User Manual
Table Of Contents
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Procedures
- Before You Begin
- CCU4 Collector Overview
- Installation Considerations
- Installing the CCU4 Collector
- Servicing the CCU4 Collector
- CCU4 Collector Specifications
- Troubleshooting
- Index
DRAFT
Chapter 1 - CCU4 Collector Overview 5
CCU4 Collector Components
Compact Flash Memory
The compact flash memory is a solid state hard drive that stores the complete operating system
and the collected data. It appears as a standard hard drive to the system. The compact flash
memory two copies of the operating system, so the entire network can be switched to a new
operating system at a scheduled time, but can still revert back to the earlier version if there is a
problem with the new operating system. If it becomes corrupted (virus/lightning strike/etc), the
entire compact flash drive can be formatted and reloaded over the public network.
Receiver and Transmitter
The receiver is a full duplex, enhanced version of the Itron G5 mobile radio receiver. A wideband
receiver identifies the presence and timing of an incoming ERT transmission, and a narrowband
digital Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) based decoder locates and decodes the ERT message.
The ERT wake-up transmitter is a modified version of the Itron G5 mobile transmitter. It operates
over the same MAS band (952 MHz – 957 MHz) but is optimized for a fixed network installation.
Lower Housing
The lower housing protects the radio from the outside environment and is where the battery pack
and the 900 MHz diplexer and are located. The diplexer controls transmitting to ERTs on the
MAS band and receiving from ERTs on the ISM band. The 900 MHz ERT antenna and ground
plane attach to the bottom of the lower housing, pointing down.
Battery Pack
The battery pack is sealed in its own compartment within the lower housing and is vented to the
outside air for safety. The battery pack is a four-cell sealed lead acid battery pack (8.8V, 2.5 Amp
hours / 22 WHr). It is field replaceable and designed to last 5 years. An automatically resetting
fuse protects the battery from shorts.
If the AC power fails, the battery pack maintains system functions for 4 hours. To conserve
power, the collector may reduce processor speed, turn off all unused peripherals, put the CDPD
modem into sleep mode (slowing web response time), and reduce the number of read cycles. This
lower performance mode also occurs during the 16-hour initial charge of the battery after
installation.
The collector generates alarms at the headend when the battery fails or when low capacity values
are detected.