Redcare signal strength tester user manual.

Transcription

1 Redcare signal strength tester user manual. Page 1 Issue Apr 2012

2 Product description. The redcare GSM/GPRS Signal Strength Tester has been developed to help Security and Fire Alarm installers or engineers who want to make sure that the redcare product that they are planning to fit, will have the best signal strength possible depending on where the alarm installer sites the aerial. It also provides cellular network operator performance and adjacent cell sites that are best for that area. The redcare GSM/GPRS Signal Strength Tester is a handheld device with a hardwearing housing and a protective rubber aerial with a total weight of 180 grams. It is fully featured with built in software and includes battery, removable antenna and a 45 x 22mm display with optional backlight. It is operated by a simple 3 button configuration with an on/off button and a set and mode function on the other 2 buttons. Menu driven for ease of operation, this tester is ideal for the alarm installer who takes every precaution to ensure that the alarm is sited in the optimum position to give best possible signal strength to the customers alarm equipment, ensuring maximum security for the installation. The unit can store up to 8 surveys of all available networks. The unit also has the ability to carry out a quicker test on a single O2 network. A single network can be constantly monitored with the signal strength display refreshing every 2s. The unit can also be used to carry out a full GPRS test to the redcare network Servers. To provide signal strength and network details survey tests, no SIM card is required. Page 2 Issue Apr 2012

3 To provide GPRS tests to the redcare servers, then a redcare enabled SIM card is required. A redcare enabled SIM card can be removed from a redcare secure unit and inserted in the tester for carrying out GPRS tests. The unit currently supports O2 and BT mobile SIM s for the GPRS test. Redcare Roaming SIM s are not currently supported for use in the Signal tester. Battery and Charging The unit comes supplied with a 3.8V Lithium ion battery. This will provide power for up to eight hours use and can be recharged 500 times. This is done with the supplied USB charger plugged into the mains or directly from a computer USB port. The current charge level in the battery is shown top right on the LCD screen. This is initially presented as a percentage, which at 25 percent will change to LOW At this point the charge is insufficient for reliable operation. The battery symbol will flash between full and empty while the battery is being charged, and the off button will stay on. NOTE: If replacement is required, the battery MUST be disposed of properly. Power up and Shutdown. To switch the unit on, momentarily press the power button. A menu option is displayed asking if the user wishes to power up. This is to prevent accidentally switching on in a pocket or similar. If no choice is made, the unit will power down after 10 seconds. Use the Arrow button to select yes and then press the Select button. The unit will cycle through the information screens shown below, until the main menu screen is reached. Page 3 Issue Apr 2012

4 Shutting down the tester can be done via the menu system or power button. The only time it cannot be switched off is while charging. Survey. Page 4 Issue Apr 2012

5 When the survey option is selected, the following options are available. Quick single network survey (Only O2-UK) For a quick survey the Only O2-UK option can be selected. This will carry out a full survey on the O2 network if it is available. The results from this are not saved in memory. This is useful for a quick test where an O2 only alarm communicator is to be deployed. i.e. a redcare GSM STU. The screens below are typical of a Only O2-UK survey being carried out. Page 5 Issue Apr 2012

6 The first results screen shows the serving cell information on the top line and then the Neighbouring cells (N1-N3) on the lines below. The Serving cell will generally be the closest available cell on the specified network. The neighbouring cells are those that are available should the serving cell fail. It is sometimes useful to know that there is Neighbouring cell availability, so that should the serving cell fail then an alarm communicator could re-register with a neighbouring cell and still maintain communications. The first results screen also shows the operator name, in this case O2. It is important to check that the operator name is correct as the tester is designed to roam onto other networks if there is no coverage at all from the selected operator s network. Also shown is the LAC, ID and signal strength. LAC = Location Area Code ID = cell Base Identification number Page 6 Issue Apr 2012

7 These 2 numbers are used by the GSM network operator to identify a specific cell base station. The signal strength is displayed in dbm. A signal strength of -55dBm would be a really strong signal, and a signal strength of -113dBm would be a really weak signal. For good GSM or GPRS service it is recommended to have a signal strength of at least -90dBm or better. Refer to the manual for the particular alarm communicator to establish the exact recommended signal level for that product. In the example displayed above, the serving O2 cell has a signal strength of -68dBm, and the first two neighbouring O2 cells have a signal strength of -79dBm and - 88dBm respectively. The third neighbouring cell has a signal strength of -94dBm. Theoretically, if the serving Cell was to totally fail, and neighbouring O2 cell N1 was also totally failed, then it is likely that the alarm communicator could re-register on neighbouring cell N2 and still maintain reasonably good communications at - 88dBm. Selecting the More Info option, displays some more details about the serving cell. BSIC = Base Station Identity Code. This is a code that uniquely identifies the base station and is transmitted by the base at all times on the broadcast channel. ARFCN = Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number. This is a code that specifies a pair of physical radio carriers and channels used for transmission and reception. PWR = Power. This is similar to the signal strength on the previous page but also factors in some signal quality considerations. CSQ = Received signal quality. This is a standard scale for GSM signal measurement that goes from 0 to 31. Zero would represent no signal, and 31 as maximum signal. There is a direct mathematical relationship between CSQ and dbm as follows:- dbm = CSQ * 2 The CSQ value is useful for some alarm communicators that may display their own signal strength in CSQ. i.e. redcare 5G GSM STU. BER = Bit Error Rate. This is a number based on the number of errors in a received packet. Ideally the BER should be 0, but occasional numbers higher than this may occur. The BER may also occasionally show as 99. This is a function of the signal testers modem in that if the BER cannot be established for any reason, then 99 will be displayed. RxQUAL = Received signal quality. (0-7) where 0 is best and 7 is worst. TA = Timing advance. This is a number that is used by GSM to adjust the synchronisation of calls. This is because the delay in time for a signal to travel to and from the base station needs to be equalled for all locations. The TA number will generally increment by one for each 550m between the device and the base station. Page 7 Issue Apr 2012

8 As a general guide, the TA number can be halved to roughly estimate the number of kilometres to the base station. i.e. TA = 3 is roughly 1.5km to the base station. Survey All operators This option carries out a survey on all available GSM networks. The results from the survey will be stored in one of the 8 memory locations. After selecting this option the user will be prompted to enter a name for the stored survey results. This name is used to identify the results in the stored memory. The name can be up to 7 characters long. Confirm that the name is correct by selecting Yes and the tester then carries out a test on all available networks. Page 8 Issue Apr 2012

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10 Once the test is complete, then the Next screen option can be used to cycle through the results screens. The More info option can be used to view the second details page of the results. Selecting Up one level returns to the Main menu page. The survey results will have been stored in one of the testers 8 memory locations, and can be reviewed by selecting Stored survey result from the main menu. These are stored in non volatile memory and will be available even after te unit has been powered off. Note that the results will be stored in the next location after any existing stored results. Note that if a network with an exceptionally low signal strength is surveyed, then the unit may roam onto another network. This may result in 2 scans for the same network operator being presented in the results, and no scan of the network that has no signal strength. This is normal behaviour. Stored Survey results. Previous surveys that have been carried out will have been stored in one of the testers 8 memory locations. The results can be reviewed by selecting Stored survey result from the main menu. Page 10 Issue Apr 2012

11 Repeatedly selecting next screen will cycle through all 8 screens for each stored test (2 screens per network) and then onto the next stored test. Therefore up to 64 screens of stored tests will generally be available when 8 tests have been stored. End of list will be displayed when all test results have been viewed, and the screen returns to the first test. The particular survey result can be identified by the name that was used when it was created, along with the time that it was carried out. In the above example the survey was named test123 and was carried out at 10:00. Explanations of the survey result values are further explained in a previous section of this document. (See Quick single network survey section). Selecting up one level returns to the Main Menu. Monitor The Monitor option on the main menu can be used for Monitoring the signal strength of a single network in real time. Page 11 Issue Apr 2012

12 When this option is selected, the unit will scan what networks are available and then present a list of the networks that it finds. One of these networks can be selected and th unit will carry out a continuous scan on that network, and display its signal strength every 4 seconds. The updating will continue until the Select button is held pressed for 2 seconds, to stop the test. The unit will then return to the main menu. Page 12 Issue Apr 2012

13 Setup Centre The setup Centre option on the main menu can be used to configure the tester. The language of the text on the unit can be selected. Default = English. The units display backlight can be switched to OFF or ON. Longer battery life can be expected with the backlight switched Off. Default = On. The contrast of the units display can be adjusted to provide better clarity. The Erase stored results option can be used to clear any previously stored survey results from the units 8 store memory. This should be carried out once all 8 memory stores have become full. The Time option is used to set the units clock. When a survey is stored, the time is also stamped on the stored survey, so having the clock set correctly ensures correct time-stamping. The Shutdown time option is used to change the time after which the unit will auto power off if no keys are pressed. Default = 15 minutes. The Load defaults option can be used to return the unit back to factory default. Exit and save returns to the main menu. GPRS Test. The GPRS test option can be used to carry out a full GPRS test to the redcare network servers. To carry out this test a redcare enabled SIM card mist be inserted into the units sim holder, adjacent to the aerial. Typically a redcare enabled SIM card can be removed from a redcare secure unit and inserted into the tester forthe duration of the test. Only O2-UK or BT Mobile (Vodafone) sims are currently supported by the tester. Redcare Secure roaming sims are not currently supported. The battery level in the tester should be at least 30% charged to carry out a GPRS test. Page 13 Issue Apr 2012

14 Select the GPRS test option and the unit will prompt for the APN to be selected. Choose Vodafone-UK if a BT mobile sim is inserted, or choose O2-UK if a O2-UK sim card is fitted. The signal tester will then set up a GPRS session through the redcare APN and ping a dedicated server within the redcare network. The time for data to be sent to the server and received back at the tester will be displayed in the ping results. This test confirms that a GPRS session can be established successfully all the way to and from the redcare network servers. A typical ping response time should be less than 1 second. LIABILITY The services and products provided by Redcare, when installed and commissioned, are only intended to provide a communications path between the equipment and a supervision centre to the extent that is reasonably practicable by use of such goods and services. DISCLAIMER The manufacturer or his agents disclaim responsibility for any damage, financial loss or injury caused to any equipment, property or persons resulting from any use of this equipment. The manufacturer is not liable for any purely economic loss arising from any use of this equipment. All responsibility and liability in the use of Redcare products are assumed by the user. This unit is designed to be used in customer premises. Use of this equipment in other locations may void warranty. This unit is not intended for use in marine environments or water borne vessels. Redcare may make changes to features and specifications at any time without prior notification in the interest of ongoing product development and improvement. Offices worldwide The services described in this publication are subject to availability and may be modified from time to time. Services and equipment are provided subject to British Telecommunications plc s respective standard conditions of contract. Nothing in this publication forms any part of any contract. British Telecommunications plc 2010 Registered office: 81 Newgate Street, London EC1A 7AJ Registered in England No Page 14 Issue Apr 2012