Tom

We will add the Generic 802.11ax CPE device with the upcoming update as well (including any ax devices to which we get the needed data), so hang on there In the mean time, to be able to plan AX coverage you need to do the math by hand. For that you'd need detailed data of your devices - it's noise floor and SNR requirement for MCS 11. From the signal strength and SNR you get with your devices you can see if you can achieve MCS 11..

We have a bunch of updates to the calc on the roadmap for this year, one of them being the 'save' option, so it will happen! The speed is a moot point - the tool is and will be free of charge. While speeding it up is a real option, we try to keep the cost of the calculations on our side reasonable given the amount of people using the calc.

The CC horns have short, high-quality semi-rigid cables connecting the N-connectors to the waveguide feed of the antenna under the red cap. Since we control the manufacturing of the antennas, these cables add minimum loss compared to the combo of TwistPort horn + TPA-SMA. Some providers prefer the N-connectors over the SMA, because they might use higher tier / quality radios (example here) that have N-conn output.

@DD3JInice installations! How are the new Ultradishes performing? How about the bracket, what do you think of it?

Hi Warren, the promo is long over, unfortunately

Patch array (PA) antennas are widely used sector antennas in unlicensed 5 GHz networks. In this webinar we talk about all the technical details of this antenna technology. We'll look into: - Why are these antennas called 'Patch array' - What are PA built from - What are the advantages and disadvantages of PA when used in unlicensed 5 GHz networks Why 'patch array' The antenna is composed of patch antennas. A patch antenna is a very common antenna type used in many applications. It is a metal patch of various shapes etched on a printed circuit board (PCB) with a ground plane (metal layer on the bottom side). A single patch antenna has a low gain and point source-like radiation pattern that is good for GPS and other applications, but definitely not for sector coverage in unlicensed 5 GHz networks. Stacking more patches on top of each other, a patch array is formed. The array has higher gain thanks to the array effect, narrower beam width (BW), and side lobes (SLs) due to the interference of wave radiated from each patch antenna. The higher gain is favorable, but the narrowing beam width and SLs are not. Narrowing beam width puts a definite limit on the maximum gain that is usable in practice. At the limit, the beam width becomes so narrow that it becomes hard to aim the antenna such that it effectively covers the intended area. Moreover, the narrower the BW is, the harder it becomes to use an antenna to cover valleys of mountainous regions. SLs of PA antennas are undesirable in general but are especially harmful in unlicensed 5 GHz networks. Here, the no. 1 problem of interference is largely caused by the SLs of antennas, through which the signal is transmitted and received from unintended directions. While the azimuthal SLs can be dealt with, the SLs caused by the array effect are unavoidable by and large. It is technically possible to suppress them, but the price for such antenna would be higher than most of WISPs are willing to pay for an antenna. Beam Efficiency (BE) quantifies the amount of SLs an antenna has. It can have values from 0 to 100 %, where the 100 % is the best possible case. Here an antenna has literally zero SLs. The smaller the BE is, the more SLs an antenna has. Typical BE of PA antennas is on the order of 65 %, which means that 65 % of the energy the antenna radiates is contained in the main lobe and the remaining 35 % is in the SLs. This is rather low BE for a sector antenna in 5 GHz network. The manufacturing cost and price of PA antennas is typically low, which makes these antennas very attractive - the entry barrier is rather low. Scaling for higher gain is also relatively easy (considering the two limiting factors mentioned before). Compared to horn antennas - another frequently used antenna type for sector coverage in 5 GHz networks, PAs definitely come out as having very narrow span of application cases. The PAs are useful when: 1. The landscape is rather flat (because of the narrow radiation pattern in the elevation plane). 2. High gain is needed. 3. There are very few to no interference sources in the area - which rules out most of the urban / sub-urban areas and nowadays even rural communities. 4. Customer density is rather low - the radiation pattern is wide in the azimuth plane covering wide areas. Comparing Horn sectors and PA sectors, we can conclude: 1. Horn sectors have high BE while PAs have low BE 2. Horn sectors have high frequency stability radiation pattern while PAs have very unstable radiation pattern causing coverage instability. 3. Horn sectors are easily scalable for various gain/beam width requirements and offer a versatile tool set (https://rfelements.com/products) for any coverage scenario. PAs usually have very limited gain/beam width options. 4. Horn sectors have wide bandwidth covering the whole useful spectrum the 5 GHz radios cover. PAs typically have varying properties within this spectrum which makes the network performance unstable as well. 5. While the manufacturing cost of PAs is typically lower than Horn sectors, by optimizing the manufacturing process, it is possible to obtain a product of comparable price and very high quality even with Horn antenna sectors - the RF elements antennas are a proof of this - check them out: https://rfelements.com/products #RFelements #SymmetricalHorns #AsymmetricalHorns #Ultrahorn #Ultradish #TwistPort #SaveSpectrum #RejectNoise #growsmart #WirelessNetworks #UbiquitiNetworks #CambiumNetworks #MimosaNetworks #Mikrotik #BeamEfficiency #StarterHorn #StarterDish #5Ghzwireless #UnlicensedBands #SymmetricalHorns #AsymmetricalHorns #PatchArray

Hi And, yes, the metal piece comes in the package - see the installation guide here. The drilling of the hole needed to be done on an early version of the adaptor (which was a flop on our side), but by now all the adaptors have it by default. But, it can happen that your distributor has some of the old ones in stock for a while, so you'd still need to drill the hole.

Just PM'd you both..

Right, we plan updates to the calc including the export to .kmz, so stay tuned to our social media, or subscribe to our newsletter - we announce this type of news there first

If you'd like, we can set up a call and I can show you how to optimize the downtilt step by step. Let me know..

Hi Chevy, the downtilt with both Symmetrical and Asymmetrical horns is a parameter in link design. In our link calc you can see what the coverage looks like with both when you change the tilt. So the optimal process to figure out downtilt is to use the calc and see if you cover the area/customers you want with sufficient MCS rate. The beam width is antenna parameter giving you an idea on what an antenna might be better suited for (narrow beam = PTP, wide beam = PTMP), but ultimately antenna is a tool in your hands so you use it as you need. Generally the downtilt of horns should be as high as possible - it helps avoiding collecting the noise from distant sources (unless the source is right under the tower of course :)) provided you still have the coverage/throughput you need. *Never mind the badges, we just updated the forum

Hello, just PM'd you

Hello, just PM'd you

Nice! Thank you for the great images!

Hello, TPA-RBC is full aluminium body enclosure that will protect the radio from outdoor elements as well as interference better than the TPA-RBC. As you correctly mention - both are compatible with the same MikroTik router boards. Sorry for the reddit, we check it only time to time. This forum or fb group RF elements English are the best places to ask questions about our products. Hope this helps

Hi Chevy, no our link calc does not have that option as of now. Thanks for the idea, we'll definitely look into it in our future update of the calculator!

Hello, I am really sorry for the inconvenience, I understand it is frustrating to wait so long just to receive such message. Good news though - we released an updated version of the UltraDish antennas, which is why they don't have the old version anymore. Please search for UD-TP-21, UD-TP-24, or UD-TP-27 - we now have 3 dishes to choose from, and Varia has them in stock. You can also check this video to learn about the updates:

The 3D antenna radiation diagram is one of the most important antenna characteristics. In our previous video (https://youtu.be/rwciKjvHFfY) we have explained what is the radiation pattern of an antenna and how to read it. Radiation patterns in datasheets most frequently show the gain of an antenna in the form of a 2D polar plot. Main video takeaways: - 2D plot (polar or other) gives a limited information about antenna radiation pattern - 3D plot gives a complete information about antenna radiation pattern - When a 2D plot is enough is a question of application. In WISP industry for example, a 3D one is necessary since all the antenna side lobes matter due to the noise being the no. 1 problem in unlicensed frequency bands. Generally, the gain radiation pattern says what is the radiation intensity of the EM fields an antenna radiates in any direction. A 2D pattern gives this information in a selected two dimensional cut, most commonly in two planes perpendicular to each other - the 2 cuts give a limited information compared to the full 3D radiation pattern showing the gain in all three dimensions. Isotropic antenna is a theoretical antenna that radiates with the same intensity in every direction. Its radiation pattern is therefore a sphere - drawing the radiation intensity in a given direction as vectors and connecting their tips, we get a surface which is the 3D radiation diagram. The same can be done for any other antenna - the direction and strength of its radiation at any point in space can be expressed by a vector - with direction and amplitude. Connecting the tips of all the vectors forms a spatial image, we call 3D radiation diagram. Since no real antenna is isotropic, let’s look at a parabolic dish - probably the most common antenna type. It focuses the EM wave energy in the direction of its main axis and it’s strongest there. Besides that it also has side lobes that are weaker than the main lobe, and are mostly unwanted especially in the unlicensed frequency bands where interference is the no. 1 problem. Same thing here as with the isotropic antenna - we can plot the vectors from the origin on the whole spherical surface, but now, because the parabolic dish does not radiate equally everywhere, the vectors will have varying lengths depending on direction. Connecting the tips of the vectors, we get the 3D radiation pattern of this antenna. 3D vs 2D DIAGRAMS The 3D diagram provides complete information about the gain of an antenna, since it shows the gain in every possible direction in 3D space - you cannot do better than that. This is why it is generally more useful than the 2D plot which is obtained from the 3D plot anyway - by selecting a specific slice from the 3D diagram. In some fields the 2D diagram can be enough, but when examining the sidelobes of an antenna is vital to the particular application, for example, in the wireless internet service provider industry where many operators leverage unlicensed frequency bands, the noise propagated through the sidelobes does a lot of harm. In such cases it is better to check the 3D radiation pattern and use an antenna with as little side lobes as possible. Another view on the amount of side lobes is provided by Beam efficiency - https://youtu.be/U8x71RgK-_I The 3D diagram is more difficult to obtain than the 2D one, so historically the 2D plots became the standard in most engineering fields, but today, with powerful computers available to everyone and advanced antenna measurement setups capable of full 3D measurements, the difference is diminishing, but we’ll talk about that in another episode.

Hi Amirsy, not sure what do you mean by tuning the phased array antennas. We do not sell any phased arrays.

Sector antennas for WISP networks have a lot of parameters. Horns are excellent sector antennas for 5 GHz unlicensed networks, why is that? We dive into the details of horn antenna technology here. But what makes an antenna a great sector antenna? In 5 GHz unlicensed networks, it is noise suppression capability, stable gain across whole useful spectrum, appropriate gain, wide bandwidth, stability of radiation pattern across the whole band, durability & reliability, ease of deployment and the list goes on.. But let's look at horns now. As everything, even horns have their pros and cons. The advantages of horn antennas are: 1. Zero side lobes radiation pattern - opposed to traditional patch array sector antennas, horns can achieve high Beam efficiency values. 2. Flexible beam width - horn antenna design is very flexible. By adjusting the shape of the antenna body length and aperture shape, various antennas can be designed. For example, RF elements horns have beam widths from 30° to 90° with 10 degree steps and gain variations from 18 to 9 dBi. Wide range of horns is the ultimate antenna toolset for unlicensed 5 GHz WISP networks that let you optimize the network coverage. 3. Frequency stability - horns have stable maximum gain as well as the rest of the radiation pattern over the whole useful frequency band. This property is important for impeccable user experience - your customers will enjoy stable and reliable internet connection, if you use horn antenna sectors. 4. Coverage pattern - various shapes of horn sectors' radiation pattern let you cover all types of scenarios and landscapes. Symmetrical Horns for high customer density and all types of landscapes (especially mountainous), Asymmetrical Horns for mid- to low-density of customer locations and flat to mildly hilly landscapes, UltraHorn for point to point links or narrow sector applications. The drawbacks of horn antenna technology can be summed up to two main points. First is the manufacturing cost - horns are typically manufactured as a custom device, which makes them expensive. Nevertheless, at RF elements we optimized the production process of horns to a degree that enables mass production and maintain high quality standard at the same time. Second, the maximum gain horn antennas can have is limited by the physics of these antennas. Also, scaling horn antennas for higher gain makes their volume grow, as opposed to patch arrays. Nevertheless, in WISP networks high gain is really not necessary. In fact, ideally, the gain of any (CPE or AP) antenna should be as small as link budget allows. #RFelements #Make5GHzGreatAgain #WISP #AsymmetricalHorns #SymmetricalHorns #UltraHorn #wirelessbroadbandinternetaccess #wirelessinternetservices #wirelessbroadbandinternet #fixedwirelessaccess #fixedwireless #wirelessISP #ISP #pointtopointantennas #ruralinternet #ruralbroadband #broadband #UBNT #wirelessinternetservices #internetserviceprovider #broadbandinternetprovider #WirelessRadio #unlicensedbands #MimosaNetworks #CambiumNetworks #Mikrotik #RocketPrism #RouterBoard #C5x #A5x #LTUrocket

yes, the newest products were ready for a while, but we only released them now due to various complications with shipping globally. Anyhow, PM'd you..