenues for the company. The path alignment test can be completed quicker thus reducing costs.
