Hi I happened to start reading this tread I was wondering what frequencies the Cuddelink uses From camera to camera how did you find it was 900mhz , I was going to try to find a better link antenna for my Cuddelink they use a 7 “To 8” do you think A longer like 15” would work better , I do that with my icom radios went from a 6” to 15” antenna it transmits mush better , we’re do you think I could find one
Part of the spectrum around 900 mhz is unlicensed. There are FCC restrictions on how much power can be put out, but you don't need a license to operate at this frequency. This is why BEC and Cuddelink use it. BEC uses frequency hopping, I'm not sure if cudde uses that or another type of spread spectrum signal. None of that really matters other than they are broadcasting RF around 900 mhz and that frequency range has its own set of challenges.
I'm using a BEC system. All but one of my cameras are the old outdated Orion. They have been running flawlessly for me 24/7/365 since they were first released. In this frequency range, water really attenuates a signal. This can be water stored in the needles of pine trees or high humidity in the atmosphere. You get some bending at this frequency but it is too high for much. This means you need line of sight between radios. You can't go over a hill or bounce off the ionosphere like you can down in the ham band.
The next thing you need to know is how the network topology is set up. BEC was considering a self-organizing network for their newer system but I advised against it unless they could accurately monitor and balance power. If you don't know the power availability at each node, you may find the best path from a signal standpoint is the worst path from a power availability standpoint. (Power in this discussion is battery power not signal power). The BEC network routing is controlled by the user. As a user, I determine which cameras talk to which other cameras. This requires a more knowledgeable user, but allows for a much better network setup.
This discussion relates to antenna selection and power management (solar panels). So, if I know my camera locations and I know my network routing, I can select the right kind of antenna. Don't look at antennas from a length in inches perspective, look at them from a DB perspective. There are basically two types of antennas you will be dealing with, Omnidirectional and directional. While there are other designs, for the cost range of these kinds of systems, I'm limiting directional to yagi antennas.
The little rubber ducky antennas typically amplify by 3db. These often attach directly to the camera radio. You can get external yagi antennas at 6, 9, 13, or 14 db. The higher the gain, the narrower the beam and more accurately you must point the antenna. You can get external omni-directional antennas in 6 or 8 db. Now high gain omnidirectional antennas are actually directions, but in the vertical direction. The pattern looks like a donut. The gain is the same 360 degrees around your horizontally. Yagi antennas move power from back to front, so you need to point them.
I buy all my antennas from L-com. If a camera is only talking to another camera or base, it can use a directional antenna. If it talking to other cameras distribute around it, need to use an omni-directional antenna.
For example, at my place I have a large 14 db yagi on a tall mast located at camp in the SW corner of our farm. It is pointed toward the middle of the farm. There I have another tower with an 8 db omni-directional antenna on it. It is a routing camera. Other cameras are all around it. They use smaller 6 or 9 db yagi antennas pointed at the omni-directional antenna in the middle of the property. Because I know that routing camera will consume much more power because it is retransmitting pictures from the other cameras to the base, I have it setup with a very large solar panel that gets full sun. Since I control the routing, I can select the correct antenna for each camera and the correct solar panel and battery. My network is actually much more complex. This just describes a portion of it.
Hope this helps.
Thanks,
Jack
