User's Manual

Date Code 20091009 SEL-3031 Instruction Manual
Section 5
Performance Monitoring, Testing,
and Troubleshooting
Overview
This section provides information on monitoring radio performance, testing, and
troubleshooting. Because the SEL-3031 is equipped with extensive self-tests,
traditional periodic test procedures may be eliminated or greatly reduced.
Monitoring Radio Performance
This section describes the tools you can use to monitor and improve the radio
performance. This section assumes that the radio link is up and running in service.
There are several items that you can use to optimize the radio link. The first section
explains how to optimize standard radio links using DNP3, Modbus
®
, or other byte-
oriented protocols. The second section addresses monitoring the radio performance
when using M
IRRORED BITS
®
.
Monitoring and Improving Radio Link Performance
This section assumes the radio link is up and running with sufficient link availability. If
the radio link is either not working or has very low availability view Section 2:
Installation for information on properly installed and operating the radio.
Obtain access through the front USB port either with a terminal program or
ACSELERATOR QuickSet
®
SEL-5030 Software. Access Level 1 and issue the RAD
command (see Figure 5.1). The first value from the report is the RSSI receive signal
strength indication. This is the level of received level strength of the radio given in
dBm. A good radio link should have 20 dBm of margin to account for environmental
conditions and signal fade. The SEL-3031 receiver is rated at –97 dBm. If you observe
a value of –77 dBm or greater then you are receiving a strong signal. If the value is less
than –77 dBm that does not mean the radio link will not work; it means that the
performance and channel availability needs to be monitored. To increase the signal or
availability numbers the radio antenna may need to be adjusted, output power
increased, antenna replaced with a with a higher gain antenna, (not to exceed transmit
power of 36 dBm EIRP), or the SKIP setting used to avoid zones with low availability.
A path study should always be done before the radio is installed. The RSSI value