In this article, we'll be going into detail about all the options available under the Transmitter panel of the CloudRF web interface:
The Transmitter panel contains the most important, basic values needed for any RF calculation.
The panel can be expanded and collapsed by clicking on its title. It will automatically collapse if you open any of the other interface panels. But you may need to collapse it manually when viewing certain features like the Best Server Analysis and Mesh Coverage tools:
The fields we will be discussing include Template [1], Name [2], Network [3], Frequency [4], RF Power [5], Co-ordinates [6], Latitude [7], Longitude [8], and Hight AGL [9]:
Template
The template field is only used once you have already saved one or more sites. Type in at least three characters then wait a moment for your matching templates to appear. When you select one of the pre-saved templates, every relevant field will be populated.
Remember, even the geo-location will be updated, so you'll likely want to change that by clicking on the map or entering your own co-ordinates.
Name
The Name field lets you annotate the current transmitter calculation with a memorable label that will be appended to the calculation name in the archive. Later, you can filter the archive by entering in this label in the archive search field.
Network
A Network is a group of transmitter calculations. It used to identify your calculation sites, but this Network field is different from the Name field in that the Network label is stored in a separate column in the calculation archive.
More importantly, the Best Server and Mesh tools/APIs rely on the Network label to identify which sites should be analyzed. Therefore, using accurate Network names for each site is critical.
You can think of the Network tag like a project, or another taxonomy layer for organizing your sites.
Frequency
The Frequency field is where you specify a transmission frequency for the current site. You are only allowed one frequency per site calculation. The acceptable input range is from 20 MHz to 100,000 MHz (100 GHz) with a precision of three decimal places.
RF Power
Enter the transmitter power (RF) of the radio system in Watts. Antenna gain is not controlled in the transmitter panel, but rather under the Antenna Panel. Advanced users will want to enter the gain there to calculate the total ERP.
Maximum power value in this is 5MW (5,000,000W). Minimum value is 10mW (0.01).
You can use the drop-down menu to the right of the number field to select your units, either Watts or dBm. The conversion between the two units will happen automatically for whatever values are currently in the field.
Co-ordinates
- DD - Degrees in Decimal
- DMS - Degrees, Minutes, Seconds
- MGRS - Military Grid Reference System
Select one of these three available co-ordinate formats [1] then click within the map to have the Latitude and Longitude fields automatically update. You can override the values with a custom location entered manually, or by clicking anywhere on the map.
The update mode can be further controlled by disabling the orange icon when you click on the map, making it manual entry only. Click the orange icon next to the co-ordinate box [2] to disable or enable the icon.
The blue globe icon [3] will disable or enable the map itself. This can be useful when you have no need to interact with the visual map view at all.
Latitude & Longitude
Here is where you will enter your latitude or longitude values manually, or observe them as they are updated automatically.
Take note, that if you select the MGRS co-ordinate system, a new field will appear below Latitude and Longitude to support the new military format. In this case, the Latitude and Longitude fields won't be updated or used until you switch back:
Height AGL
Height Above Ground Level (AGL) is the height of the transmitting antenna above the ground. Be sure to avoid entering height above sea level.
Again, this field can be entered in meters or feet depending on the selection you make in the drop-down menu to the right. Please note, changing the units here (Imperial or Metric) will affect several other fields in your site setup, which you should check every time you make the change:
- Height(s) AGL under the Receiver panel
- Random clutter under the Model panel
- Radius under the Output panel
And as always, if you have any comments or questions please reach out to us at support@cloudrf.com.