Innovating Microwave Backhaul

AntennaAlignmentforTrangoLinkGigaandApexproducts

Thisguideexplainshowtoachievetheoptimalantennaalignmentofthemicrowaveantennawhen
usedwiththeTrangoLinkGiga,GigaPlus,GigaPro,orApexproducts.Beforeattemptingtodothe
alignmentitishighlyrecommendedthatyoureadthisguideindetail.Forspecificcommandsplease
consultthemanualoftheproductbeinginstalled

Step1:Preparation:

Mounttheantennaonthetoweraccordingtotheantennainstallationinstructions:Ensurethatthe
adjustmentboltsmovesmoothlyandtherangeofmotionissufficientfortheexpectedangleofupand
down(elevation)tilt.Ensurethatthemountitselfisattachedsecurelyandallsafetyprecautionshave
beentaken.

Step2:CoarseAlignment:

Visuallyaligntheantennawiththefarend.Themostcommonwaystodothisare:

1) Ifthevisibilityisgoodandthesunisinthecorrectposition,havesomeoneatthefarend
locationreflectthesunwithamirrorsothelocationisobvious.

2) Ifvisibilityispoor,useGPScoordinatesandaGPScompasstoaimtheantennacoarsely.

Step3:FineAlignment.

Beforeconductingfinealignment,theODUsatbothendsofthelinkmustbeattachedproperlytothe
antennaviathedirectmountorremotemount(usingWaveguide)andthefarendODUmustbe
poweredonandtransmitting.TheODUlightningsurgesuppressorsandgroundingprovisionsshould
beputinplaceaswellbeforealignment.ThelocalODUmustbepoweredon,butneednotbe
transmitting.

Ensurethat:
1) Frequencyofthefarendtransmittermatchesthefrequencyofthelocalreceiver.
2) TheTXoutputpowerisnotsetabovethelevelofthelicense.
3) ATPCisturnedOFFonthefarend.
4) AlignmentmodeisONDisplayonODUandIDUwillupdateat5timespersecond.

Trango Systems, Inc. | www.TrangoSys.com

14118 Stowe Drive, Suite B | Poway, CA 92064 USA | Tel: +1 (858) 391-0010 | Fax: +1 (858) 391-0020

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Innovating Microwave Backhaul

FINEALIGNMENTPROCEDURE

1) Adjusttheazimuthovera30degreesweepbyturningtheadjustmentboltinincrementsof
1/10thturntoavoidmissingthemainlobe.Whenthehighestsignalhasbeenfoundfor
azimuth,repeatfortheelevationadjustment.
2) Turnthelocaltransmitterontoallowalignmentatthefarend.
3) Movetothefarendofthelinkandrepeatstep1.
4) Lockdowntheantennasonofurthermovementcanoccur.
5) Installtheantennasidestrutssuppliedwiththeantenna.
6) VerifytheRSSIremainsthesameandiswithin24dBoftheexpectedlevels.
7) ChecktheODUconnectorseals.
8) TurnalignmentmodeOFF
9) Thealignmentiscomplete.

MSEBASEDALIGNMENT

Sincethebeamwidthofmostmicrowaveantennasisbelow2degrees(aboutthewidthofathumbat
armslength),andthesidelobesandpatternsofhighperformanceantennasareverylow(<25dB),it
canbedifficulttoacquirethesignalatalluntilthemainbeampatternislinedup.Inaddition,theRSSI
detectorsoftheradioshaveausablerangethatvariesbymodelasfollows:

Model

MAXRSSI

MINRSSI
HPODUs:

15dBm

90dBm
ApexModels:

30dBm

70dBm
GigaXXODUXXmodels:
30dBm

60dBm

Toassistinthealignmentprocess,theMSEoftheradiocanalsobeusedtoconductalignmentuntil
theRSSIiswithintherangeabove.

ToperformMSEbasedalignment,followthisprocedure:

1) Setthespeedandmodulationonbothendstothelowestchannelbandwidthpossible
(dependsonmodel)andthemodulationtoQPSK.Thiswillallowtheradiotolockatthelowest
signallevelpossible.

2) Conductthealignmentasdescribedabove,butinsteadofaligningusingtheRSSI,lookatthe
MSEoftheradiothroughtelnetorconsolesessionandwatchthevariationastheantennais
beingadjusted.Thiscanbedonebyrunningthelinktest99commandwhichwillcontinuously
reportthelockstatus,RSSI,andMSEin1secondintervals.Lookforthelocktogoto1first,
thenfortheMSEabsolutevaluetoincreaseasthealignmentisimproved.TheRSSImaynotbe

Trango Systems, Inc. | www.TrangoSys.com

14118 Stowe Drive, Suite B | Poway, CA 92064 USA | Tel: +1 (858) 391-0010 | Fax: +1 (858) 391-0020

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Innovating Microwave Backhaul

changingduringthistimeatallsincethesignallevelmaybebelowtheminimumoftheusable
range.

3) AssoonastheRSSIincreasesabovetheminimum,thenRSSIbasedalignmentmaybeused
whichhasamuchfasterupdaterateandwillallowforveryfineadjustmentuntiltheRSSIis
within34dBoftheexpectedlevel.

4) ResetthespeedandmodulationtotheintendedvaluesandconfirmtheMSEandRSSIareas
expected.

SOMECOMMONPROBLEMS:

1) CannotachievetheexpectedRSSI
a. Theantennasmaynotbeonthemainlobe
b. ODUsmaynotbemountedwiththesamepolarizationatbothends.
c. TheremaybeFresnelZoneencroachmentthatwasnotseenintheinitialsitesurvey.
Treegrowthisthemostcommonproblemandwillnotbeseenbythepathlossanalysis
donepriortoinstall.Thisreinforcestheneedforaphysicalsitesurveypriorto
deployment.Higherlocationsonthetowermayberequired.
d. TheAntennaisnotfarenoughawayfromtherooflinewhenmountedonahorizontal
roof.TheantennabottomedgeMUSTbeaminimumdistanceabovetheroofasperthe
followingtable:

DistancetoEdgeofRoof(ft)
AntennaEdgeHeightaboveRoofEdge(ft)
0

1
1

2
2

3
3

4
410

5
1020

6
2030

7
30+

e. Thesamerulein(d)aboveappliestoanyobjectsinfrontoftheAntennasuchasHVAC
units.

2) Nosignalcanbedetected
a. OpmodeisnotON.Thetransmittermustbeactive
b. TXandRXfrequenciesdonotmatchonboththeradios.

Trango Systems, Inc. | www.TrangoSys.com

14118 Stowe Drive, Suite B | Poway, CA 92064 USA | Tel: +1 (858) 391-0010 | Fax: +1 (858) 391-0020

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