The IoT Edge Computer claims to offer 28 mile range with a high gain antenna. Would this be a directional antenna or could a 900mhz omnidirectional antenna work as well. Also, if someone has done this and would like to post a link to the antenna they used I would very interested. This topic is very vague and I can’t find any info on what antennas are compatible.
Hi,
A directional(Yagi) antenna is always going to give longer range at the same gain as an Omni directional antenna simply because the transmit signal is more concentrated and therefore will travel a longer distance. However you can still get very long range with a high gain Omni Directional antenna. How much, that’s really no possible for me to predict as it would depend on the gain and quality of the antenna used as well as the environment it is used in.
Thank you,
Travis Elliott
Well, I’ve been tasked with setting up a water monitoring solution for farmers in the west Texas desert. Terrain is flat, visibility usually 50 plus miles, there are no trees for radio obstruction but there are a few power lines that may cause interference. Because of their irrigation techniques these monitoring sensors need to be portable, so directional antennas are out of the picture. I had been hoping to get ~10 mile out of omnidirectional antennas, but if that is not possible I may have to design some sort of an elaborate mesh Network. Although, if omnidirectional antennas can achieve this distance, I would like to be pointed in the right direction of where I could get them. Pricing would not be a current concern more so the quality of the antenna. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated.
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10 miles out of an omni directional antenna in that environment could be possible. It would just need to be a high gain antenna.
You could try offerings from L-Comm.com. The antenna termination on the board is RP-SMA(you will more than likely need an adapter for any antenna you end up going with).
Off-the-wall suggestion: if you have the time and inclination you might contact ham radio operators in the general area. There are discussions on RadioReference.com and some Facebook groups to name a few where people who are familiar with transmitting across that specific terrain might provide invaluable experience to guide your decisions, in addition to the general radio principles involved.
Radio propagation can vary widely depending on a great many factors so you might find that your mesh network idea provides the most resilient solution. That’s what I was going to suggest when I started reading this thread. All the best.
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