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Satelline Easy Pro vs. Pacific Crest ADL Vantage Pro
Posted by amdomag on July 31, 2013 at 2:36 pmBased on your experience, which product is better, Satelline Easy Pro or Pacific Crest ADL Vantage Pro? I learned from a GNSS supplier and a surveying practitioner who are both based in Dubai that Pacific Crest is more reliable.
Thank you for sharing… 🙂
Felgonzal replied 1 year, 10 months ago 7 Members · 10 Replies- 10 Replies
Amdomag,
We recently switched over to just selling Satel 35 watt Easy Pro radios. I have personally used PacCrest since the RFM96 radios and just never thought of using anything else. The reason we started looking at Satel was that we experienced a large failure rate with the Pac Crest ADL Vantage Pro 35 watt units. The ADL Pro 35 watt also was heating up to a point that we expected failures in the units due to over heating. So, we have totally switched to Satel.
I have been told that Pac Crest has fixed the issue with the heat issue with the ADL Vantage Pro. I have not checked in awhile but there is a new firmware posted on their website for the unit.
There is a document on the Pac Crest website explaining the heat experienced with the unit at:
http://www.pacificcrest.com/library/AppNote_ADL_Vantage_Pro_and_Heat.pdf
There is some good information in this document but on Page 13 one of the tips for using the radio is “Don’t set up the radio in direct sun”. I am not sure what to say about that statement especially when the RTK base will be set up in a wide open area unless it is house on a permanent or semi-permanent site and is in an enclosed building. There is also a part number listed for a tripod mount with a fan in this document that would seem to help.
We have tested the Satel Easy Pro 35 Watt for range, battery life, and temperature. We live on a very flat terrain so the signal path for range testing. We ran the Satel Easy Pro at a full 35 watts with all test and ran it for 8 to 9 hours each time with the unit continuously transmitting. We achieved the same distances in range that we had in the past with the Pac Crest PDL and the Pac CRest ADL. We did not experience heat issues but we were using and over the air baud rate of 9600. We tested with Satel base to Satel rover, and we also tested the Satel base transmitting with the 4FSK and Pac Crest Transparent FST to Pac Crest ADL rover radios receiving the transmissions. So we mixed brands with no issues.All test were done using the requited 12.5 Hz channel bandwidth for the US.
One thing to consider is that to change the programmed channels on the Pac Crest ADL Pro you will need a USB hardware lock that is only sold to authorized Pac Crest dealers or have a dealer compile a configuration file to make the channel changes for you but be sure that they embed the serial number of your unit in the configuration file or it will not load. The Satel configuration software will allow users to make all changes if you know the password in the software. I am not saying this is an advantage because you probably will never change your assigned channels on the unit but it is something to consider.
Thanks for the information! Once again Trimble messing up a good thing! My 2 cents Jp
Mark, thanks for this informative post, I had pretty much made up my mind to move to Satel for a number of reasons IF I need a UHF radio in the future (sold my PDL system last year as it wouldn’t be legal). I will also evaluate a spread spectrum radio if that time comes. I really haven’t had a need for ANY radio with the proliferation of RTN’s, but I am sure there will be a time when in some remote area without cell coverage or RTN coverage it will become necessary.
I just read the document you linked:
“Under normal operating parameters, ADL Vantage Pro will continue operating at 35W as long as the air temp remains below 37°C (99°F)”
You could easily exceed 99°F in the summer in direct sunlight, I wonder if they mean ambient air temperature or surface temperature?
SHG
They make a screw on fan unit [ info here ] that will allow them to work anywhere.
I think that if you just put a piece of cardboard over the radio to keep the direct sun off of it, you would be okay. While I might not know much about trees (being in Salt Lake) I do know plenty about fn hot days. Just keeping the sun off the radio is good enough for me.
In any case the over-heating problem is probably not a big deal, unless the duty cycle is > 60% or so. Trimble’s CMRx, Ashtech’s ATOM Compact go a long ways to dropping the duty cycle.
It is my opinion that the overheating issues and reputation were due to a software bug (long since fixed) that left the power amplifier on continuously when the input buffer overflowed. The radios would lock up with the RED TX led on, broadcasting open carrier at 35 watts and not stop until power-cycled. This has been fixed and I can verify that radios with recent firmware don’t have this issue. (I have personally tested 30 radios for 4 days; two radios for 4-months and three more radios in repeater applications for 12+ months continuous.)
The ADL’s offer a bunch more protocol’s than the Satel radios. Of course, most people won’t need anything that Satel does not support.
I like the factory cables for the ADLs a little better, although the separate power connector on the Satel is probably a great enhancement. If you already have PDL bricks, the same cables will work on the ADL. We have TNC to BNC adapters that will make it possible to use your existing BNC antenna cables with a new radio.
The ADL radios are a bit tougher on battery than the old PDL radios. You may need to get a new battery as they really do broadcast at full power (the older radios rarely hit 35 watts) and when they turn on the power amps, the battery voltage needs to stay high enough. (You can probably set and ADL to 25 watts with an older worn out battery and be just fine.)
If you choose to get a Satel radio, try to get one with the latest firmware loaded and have your dealer configure the frequencies so you can’t change them and make sure the radio is broadcasting your FCC license number in CW. I believe that the FCC may pick one of us as a ‘show case’ to stress the importance of having ‘legal’ radios in use with GPS.
If you choose to get an ADL-Vantage Pro receiver, upgrade the firmware to version 4.01.114 or higher.
I don’t have any experience with Satel service, but Doug Campen at PC has been doing a great job after Jim’s death. I like the way you fill out an online form and immediately get a RMA number without talking to anyone.
There may be programming solutions for the ADL out there that don’t require a dongle. Or there may not be. I wouldn’t comment on that, especially in writing.
Either way, IMHO you have two decent choices.
M
Shelby,
I looked at the same specification. I would have to assume they mean ambient air temperature. We have a few people using 1 watt systems for UHF radios but of course these are for about a 1 mile radius on fairly open work sites. We do still have some 1 watt spread spectrum units from Intuicom but the range is the same as the 1 watt UHF. The Intuicoms can be setup to be a repeater fairly easy but then you would need to have multiple units.
I’m with SurveytheMark, I switched over to the Satelline Easy35Watt External Base radio, haven’t looked back in my rear-view mirror since. I’m really impressed with the compact size, durability of this radio, comes in original white color and now/new grey color. Satelline manufactures/sells a variety of serial interface cable to connect the Easy35 watt Base radio to any brand GNSS Receiver out there in the Marketplace. As a GPS guy for almost 30-years now, GPS production work and working with GNSS Equipment manufactures, I’ve been fighting the TN Evil Empire for 30-years, to heck with their monopoly, HW/SW maintenance agreements; way over-priced equipment and dealer arrogance, Luke, Stay away from the Dark side…
-BbBB-)
Very informative.
Are you referring to the Easy Pro HPR2 model?
Thank you so much for sharing. 🙂
Amdomag,
In the US we are using the HPR2 SATELLINE-EASy Pro 35 watt which handles frequency range 403 to 473 MHz. The PDF of the one we are using is:
http://www.satel.com/userData/satel/downloads/brochures/satelline/SATELLINE_EASy_Pro.pdf
There is also a SATELLINE-3ASd Epic Pro 35 watt which handles frequency range 330 to 412.5 MHz. The PDF of the one we are using is:
http://www.satel.com/userData/satel/downloads/brochures/satelline/SATELLINE_3ASd_Epic_Pro.pdf
I am not sure what frequency range you would need to use.
This resolves the issue.
Thank you so much. 🙂
Good day. May you have the configuration to make them talk each other, PC as Base Station and Satelline Easy Pro as repeater?
Thanks in advance!
felipe
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