Campbell Scientific’s RF500M brings a higher level of flexibility to RF communication with its wide compatibility and multi-role capability. This new modem is for PakBus® networks with UHF/VHF frequency band radios. It works with Midland radios (i.e., RF310, RF312, RF313), DataRadio radios, or any radio and modem combination that outputs a demodulated byte stream via RS-232.
The RF500M supports point-to-point and point-to-multipoint communications. It can serve as a field modem connected to a datalogger, as a stand-alone repeater not connected to a datalogger, or as a base-station modem connected to a computer. The RF500M is even compatible with other telemetry devices, including our phone modems, digital cellular modems, and Ethernet links, which allows the distance between the datalogger and PC to be extended.
The RF500M increases polling speeds and reduces overall current drain by using a time-division polling protocol that avoids all collisions within a network. The overall current drain can be further reduced by having the datalogger predefine the data tables that are collected. This also increases the network speed.
Another benefit of the RF500M is that its operating system and RF ID can be configured through software instead of hardware modifications.
