Aux Repeater Range

[sbsmarthomes]

Does anyone have experience with spacing AUX repeaters at greater than recommended distance (60ft). Trying to plan for a job with landscape lighting on a larger property with existing landscaping so trenching for hard wire solution (or even wiring between AUX repeaters) will be disruptive and costly.

I did a job recently were RA2 devices activated and operated properly in a cabana structure located almost 200ft from the nearest AUX repeater in the main house. I went ahead and added another AUX repeater in the cabana hardwired to the Main repeater just for good measure, but this got me thinking about actual usable range for the AUX repeaters especially out in the open.

I remember hearing in training that AUX repeaters have very capable radios and were tested well beyond 300ft without obstruction.

[hanshi]

We obviously recommend the 60ft spec and wire if possible but feel free to try a small test on site and you could be surprised. I designed the circuit for that product and performed outdoor RF testing on it, reaching distances well over half a mile. That being said, you will obviously have attenuation going through each wall and then through the air and through the other buildings wall and thus it is hard to say anything concrete in terms of expectations due to the amount of variables involved. My recommendation is to perform a test. Main Repeater and tabletop keypad at one end; Aux and lamp dimmer at the other end with the keypad obviously programmed to control the 3LD.

[hanshi]

Just an FYI, the outdoor testing was not through any walls. It was literally performed on an open field at a local university. Thus, do not expect a half mile. :-)

[sbsmarthomes]

Hi hanshi,

I'd hoped you would respond. I remember Blake Richetta telling stories years ago in BLAST training about you developing & testing the AUX repeater.

Below is a site plan of the property. It's approximately 225,000 sq ft. To help with scale I colored the tennis court green and the main residence blue. The main repeater would be located in the main residence and aux repeaters would be located around the landscape in PVC enclosures. I would use 4 aux repeaters and the max distance between them would be around 400ft. The grounds are heavily landscaped and have formal gardens, but the aux repeaters would basically have line of site between them.

I marked the aux repeater locations in red to give you an idea of placement. At each aux repeater location there is already a large NEMA enclosure for the switching gear. The loads are a mixture of line voltage incandescent, magnetic low voltage transformers and a number of pumps for several water features. Planning to use RRD8ANS switches but most loads exceed 8A so they will run through higher current contactors to control the loads (about 38 total).

I like your idea to do a site test and will try to do that over the next few weeks before finalizing design. I don't have enough aux repeaters on hand to place one at each location, but can easily test to the farthest locations.

[hanshi]

Ah yes, my good friend Blake Richetta. He does like to mention that in his trainings.

Sounds like a fun job. Performing the test will be the only way to know for sure. Also, while performing the test, you can try RF diagnostics through the software. Let me know how the test goes. I am very curious to see what the results are.

[sbsmarthomes]

Thanks for the reply hanshi... I'll keep you updated.

[Bailey]

That was supposed to be Blake RA-chetta. That man went beyond the Kool-Aid and bleeds Lutron Blue.

[neurorad]

If your training, Paul, was for L2, you can use a 2nd Main Repeater, on the same LAN, and expand the number of Aux Repeaters to 8 (page 5 of the Main & Aux Repeater spec guide).

Certainly, many options for large LAN wireless coverage, if needed.

[sbsmarthomes]

Hi neurorad, The training was for L2 certification so you're correct, I can add another Main & up to 4 more Aux. The project is moving forward and I'll be on-site later this week doing some testing. It sounds like lighting control will likely also be added into the main residence in the future, so I'll need to save some repeaters for coverage inside as well.

[randyc]

I've been able to reliably get 300+ feet. A lot depends on the number and type of walls the signal has to go through.

You can also use the wired link. The spec says 1000-feet. It's not clear if that is per run or total.

[hanshi]

It is 1000ft between Repeaters max and a 2000ft run max.

[sbsmarthomes]

I did some testing at this property with a Main & Aux repeater and had success communicating between all locations. All the landscaping is in and mature so trenching would be costly. There is an empty 1" conduit between two locations, but don't think it will be necessary to wire. I believe the wired distance limitation on Ra2 is 2000ft total.

The project is moving forward and my electrician got started yesterday with enclosures and contactors for the higher amp loads.

I'm feeling confident, but won't be 100% sure about operation until all the repeaters are in place and inside their enclosures. Should have the project wrapped un on April 18th.

[sbsmarthomes]

This project is starting to come together. Had two electricians on-site for 3 days making up all the switching and relays.

Right now there are 2 Main Repeaters located in the house and 4 Aux Repeaters located in PVC enclosures around the property near the switch locations. By using the relays to combine lighting loads into zones, only 11 switches are used for 38 lighting loads that total over 35,000 watts of landscape lighting.

My biggest issue so far has been troubleshooting some network issues that were keeping the Main Repeaters from communicating. I could ping both IPs, but found a small Netgear switch that was between them that was causing the problem (maybe not passing multicast?).

This was first phase on this property controlling only the landscape lighting. Additional phases may include all exterior lighting and control of all the water features.

[neurorad]

Thanks for the closure, Paul, and glad it worked out well. That's a lot of Watts.

[schalliol]

I don't want to hijack this thread, but I do wonder whether you've been using many lighting controls in the extensive outdoor environment. For example, if someone is on the back patio or on the tennis court and wants to make an adjustment, do they have to go to an enclosed building? Thanks!