EFJ VP5430 Signal Readings

[csimpson911]

We have started using the EF Johnson VP5430 radios on our statewide 700 mhz trunking system. I have a county next door that has done the same. I received a phone call yesterday from someone in the neighboring county and we were discussing radio signal readings from one of the firefighters. I know....well I think the range on the RSSI reading is 0-127, but am unsure of the range on the dBm reading. Does anyone know the range on the dbm for the VP5430? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[MTS2000des]

The reading is in actual dbM display but only up to "greater than -89dbm", in other words, you'll see actual dbM readings below that, but if the signal is stronger than -89dbm, the display shows >-89dbm.

 

[MTS2000des]

 

[csimpson911]

@MTS2000des do you happen to know the worst reading the radio will read in dBm? Just trying to figure out the range.

 

[buddrousa]

My dealings with EF Johnson is it varies with sites and systems at -127 you are close to the limits unless the radio is not reading true signal levels.

 

[csimpson911]

Ok, thank you guys for the responses @buddrousa @MTS2000des

 

[MTS2000des]

I've seen -121 on my system before it lost my control channel while doing BDA site surveys

 

[AlexC]

One of the coolest things if you are doing audio testing with EFJ is the Audio Recording feature. The radio will hold every transmission it receives or transmits until it runs itself out of it's 8GB of memory (and that's a lot). This is great because if the clock is set right you can go back in time and see what the user heard or didn't hear to try and work through your coverage issues. It also records some metadata - like the ID received etc.

 

[csimpson911]

Just a heads up to everyone...I spoke to EF Johnson Technical Support...not sure why I did not think of that first. They advised the approximate range is -130dBm to -89dBm. Thanks for all the replies and assistance.

 

[MTS2000des]

One of the coolest things if you are doing audio testing with EFJ is the Audio Recording feature. The radio will hold every transmission it receives or transmits until it runs itself out of it's 8GB of memory (and that's a lot). This is great because if the clock is set right you can go back in time and see what the user heard or didn't hear to try and work through your coverage issues. It also records some metadata - like the ID received etc.

yep. that's why it's in my BDA/DAS assessment kit, along with a SignalHound, and Surface Pro.

 

[AESFTW]

yep. that's why it's in my BDA/DAS assessment kit, along with a SignalHound, and Surface Pro.

How do you like that SignalHound? I was thinking about putting an order in for one.

 

[MTS2000des]

Great tool, add a tracking generator module and you have a great way to tune duplexers and cavities.