Wireless Range

One of the most common questions we receive from customers is "What is the range of your wireless Products?"  Will this wireless board work under these conditions.....? They sounds like a very simple questions but there are several factors that play a part in the actual range of all wireless devices.  In this post we will discuss first the factors that play part in the actual wireless range of these boards.  In upcoming posts we will look at each wireless protocol in depth.

Several things can play a part in determining the actual range of our devices in a given environment.  These Range Obstacles as we will call them can be anything from a masonry wall to a tree.  Different materials affect range in different amounts, for instance, a wood and sheet rock wall will affect the wireless range of a device far less than a brick wall or even worse metal.  This means the actual structures in your environment will play a key role in the actual range distance you will achieve with our products.  If the user believes structures or objects could hinder the range of the devices being used in a given application then the wireless product should be over rated for the actual desired wireless range, meaning if the user is trying to achieve an actual wireless distance of 300 ft but there is a wood and plaster wall between the two devices then the user should use devices rated for 1 mile range rather than devices rated for only 300 ft range.  This is called compensation for wireless range obstacles.

Another range factor that plays a large part in actual range is the Power, Frequency, and antenna Options of the actual wireless devices being used.  National Control Devices offers a multitude of wireless options including but not limited to Bluetooth, 802.15.4, ZB ZigBee Mesh, and XSC.  These different devices operate at different Frequencies, Power Output, and Antenna Options.

Many factors play a role in the actual range these devices will achieve in a given environment or application.  The best way to determine range in a given circumstance is to field test the devices in the environment they will be implemented in.  Most wireless engineers will say that there is no better test for wireless devices than a field test so please view the videos and take all factors in this article into consideration when choosing the right product for your application.  Relay Pros offers a 30-day money back guarantee so you can field test our wireless devices at your location without wordy.

Wiring to Normally Closed Connection

With a Single Pole Double Throw (SPDT) relay the relay will have a Common, Normally Closed and Normally Open connection.  When the relay is not energized or in the off state the arm from the common is at the Normally Closed state.  When Energized the arm swings to the Normally Open side.  If you wire a light to the Normally Closed side the light will actually go off when the relay is energized.  I think of this as wiring the relay backwards so that the light goes off when the relay is energized.  On rare occasions we get an application where wiring to the Normally Closed side is required. 

We offer SPDT relays in our 5, 10 and 20 amp versions throughout or site. 

LabView Programming

We’re going to try to add programming and programming samples to our TechTip Tuesday lineup periodically.  Some may come from customers and some from NCD directly.  Here's LabView sample a customer posted to NCD’s forum.  You can download the sample at: http://www.relaypros.com/Software/83-ProXRseriescontroller.vi.  You can use just about any programming language that supports serial communications when writing your own program.  Visual Basic is probably the most popular but we get a lot of calls asking if LabView can be used.