ELK-M1XFR - testing signal strength after enrollment

[shenandoah75]

Is there a way to test /announce signal strength of an already enrolled keyfob as happens automatically at the end of enrollment (without de-enrolling first?) as noted on page 10, paragraph 3

On a related note, is there an ideal level to maintain/decide on the ground plane antenna usage? (i.e. level 1 from far reaches of desired range, add the antennas for better reliability?)

thx
-brad

 

[rfdesq]

I don't think there is a way to get signal strength after enrollment. Spanky will speak up if I'm wrong. Why not either attach the ground plane antennas as a matter of course, or have someone watch the led while you press the enrolled button for desired signal reception. Or, get fancy and assign a button to make the siren chirp that way you can walk around the property and determine the range without the need for a second body.

 

[shenandoah75]

Well as i just noted in my "location" post looks like such feedback isn't needed in my install. I got coverage everywhere on my lot i need it (at least with new batteries installed). Still might be a neat feature

 

[bphillips]

Is there a way to test /announce signal strength of an already enrolled keyfob as happens automatically at the end of enrollment (without de-enrolling first?) as noted on page 10, paragraph 3

On a related note, is there an ideal level to maintain/decide on the ground plane antenna usage? (i.e. level 1 from far reaches of desired range, add the antennas for better reliability?)

thx
-brad

Yes, with the new M1XRF and M1 firmware you can now test/announce the signal strength of a wireless point from an M1 at any time using the keypad "Walk Test" function. In the Walk test mode each violation of a wireless point will announce the strength. For your keyfob just make sure to press the Unlock button. Pressing the Lock button won't work because it will arm the system and kick you out of walk test.

 

[shenandoah75]

Sweet!!!!!!!!! thx

 

[Spanky]

In the keypad enrollment of tranmitters and in the walk test mode, the number of valid transmitter packets are decoded and announced about 8 seconds after the first valid packet is decoded. A GE door and window transmitter sends 8 data packets. If all eight packets are decoded, the M1 will announce "Radio Level 8". If noise or interference destroys some of the packets, a value less than 8 will be announced. This gives a relative signal strength of the transmitter and checks for proper decoding of the data. Should two valid transmitters transmit at the same time, the Radio Level announced could be up to 16 decodes, adding the total number of decodes together.

During the keypad enrollment of transmitters mode, the M1 tells the M1XRF receiver to accept all valid data packets whether it is enrolled in the M1 or not. You can then see the middle RXD LED blink when it sends the valid packet count to the M1 about 8 seconds from the first packet decode.

We tried using the RSSI signal strength coming out of the M1XRF but the level would shift when the automatic gain control switched in from a strong signal and resulted in the strong signal being seen as a medium signal strength or a weak signal being seen as stronger than it really was. We decided to use the packet decode method which works better.