HERALD Lab #1

Home Page

Radio Hop Configuration

HERALD Functions

Exercise 1.1 : Radio Equipment data

Exercise 1.2 : Antenna data

Exercise 1.3 : Feeder data

Exercise 1.4 : Site & Hop definition

Exercise 1.5 : Hop configuration

Exercise 1.6 : Passive repeater (Herald Professional only)

_______________________________________________________________

HERALD Functions

The following Herald functions are related to the Hop Configuration process :

· Radio Equipment, Antenna, and Feeder data are stored in customized Libraries (DataBase menu);

· Radio Sites are defined by specifying the site name, elevation a.s.l. and (optionally) geographical coordinates (Define / Sites command);

· Radio Hops are defined by specifying the terminal radio sites, the working (average) frequency, and the hop length (automatically computed, if site coordinates are available) (Define / Hops command);

· Radio Hops are configured by specifying codes and data referring to equipment installation at each radio site, as well as information on link characteristics (use of RF channels, use of passive repeaters, etc.) (Define / Hop Configuration command).

Exercise 1.1 : Radio Equipment data

Run Herald and select the DataBase menu. Execute the Equipments command.

· Browse the complete Equipment list (all the Filtering Criteria blank), and examine the main parameters of the selected item. Get more details with the "More" button (Herald Professional only).

· Set the Filtering criteria to find out:

1) the equipment working at 15 GHz, with 8 Mb/s capacity;

2) the equipment at any frequency, with about 26 dBm output power;

3) refine previous selection, with 11 GHz working frequency and 34 Mb/s capacity.

· Add a new equipment, with the following parameters:

Code : So/11/34_bis;

Manufacturer : So-and-So Eln.;

Modulation : 4PSK;

Capacity : 34 Mb/s

RF band : 10.7 - 12.2 GHz

Tx Power : 28 dBm;

Rx Threshold : -79 dBm.

Optional parameters are left blank.

Tip : Select one equipment with similar parameters, then click the "Add" button; set a new Equipment Code, modify parameters where required.

· Similarly, practice with the "Modify" and "Delete" functions.

Exercise 1.2 : Antenna data

Run Herald and select the DataBase menu. Execute the Antennas command.

· Browse the complete Antenna list (all the Filtering Criteria blank), and examine the parameters of the selected item.

· Set the Filtering criteria to find out:

1) the antenna at 15 GHz, with about 44 dB gain;

2) refine previous selection, to be restricted to "Beta Antennas" manufacturer;

3) any antenna of the "Cassegrain" kind.

· Add a new antenna, with the following parameters:

Code : GamY40-23/D;

Manufacturer : Gamma Antennas;

Kind : Parabolic;

RF band : 21.2 - 24.1 GHz

Polarization : Double;

Application Type : Directive;

Diameter : 0.40 m;

Gain : 35.8 dB;

3-dB BeamWidth : 2° 30'

Optional parameters are left blank.

Tip : Select one antenna with similar parameters, then click the "Add" button; set a new Antenna Code, modify parameters where required.

· Similarly, practice with the "Modify" and "Delete" functions.

Exercise 1.3 : Feeder data

Run Herald and select the DataBase menu. Execute the Feeders command.

Similarly to the previous exercises, browse the complete Feeder list, set the Filtering criteria, and practice with the "Add", "Modify", and "Delete" functions.

Exercise 1.4 : Site & Hop definition

Run Herald; in the Getting Started screen, click the icon (Start a New project). Otherwise, if a project is already open, execute the File / New command, to display New Site Data dialog box.

· In the New Site Data dialog box, enter the following data to define three radio sites (click OK when ALPHA site data are complete, then click the Create button in the Radio Sites dialog box to enter BETA data, etc.).

Site Code	Elev. [m]	Latitude	Longitude
ALPHA	123	N 45° 22' 25"	E 7° 39' 52"
BETA	145	N 45° 03' 42"	E 7° 42' 15"
CHARLIE	529	N 45° 00' 12"	E 7° 40' 25"

· Practice with the "Modify" and "Delete" functions; then close the dialog box using the "Close" button.

· Execute the Define / Hops command (or click the icon) to display the Radio Hops dialog box. Use the "Create" button to display the Radio Hop Data dialog box, where you define the following hops:

Hop Code	Frequency	Length
ALPHA-BETA	11 GHz	as computed
BETA -CHARLIE	15 GHz	as computed
BETA -DELTA	38 GHz	2.5 km

The DELTA site is not yet defined; use the "Add Site" button (Radio Hop Data dialog box) to define a New Radio Site at this stage (DELTA site elevation is 288 m, geographical coordinates not available).

· Use the "Report" button (in the Radio Hops dialog box) to display the Hop Report; do not care about Warning message (Antenna not defined, Link budget not computed: the new hops are defined only topologically, the hop configuration will be defined in the next exercise).

· Execute the File / Save command to save this project, with name "Config1.hpf" (if your HERALD release does not support the "Save" function, don't worry; you'll find the "Config1_Sample.hpf" file in your Project examples).

Exercise 1.5 : Hop configuration

Run Herald and execute the File / Open command to open the "Config1.hpf" (or "Config1_Sample.hpf") project (this is the project you've created in the previous exercise). The Radio Hops dialog box is displayed.

· Select the ALPHA-BETA hop, then use the "Config / Modify" button to display the Hop Configuration dialog box.

· Configure the ALPHA site by using the three "Select" buttons (Main Antenna, Feeder, Equipment); fill the Antenna Height, Feeder Length and Branching Loss fields; do not check the Diversity Antenna box.

· Similarly, configure the BETA site; note that some data are copied by default from the first site selections; use the "OK" button to save the new configuration and to get the Hop Report (at the moment, consider only the Configuration section of the Report).

· Practice with the Hop Configuration dialog: revise the ALPHA-BETA configuration (including a diversity antenna) and configure the other two hops.

Tips : To revise the Active Hop configuration, click the Herald icon:

Define / Hop Configuration command

To set a new Active Hop, execute the Define / Hops command, then use the "Config / Modify" or the "Report" buttons. The Active Hop is indicated in the Status Bar.

· In the Hop Configuration dialog, complete the Hop Configuration, using the "Losses/Degrad. Define" button (Radio Site frame) and the "Propagation Losses Define" button (Radio Hop frame); the Various Losses dialog is displayed, where you can set several parameters, related to the radio transmitter and receiver structure and to propagation conditions.

· When appropriate, execute the File / Save command to update the project; use a different project name (File / Save As command) if you want to save several versions of your project.

Exercise 1.6 : Passive repeater (Herald Professional only)

Run Herald and execute the File / Open command to open the "Config2_Sample.hpf") project. Execute the Define / Sites command to display the Radio Sites dialog box ( Tip : Use the Herald icon )

· Use the "Create" button to display the New Site Data dialog box, where you define the repeater site :

Site Code	Elev. [m]	Latitude	Longitude
ZEBRA	455	N 45° 23' 02"	E 7° 44' 04"

Set the "Repeater Site" checkbox in the same dialog, then Close the dialog.

· Select the ALPHA-BETA hop, then use the "Config / Modify" button to display the Hop Configuration dialog box.

· Click the "Passive Repeater / Define" button, select the "One passive repeater" option, then define the passive repeater parameters :

Site code : ZEBRA;

Reflector area : 25 m²;

Reflector Vertical dim. : 4 m;

Installation Height : 6 m.

· The Path profile dialogs appear for each of the two legs in the repeater hop. It is possible to define the path profile at this stage, but we suggest you close the two dialogs without any new data.

· In the Hop Configuration dialog, use the "OK" button to save the new configuration and to get the Hop Report (consider only the Configuration section of the Report). Find the Repeater Site section and check the Topology and Reflector parameters.

· Move the position of the ZEBRA repeater site (Define / Sites command), by modifying the longitude only (reduce longitude down to E 7° 40' to have the repeater closer to the ALPHA site); check how the repeater parameters are varied in the Hop Report / Configuration.

· Execute the File / Save command to save this project (radio hop with passive repeater).

End of HERALD Lab#1

_______________________________________________________________