Main and Aux repeater connection (and power)

[FlyingDiver]

Does the aux repeater have to be hardwire connected to the main, or do they communicate via RF?

Also, if I'm putting the aux receiver in a location that doesn't have a convenient power plug, and I'm using a hardwired connection to the main, can I provide the power from the main location via the same cable as the signal connections? Would Cat-5e/6 be suitable, or do I need something heavier? Looks like it's four wires for the comm and 2 for power, so I could double up the wires for power. If I need to run a heavier wire I will, but I'm not sure what to use.

[Dimerize]

Does the aux repeater have to be hardwire connected to the main, or do they communicate via RF?

Also, if I'm putting the aux receiver in a location that doesn't have a convenient power plug, and I'm using a hardwired connection to the main, can I provide the power from the main location via the same cable as the signal connections? Would Cat-5e/6 be suitable, or do I need something heavier? Looks like it's four wires for the comm and 2 for power, so I could double up the wires for power. If I need to run a heavier wire I will, but I'm not sure what to use.

If the Aux Repeater is within range of the Main Repeater, you do not need to hard-wire it. That's approx. 30 ft radius. Cases where you will need to hard-wire the Aux Repeater are for example for a guest house that is too far away from the main house (> 30 ft), and where is really nothing between the two premises, then you will need to run two pairs from the Main Repeater to the Aux Repeater. Makes sense?

[FlyingDiver]

I ended up using two main repeaters instead of a main and an aux. Too many devices in the final plan for one main repeater.

[dpreilan]

If the Aux Repeater is within range of the Main Repeater, you do not need to hard-wire it. That's approx. 30 ft radius. Cases where you will need to hard-wire the Aux Repeater are for example for a guest house that is too far away from the main house (> 30 ft), and where is really nothing between the two premises, then you will need to run two pairs from the Main Repeater to the Aux Repeater. Makes sense?

Repeaters can be 60ft apart, I thought??

[Dimerize]

Repeaters can be 60ft apart, I thought??

Remember from the RadioRA 2 L1 course: 2,500 SF area coverage for the Main Repeater and Aux Repeater, guaranteed. The formula for area calculation is Pi times the squared radius (?.Rˆ2). Therefore: 2500 = ?.Rˆ2. Resolve the R incognito by calculating R = Square Root of 2500/?, that gives 28 ft radius, which rounded gives 30 ft. I have seen applications where the radius was much higher than 30 ft, but for Clear Connect the norm is to guarantee 30 ft radius, so that it takes into consideration RF interference and odd locations of the Main Repeater (like hidden under a rack in the basement, covered with metal all around). If you are in a rural area, you will certainly go beyond that range, but in NYC we don't take that for granted. Also remember Clear Connect uses the 435 MHz spectrum, which is somewhat shared with the UHF Amateur Band in the USA, so it's not totally free of interference, although it is indeed a VERY quite RF band. Hope this helps.

[Kevin P.]

Repeaters can be 60ft apart, I thought??

dpreilan,

You are correct. Main and Aux repeaters can be up to 60ft apart to communicate with each other. This is because each repeater has it's own 30ft radius of RF communication. Main and Aux repeaters need to be within 30 feet of other devices (keypads, dimmers, etc) to communicate.

[veeeh]

I have seen applications where the radius was much higher than 30 ft, but for Clear Connect the norm is to guarantee 30 ft radius

There is no guarantee. There are cases when it can reliably reach only 24-25ft, and the official response is to add a second repeater in such cases. So, there is no official guarantee that main repeater will always give you 30ft range.