The RF Facilities Module is used to build up a database of both fixed location and mobile radio transmitting and receiving facilities. This includes templates of typical configurations of antennas, transmission line, transmitters and receivers to be recalled for use at a later date to save time in data entry when setting up RF studies. This fixed facility database can also be populated directly from imported data previously entered into spreadsheets, such as Excel and csv files. Using this module facilitates calculations to determine adequacy of received signal levels, taking into account receiver antenna gain and receiver system losses such as building and body losses. The RF Facilities Module provides not only a number of handy utilities, but also the software interface between the Basic Mapping Module’s topo data access and the other TAP™ Modules.
The RF Facilities Module Includes
A large library of over 14,000 directional antenna patterns from Celwave, Scala, Decibel, Sinclair, and numerous other antenna manufacturers is included. If a required pattern is not provided, antenna pattern information may be entered directly through a software utility and retained in a library for future use in coverage and link studies. Both azimuth and elevation patterns are used when available, permitting the accurate modeling of received signal levels close to the antenna and within the nulls of the pattern. User selected level and direction of beam tilt is fully supported. The TAP™ antenna pattern files can be printed as tabulations, and both the azimuth and elevation patterns can be plotted. NSMA antenna pattern files, which are available from the FCC web site, may also be imported.
A large library of transmission line types from several manufacturers including Andrew and Times Microwave is provided. The percent efficiency, dB loss and power rating of the line can be computed for a selected coaxial cable or waveguide type, length and frequency.
The units conversion functions include the various units for field strength, such as dBu/dBµV conversions as well as power density calculations, which are often required to demonstrate compliance with occupational safety requirements. The Free Space Field utility allows the user to specify any two of the three parameters (power, distance, field strength) and the utility will calculate the third.