Installation Guide

Itron recommends using a handheld GPS unit to verify your collector, repeater, or external GPS
antenna mounting location can receive a signal from at least three satellites.
To ensure the best possible signal, avoid installing the collector, repeater, or external antennas
in the following locations:
■
Adjacent to or between tall buildings, signs, towers, or bridges.
■
Near swaying limbs, branches, or cables that could strike and damage the antenna.
■
Between, beneath, or near highway overpasses, elevated train platforms, or tunnels.
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Near objects or devices attached to the same pole.
■
Within 500 feet of high power radio frequency (RF) transmitters (such as paging
transmitters, cellular transmitters, and municipal communications transmitters).
Note: Typically, maintaining a 10-foot vertical separation from other transmitters allows
for a co-location type of installation.
■
Near potential broadband sources of radiated RF energy (such as power line transformers,
RADAR transmitters, cellular antennas, and neon or fluorescent signs).
■
Inside metal enclosures (an antenna will not communicate if it is surrounded by metal) or
inside a building. The collector or repeater can be installed in a building or other metal
enclosure, but the antennas must be installed externally.
Warning! Before installing a collector or repeater near or on the same pole as a
transformer, consult the National Electrical Safety Code (NESC), local utilities,
municipalities, and cable and telephone companies for recommended distances from
transformers and power lines.
AC Service Requirements
The collector or repeater must be powered by a 90-265 VAC source defined as a maximum 15
amp branch circuit (a minimum 15 amp branch circuit for TCU 100s), and the collector or
repeater must be protected by a certified branch circuit breaker. Do not connect the collector or
repeater to a circuit protected by a GFCI breaker. Size the wiring in accordance with the National
Electrical Code, ANSI/NFPA 70 and, where applicable, the Canadian Electrical Code, Part I,
CSA C22.1 or the prevailing local code. For more information on these options, see AC Mains
Power on page 28, DC Mains Power on page 29, or Solar Powered Installation on page 61.
External Ethernet Connections
If the Ethernet is used as the communications backhaul, the collector installation site must have
Ethernet access. Also, be sure to use weatherproof cables in this type of installation.
If the collector is not on the same subnet as the database server, additional network
configurations are necessary. See Port and Protocol Requirements on page 80. Network
CCU100 and Repeater100 Installation Guide 3 Planning a CCU/Repeater Installation
12 February 2021 815-0491-00 Itron, Inc. Page 23 of 133