Attachment G (LMR Antenna System Standard).pdf

Oregon Department of Transportation Wireless Communications Section

LMR Antenna System Standard Method of Testing Procedures

Draft- 9-5-2013 R. Wilson

This is a draft document to set a standard test procedure for testing of new LMR Antenna System installations.

To ensure a quality installation of LMR Antenna Systems and to present a standardized set of testing parameters, the ODOT WCS follows this Standard Method of Testing Procedures. This procedure is to be followed in the order presented to ensure accurate and repeatable test results that can be used to verify a proper install and to provide reference data for future testing.

Testing Equipment- The Standard test equipment preferred for all testing is the Anritsu Site Master 331 or functional equivalent. Test equipment used shall be in good working order and have current certificates of calibration for all portions of the test setup including any terminations used for testing. Testing configurations are set to ensure enough data collection to provide good “granularity” of test results. All test measurements will contain a minimum of 500 data points, and will be saved in a raw data format. All test results will be identified by the site name, the designator tag at the cable entry port, or other relevant marker, as well as the service of the line being tested. Testing equipment shall be properly configured for the brand and type of Feedline being tested. Test personnel shall be competent in the use of the test instrument.

Distance to Fault (DTF) testing- A standard set of configurations will be used to test LMR VHF-UHF antenna systems.

There is a standard configuration for feedline lengths 1-250’ and one for feedline lengths of 250 to 600’. These setting will provide DTF resolution of ~.5’ and 1.25” respectively.

The following settings are based on the Anritsu S331D Site Master. Other test instruments will match these settings to the best ability of the instrument. These tables will be calibrated and stored as a preset in the instrument. Recalibration is necessary any time calibration limits are exceeded. All measurements will be made in the Distance to Fault- Return Loss format.

Feedlines from 1-250’ DTF parameters Feedlines from 250-600’ DTF parameters D1 0’ 0’ D2 As needed to display line length As needed to display line length

F1 100 MHz 100 MHz

F2 1 GHz 450 MHz Resolution 517 pts 517 pts Windowing Rectangular Rectangular Cable Select for feedline in use Select for feedline in use Prop Vel Auto selected by instrument Auto selected by instrument Cable Loss Auto selected by instrument Auto selected by instrument Display Amplitude

Top- 0 dB Bottom- 60 dB

Top- 0 dB Bottom- 60 dB

Return Loss (RL) testing- A standard set of configurations will be used to test LMR VHF-UHF antenna systems.

There is a standard configuration VHF and one for UHF. The following settings are based on the Anritsu S331D Site Master. Other test instruments will match these settings to the best ability of the instrument. These tables will be calibrated and stored as a preset in the instrument. Frequency values represent the widest bandwidth of the antennas commonly used by the WCD. Recalibration is necessary any time calibration limits are exceeded. All measurements will be made in the Distance to Fault- Return Loss format.

VHF parameters UHF parameters D1 0’ 0’ D2 As needed to display line length As needed to display line length

F1 138 MHz 400 MHz F2 174 MHz 512 MHz Resolution 517 pts 517 pts Windowing Rectangular Rectangular Cable Select for feedline in use Select for feedline in use Prop Vel Auto selected by instrument Auto selected by instrument Cable Loss Auto selected by instrument Auto selected by instrument Display Amplitude

Top- 0 dB Bottom- 50 dB

Top- 0 dB Bottom- 50 dB

Test #1- Feedline Distance to Fault Open

1. The appropriate DTF template will be used based on feedline length.

2. The instrument will be set to the DTF-Return Loss mode.

3. DTF measurement will include the feedline and any jumper at the antenna end of the line.

4. DTF measurement will be made with a calibrated Open.

5. A Marker will be set with the “Marker to Peak” function.

6. This test will be saved in raw data format with the cable designator plus DTF

OPEN. (ie- SITE NAME RED3 ODOT DTF OPEN)

Test #2- Feedline Distance to Fault Load

1. The appropriate DTF template will be used based on feedline length.

2. The instrument will be set to the DTF- Return Loss mode.

3. DTF measurement will include the feedline and any jumper at the antenna end of the line.

4. DTF measurement will be made with a calibrated 50 Ohm Load.

5. A Marker will be set with the “Marker to Peak” function.

6. This test will be saved in raw data format with the cable designator plus DTF

Load. (ie- SITE NAME RED3 ODOT DTF LOAD)

Test #3- Return Loss to Load

1. The appropriate VHF or UHF template will be used based on system Frequency.

2. The instrument will be set to the FREQ-Return Loss mode.

3. RL measurement will include the feedline and any jumper at the antenna end of the line.

4. RL measurement will be made with a calibrated 50 Ohm Load.

5. A Limit will be set with the “Limit” function at 30 dB.

6. Test results should exceed the limit line.

7. This test will be saved in raw data format with the cable designator plus DTF

Load. (ie- SITE NAME RED3 ODOT RL LOAD)

Test #4- Cable Loss to Open

1. The appropriate VHF or UHF template will be used based on system Frequency.

2. The instrument will be set to the FREQ-Return Loss mode.

3. RL measurement will include the feedline and any jumper at the antenna end of the line.

4. RL measurement will be made with a calibrated Open.

5. The Display Amplitude will be set to 0 to 5 dB.

6. This test will be saved in raw data format with the cable designator plus DTF

Load. (ie- SITE NAME RED3 ODOT CL OPEN)

Test #5- Return Loss to Antenna

1. The appropriate VHF or UHF template will be used based on system Frequency.

2. The instrument will be set to the FREQ-Return Loss mode.

3. RL measurement will include the feedline and any jumper at the antenna end of the line, and the antenna.

4. A Limit will be set with the “Limit” function at 14 dB. For SCALA Panel antennas, K523221, the Limit will be set to 23 dB.

5. Test results should exceed the limit line.

6. This test will be saved in raw data format with the cable designator plus DTF

Load. (ie- SITE NAME RED3 ODOT RL SYSTEM)

Test #6- Feedline Distance to Fault System

1. The appropriate DTF template will be used based on feedline length.

2. The instrument will be set to the DTF- Return Loss mode.

3. DTF measurement will include the feedline, any jumper at the antenna end of the line, and the antenna.

4. A Marker will be set with the “Marker to Peak” function.

5. This test will be saved in raw data format with the cable designator plus DTF Load. (ie- SITE NAME RED3 ODOT DTF SYSTEM)