Is there a manual available for the Sidekick?
(I can't seem to find any docs)
Envisalink SIDEKICK LTE backup shipping NOW!
Moderators: EyezOnRich, GrandWizard
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GrandWizard
- Posts: 2191
- Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2010 4:08 pm
Re: Envisalink SIDEKICK LTE backup shipping NOW!
Just the quickstart guide that comes with it. There's really nothing to do other than plug it in.
Re: Envisalink SIDEKICK LTE backup shipping NOW!
Is the quick start guide online? I don't seem to see it.
How far can the sidekick be from the envisalink?
What's the Sidekick's power draw?
Does the Sidekick do any sort of periodic test transmission?
Is there any visibility into whether that succeeds or not?
I'm used to the T-Link daily test "call" on the DSC, and getting T-Link trouble reports if the test call fails or if there is a loss of connectivity to the cellular network. I'd get weekly activity reports from the CSM company, so i could see the test calls were being received. If there was a deley, I'd know it took a bunch of retries until the message was acknowledged by the receiver.
How far can the sidekick be from the envisalink?
What's the Sidekick's power draw?
Does the Sidekick do any sort of periodic test transmission?
Is there any visibility into whether that succeeds or not?
I'm used to the T-Link daily test "call" on the DSC, and getting T-Link trouble reports if the test call fails or if there is a loss of connectivity to the cellular network. I'd get weekly activity reports from the CSM company, so i could see the test calls were being received. If there was a deley, I'd know it took a bunch of retries until the message was acknowledged by the receiver.
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GrandWizard
- Posts: 2191
- Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2010 4:08 pm
Re: Envisalink SIDEKICK LTE backup shipping NOW!
No, I don't think they put those up online. I don't even have a PDF copy to send you, sorry.
The current draw is 75mA, on top of the Envisalink's current draw of 80mA so total is 155mA, nominal.
The sidekick comes with a 30cm cable that plugs into the EVL4's expansion port. If need to extend the antenna, you can extend this up to 30m if need be. So far less than 1% of our customers have had to extend the antenna. The Sidekick uses the new(er) LTE-M1 service which trades data rates for sensitivity. So far it works well in most people's basements.
The Sidekick/EVL4 combo is a little more sophisticated than a DSC Tlink. On your Eyezon portal you see real-time LTE status and you will receive alerts if your LTE service goes down. You also get alerts if your IP service goes down and the LTE backup kicks in.
The Sidekick also does daily timer tests with the central station which you can always access but it is redundant as the LTE service is always supervised.
The current draw is 75mA, on top of the Envisalink's current draw of 80mA so total is 155mA, nominal.
The sidekick comes with a 30cm cable that plugs into the EVL4's expansion port. If need to extend the antenna, you can extend this up to 30m if need be. So far less than 1% of our customers have had to extend the antenna. The Sidekick uses the new(er) LTE-M1 service which trades data rates for sensitivity. So far it works well in most people's basements.
The Sidekick/EVL4 combo is a little more sophisticated than a DSC Tlink. On your Eyezon portal you see real-time LTE status and you will receive alerts if your LTE service goes down. You also get alerts if your IP service goes down and the LTE backup kicks in.
The Sidekick also does daily timer tests with the central station which you can always access but it is redundant as the LTE service is always supervised.
Re: Envisalink SIDEKICK LTE backup shipping NOW!
Does the Sidekick still draw only 75 mA when transmitting?
My old 3G communicator was specs said the normal current draw was 100 mA, but 400 mA when transmitting.
A 30cm cable seems pretty short, is the Sidekick supposed to be mounted vertically inside of the panel with the antenna sticking out? I'm not sure if I have space for that.
Yes my panel is installed in the basement. The HSPDA communicator typically had a signal of 3-4 bars on AT&T's network. It would sometimes drop lower than that. It was hard to catch, and I think only Connect24 had the data logged.
Signal level seemed to change somewhat seasonally. It would be worse during summer, and better in winter. I could tell from the CSM weekly reports by how prompt the daily test call was whether retries were needed.
If the retries were exhausted I'd get T-Link Receiver trouble, which would clear some number of minutes later when a transmission to report the trouble went through. If the problem persisted the FTC trouble would show up a few minutes after that.
(The installer/dealer had virtually no clue why those errors were occurring. I would be unaware if the interactive stuff wasn't giving me notifications. They'd show up and see the signal levels were fine, do some tests, leave. The 7+ years with the 3G T-Link communicator was very, well, educational.)
I have an SMA extension cable to relocate the antenna, but I never drilled through the floor to install it because the problems were so transient.
> The Sidekick/EVL4 combo is a little more sophisticated than a DSC Tlink. On your Eyezon portal you see real-time LTE status and you will receive alerts if your LTE service goes down. You also get alerts if your IP service goes down and the LTE backup kicks in.
Good to know. Have any TPI codes been added so I can trigger things to occur?
> The Sidekick also does daily timer tests with the central station which you can always access but it is redundant as the LTE service is always supervised.
How do i get access to that? Based on experiences, supervision of components is good, but seeing end-to-end tests is usually better.
Thanks
My old 3G communicator was specs said the normal current draw was 100 mA, but 400 mA when transmitting.
A 30cm cable seems pretty short, is the Sidekick supposed to be mounted vertically inside of the panel with the antenna sticking out? I'm not sure if I have space for that.
Yes my panel is installed in the basement. The HSPDA communicator typically had a signal of 3-4 bars on AT&T's network. It would sometimes drop lower than that. It was hard to catch, and I think only Connect24 had the data logged.
Signal level seemed to change somewhat seasonally. It would be worse during summer, and better in winter. I could tell from the CSM weekly reports by how prompt the daily test call was whether retries were needed.
If the retries were exhausted I'd get T-Link Receiver trouble, which would clear some number of minutes later when a transmission to report the trouble went through. If the problem persisted the FTC trouble would show up a few minutes after that.
(The installer/dealer had virtually no clue why those errors were occurring. I would be unaware if the interactive stuff wasn't giving me notifications. They'd show up and see the signal levels were fine, do some tests, leave. The 7+ years with the 3G T-Link communicator was very, well, educational.)
I have an SMA extension cable to relocate the antenna, but I never drilled through the floor to install it because the problems were so transient.
> The Sidekick/EVL4 combo is a little more sophisticated than a DSC Tlink. On your Eyezon portal you see real-time LTE status and you will receive alerts if your LTE service goes down. You also get alerts if your IP service goes down and the LTE backup kicks in.
Good to know. Have any TPI codes been added so I can trigger things to occur?
> The Sidekick also does daily timer tests with the central station which you can always access but it is redundant as the LTE service is always supervised.
How do i get access to that? Based on experiences, supervision of components is good, but seeing end-to-end tests is usually better.
Thanks