User Manual

DTC Communications, Inc. Page 4 of 7
The battery life is a direct function of how often the transmitter is operated. Typically, the beacon will be
in the confidence tone mode most of the time. The less frequent the confidence tone, the longer the
batteries will last. The most frequent confidence tone possible is every three seconds. In the three-second
mode, the battery life will exceed 36 hours, with enough life remaining to transmit an alarm for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, the alarm mode will be cancelled to conserve battery life and it will revert to transmitting
confidence tones. This will help recover the unit should it not be recovered in the allotted time.
The following table is an engineering estimate of battery life for different confidence tone intervals. It
represents the maximum period of time available in confidence tone mode, followed by a 15-minute alarm
interval.
Confidence interval (sec.) 4 6 9 10 15 30 60
Battery life before alarm (Hours) 43.5 87 130.5 145 217.5 435 870
Battery removal is accomplished by pushing the batteries out of the housing through the three slots that
have been provided for this purpose. Ideal tools for this purpose include a fine point pen, a paper clip, or a
penknife.
Unique, tape-on wire attachments
In the past, previous beacon transmitters have used screw-terminal type contacts for the attachment of fine
(#40) wire. This wire was also insulated with an enamel coating, and required “stripping” in the field. A
great number of reliability problems resulted from this method of attaching the Breakwire and Standby
wires. The LB-1 takes a completely different approach.
First, the use of insulated wire was abandoned. Eliminating the need to strip the fine wire in the field
greatly improves reliability, since the problem of nicking the wire or weakening it with heat is eliminated.
Of course, the wire should not loop back upon itself, nor be wrapped around a conductive surface, since it
is not insulated.
Secondly, the problem of weakening the wire by pinching it by a screw is eliminated by the use of a unique
tape-down attachment method. Inspired by the taped-down electrodes used in the medical industry, the
uninsulated fine wire is taped down over gold-plated contacts on the back of the LB-1. Ordinary tape, such
as common “invisible tape” is used. A roll is supplied with the beacon. This results in a low-stress,
reliable connection that is easy to achieve under field conditions, and requires no special tools. Removing
the tape after an operation is straightforward, and the contacts may be cleaned with an alcohol prep. No
abrasive methods should be used to clean the contacts, as this will damage the gold plating. The gold
plating prevents oxidation of the contact, and insures reliability and long life.
For best results, make a small loop at the end of the wire, and tape this loop down to the center of the
contact.
Standby contacts
The STANDBY contacts are clearly labeled. A loop of wire connected to these contacts prevents
transmitter operation to preserve battery life. Once the transmitter is installed in a target package, and the
package is in place, the STANDBY loop may be broken, commencing beacon operation.
Alternatively, the STANDBY loop may be left in place indefinitely, if confidence tone operation is not
desired. The alarm tones will be transmitted when the BREAKWIRE loop is broken, regardless of the state
of the STANDBY loop.
The STANDBY contacts may be set to normally-open (NO) or normally-closed (NC) operation during
programming.