The higher the antenna placement, the lower the dBi you should go for if you live in the city. Cable losses vary by cable, which is why most people use a low loss cable like LMR400. The first is the DIY method, where you buy the cable in bulk and then crimp or solder the ends yourself. We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website. Nik, you are a great help to the community, much appreciated. Ive found one common theme between all of them; 9 out of 10 of the miners Ive audited had poorly placed antennas. You can think of this as how a flashlight can concentrate a beam of light. Doing exactly what a ham operator does may give you the results they want, not what you want. Once your port forwarding has been set up the status onhttps://explorer.helium.comwill not update immediately, it may take up to 24 hours or more for the network to work out your hotspot no longer requires relaying. Dont worry so much about the right antenna. My first thought is overkill and signal loose out of the gate. View all posts by Hans. Once the size is calculated, we apply a 5000x multiplier. the building is located around a circle place with other buildings around the circle and some trees Option 2:You want to utilize a lightning arrestor between your antenna and your Miner if you have any concerns about lightning striking your antenna (a strike will definitely destroy your Miner). Relax. I partly blame Helium for this, they could do a better job educating people on the benefits of proper antenna placement. Still, you can see why in *most* cases, you want a low or medium gain antenna up high. LoRa can easily do a mile. We are part of the fastest-growing private network in the world. Even though a hotspot may seem very close to you, if theres a hill between the two of you, you probably wont witness each other. You can buy full helium miner installation kits that save all the guesswork from the Linxdot store ( Discount code notsealed3 ) this includes high gain antennas, mounts, cables, and lightning protection devices. We've had a lot of discussion about which antennas are best to upgrade your Hotspot for increased range and even support outdoor setups. Theyll all work well. A deeper dive into understanding how RF works. And in my experience, the majority of Helium Miners out there are not doing it right. Many people place the HNT miner within 1-10m of their antenna. Antenna Installation Tips. Many people are starting to deploy and make their own solar-powered off-grid helium miners. Topography refers to the buildings, earth, and water that surround, channel, and block your radio signals (propagation.) Now these signals are not the best in reliability, but they can be a huge help to reach HotSpots that are not in direct line-of-sight. The best place for an antenna is up high, the best place for the miner is usually somewhere in a temp range humans can tolerate. I live in Gillingham dorset in UK at altitude 70m.there are a few hotspots in my town but they all seem to be inactive. In the case of this specific miner, they are missing out on lots of potential revenue. The mistake is people think a high gain antenna means more power. Generally speaking, the more narrowly tuned, the better performance at that spectrum, but that can also vary based on antenna design. VHF No Ground Plane (NGP) | 132 to 174 MHz, RFID Antenna Cable (Comparable to LMR195 & LMR240), For Dell Latitude Gamber Johnson Stations, For Panasonic Toughbook Gamber Johnson Stations, Build Your Own Cable Assembly (195, 240, 400 Type Low Loss Cable), RFMAX Brand Bulk Coaxial Cables (Comparable specs to LMR195, LMR240 & LMR400), Browse All Cables, Connectors, and Adapters, The Best Antennas for Cellular 4G/5G Networks, How a GMRS and a Coil Antenna Could've Prevented the Death of the California Mushroom Hunter, Why the Yagi Antenna 900MHz is a Pioneer in the Antenna Industry, The Long-Term Reliability of Our Brick Style Antennas, The 5G Revolution and Our Advanced Antenna Technology. You are a master at this and a fantastic member of the community. Specializing in low power usage. Sensecap M1 with 5.4db antenna placed on the second floor in my house next to the window currently getting around 3$ worth of HNT, If I buy a higher DB antenna my earning would increase? My latest money-making project is connecting up to the Helium Network to provide a hotspot for the IoT devices in my local area. The most commonly used cables are RG-58 and the LMR variants. Hi Hangman, yes, 15 dBi is overkill. The Linxdot Hotspot comes with a high gain antenna, allowing your hotspot to cover much further distances. Antenna: RFMAX | ROSA-900-SNF, Cables: 5 LMR240, Interesting Pearl Starling Elevation: 35 above ground, Area: North Shore, MA. Depending on who you listen to, LoRa doesnt go through much more than 60 meters of dense forest. To the south, the signals are blocked or attenuated by interior and exterior walls, but apparently there is a small window or opening where those weakened signals are escaping, then going pretty far over the water. 4.4 out of 5 stars 56 ratings | 6 answered questions . It's not necessary to update the antenna within the app but you may. whats the best one ? If you would like to learn more about antennas check out this post on. There have been some whispers on Discord and other social media that the need for a good antenna is not required. I want to get Senscap M1 with antenna but I dont know which antenna shoud i get Jumpy Iron Ferret Elevation: 34th story, Area: Chicago, IL. Metered per 24 bytes. Hi. Currently, What happens if you dont update your aftermarket antenna specs on the Helium app? But most are over 7 miles (11km) away from me. Lets take a short detour into dBm and power. As long as the Helium wallet being used I find that my Bobcap and Sensecap seem to sync faster to the network when running on ethernet. The concept of Fresnel zones and diffraction in radio wave communication is one of the fundamental drivers of the RF is weird refrain youll hear whenever you see a pattern that doesnt immediately make sense. The Best Antennas for Cellular 4G/5G Networks Yes, you can but it will 1/2 the rewards you receive. Oh, 200 km with clear line of sight is not unheard of, and thats for a 3 dBi antenna. Have you found them to be a generally good company? Cables: 4 LMR400, Scrawny Eggplant Panda Elevation: 35 Area: Lakewood, OH Antenna 4 dBi Multipole Cables: N/A, Ancient Cider Grasshopper Elevation: 40 Area: Kansas City, MO Antenna: RAK Wireless 8 dBi Cables: 30 LMR400, Oblong Slate Platypus Elevation: 400 Area: New York City, NY Antenna: Proxicast 10 dBi Cables: LMR400, Ripe Banana Goblin Elevation: 2nd floor window Area: Vancouver, BC Antenna: Stock 3 dBi Cables: N/A, Trendy Rainbow Lizard Elevation: 1st floor window Area: Vancouver, BC Antenna: Stock 3 dBi Cables: N/A, Striped Pewter Osprey Elevation: 20 Area: Los Angeles, CA Antenna: RAk 5.8 Cables: LMR400. Choose cable type PT240 for lengths up to 55 feet, choose cable type PT400 for lengths over 55 feet. coco October 7, 2019, 6:31pm #1. When sizing your cable, the rule of thumb is a total loss no greater than 3db, although the smaller the better. By supplying these additional details, the Helium Network can better understand Hotspot placement and antenna upgrades. Hi Georgi, citywide elevation has very little to do with what antenna you should use. The higher you can get your antenna the better. Medium Range 915 MHz antenna for LongFi RAH Hotspot Miner, 24 tall. Beyond 9 the pattern generally gets too precise to provide the Wide coverage (the W in WUPU) that we want. In search of HNT, there are many things HotSpot owners can do to maximize their earning potential. Making sure the location of the HotSpot is an adequate distance away from any other miner. Please can you recommend the suitable antenna models for this hotspot to improve coverage and earnings. Oftentimes, these folks are earning a meager 8HNT a month, significantly less than other better-equipped miners. Heliums Dirty Secret POC Hacking Explained, Deciding the Fate of HNT Rewards: Heliums Economics and the Competing HIP-80 and HIP-81 Proposals, SeeedStudios SenseCAP M1: Unboxing and Review, Visualize Your Helium Miners Wireless Coverage With This Free Tool, Do You Own a Helium Miner? the complete transaction is made up of the following: The Helium blockchain uses something called implicit burn when paying fees. Disclaimer: RF geeks, Ima get loose with terms here. It comes with the ability to mine HNT for providing LoRa coverage, and is also expandable with plug-and-play support for Powered by FreedomFi certified Helium 5G CBRS Small Cells to mine MOBILE for providing cellular coverage and data for the Helium 5G network.. We know you are excited, but please follow the setup steps . Its Line of Sight that is the secret here. I expect this number to go up as more helium miners come online and more IoT devices use the network. on How to Choose an Antenna for Your Helium Hotspot? Some of the signals bounce off to the side, proving that RF is weird.. This is not ideal if you have hotspots all around. However, radio waves travel even when there is no line-of-sight, through phenomena such as reflection and diffraction of waves. Views described here shall NOT be taken as investment advice and is for informational purposes only. Its actually pretty cheap. By deploying a simple mining LoRa device in your home or office, you can provide your city or town with miles of low-power network coverage for billions of IoT devices. Ive spent a considerable amount of time trying to find a straight answer to this, but apologize if youve addressed it before. The elevation in my city is around 390 meters. Odds Are You Didnt Mount Your Antenna Correctly. My buddy says to purchase a signal booster which attaches to the Miner (Bobcat 300 in my case) to boost signal ex: FBP-915S. I have 2 questions. On the right, the antenna was mounted on the 4th floor of a high rise building mounted on the east side of the building. Still, most people dont live in the desert, and the flattest state in America has a ton of trees on it. https://explorer.helium.com/hotspots/11e9gtZYsxr1EE42SdipydLU6Ti3PJVXpdNRqAZv3W8XFRwBqgZ, I just want to know where to get the equipment your using. IoThotspots.NETWORK needs the contact information you provide to us to contact you about our products and services. 8 dBi for country with wide open spaces. Most start with their antenna, which is (almost completely) the wrong approach for maximizing earnings. You dont need Wifi to run a helium hotspot unless the location is too difficult to run an ethernet cable. Im going to anthropomorphize this a bit, but their only option is to communicate with DBP. Then once you pick a winner update the specs on the Helium app? While the directional antenna will have a longer range in that single direction, it is not ideal for a mining as you will be missing out on hotspots in other directions! Heres another I definitely didnt go to art school drawing to demonstrate the idea of runway and diffraction. There is one more thing to think about with Lines of Sight. It really is easy to set up and run once you know the basics. April 20, 2023, Why the Yagi Antenna 900MHz is a Pioneer in the Antenna Industry There are 2 options that we recommend for connecting your high gain external antenna to your 900 MHz Helium Miner: Option 1:You can connect the antenna directly to the Miner (that works fine if installing indoors, in covered area (like a balcony), or if the chance of lightning striking your antenna is minimal. Extension Connector Adapter SMA Cable SMA, Times Microwave N female to N female bulkhead Lightning Protector, Nebra takes over Syncrobit Hotspots & Solana Migration Updates, Connecting the Real World and the Digital World, Nebra Ltd providing updates for Controllino/Conelcom Hotspots, MXC Network, Revolutionizing Consumer Data Consumption, embedded world Exhibition&Conference 14-16 March 2023, Nuremberg, Nebra providing updates for Pycom hotspots. As visible here, the location of the HotSpot relative to the other buildings makes the use of a 9dBi antenna not suitable, since the RF coverage goes over the rest of the building. Im a Mechanical Engineer who has a passion for HAM radio, electronics, and cryptocurrencies. That'll probably get you 80% of the results you could get with far more effort and expertise. The cable must be 50ohm rated. This is where we start to get serious about getting our Lora 915mhz signal out as far as we can. Once you split your cable and splice it into two antennas you will halve your signal dBi. Solved LED Turn Signal Not Flashing Problem & Hyper Blinking. During my time doing the auditing, Ive been driving around the areas of coverage of the miner. Dont bother with Yagi antennas. Ok, lets start with broad strokes: The antenna you choose for your hotspot placement should match your topography, your elevation, and your lines of sight. Two key things that determine the earning potential. Indoor setup. Youll want a short cable to go from the Miner to the lightning arrestor (like 5-15 feet) Choose cable type PT240, and the appropriate cable length for your installation. FYI stay away from cheap Amazon sellers, my testing has indicated that many of them are dishonest. If you give those radio waves some room to spread out, they can get around obstacles. Should I consider this booster add-on or chalk it up as BS? Placing the miner near a window in the 2nd story or in the attic space will be the best position for this setup. Antennas dont really matter. They often ask whether having a antenna is worth the loss associated with having a longer cable. Almost always better to get the antenna outside & up high if possible. This will preserve the signal loss both in receiving and transmitting. You can then reach out to 2-6 miles away in low-density suburban areas. You should be able to do it in the Nebra app. So thats a quick summation of the steps, I know some of you on the message boards here may think that Im beating a dead horse here, but its shocking to see so many people leave money on the table from poor antenna placement. But location plays a big influence on the antenna of choice. Go to the cable configuration tool at:https://www.arcantenna.com/collections/cable-builder. If youd like to learn more about HeliumVision (I use it in every one of my consults) Ive built a Master Class on it, over here. Read that again and youll have an advantage over everyone who doesnt get that concept. That means that unless you aim your antenna very carefully, you can blast all that power into places that have no hotspots. hope you can help. So if you really want the extra HNT, mount your antenna using proper procedures. LoRa Outdoor Antenna Placement Range and dBi Explained. How to Update Your Antenna in the Helium App! No highlighting means there is no coverage in the area. BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) The flatter your topography AND the more trees/vegetation you have blocking your Line of Sight to other hotspots, the higher gain antenna you can use, up to 9 dbi. Check out portforward.com to see how to do this. For this, we need an external pole-mounted helium miner in an external weatherproof case. make their own solar-powered off-grid helium miners, 4 Ultimate Homemade TV Antenna Plans Easy DIY, DIY Solar Off Grid Helium Miner Wiring Diagram, Plans & Parts List. hi. Should you use Wifi or Ethernet for the helium miner? The Helium frequency operates in the 900mhz or in HAM speak the 33cm band. I average around 0.4 to 0.6 HNT a day or around $14 with the current price of HNT. My total cost to set all of this up was around $900 USD. So the take away is more powerful doesnt always mean the best in RF world; Its all about how to provide the best coverage in the terrain you are in. Simply just power off the miner, unplug the stock antenna and set up your new antenna however you prefer. You will lose power in cable run and connection points but this loss in power will not affect the beam angle. Im talking 15 miles plus. Forests are RF sinks. Bad luck if your next-door neighbor sets one up as well. Ive noticed that there are a lot of new folks joining the Helium Network and I think thats awesome!! Here is a step by step method for understanding how to choose the best antenna for your hotspot placement. You can go to thislink hereand check by your country to make sure which frequency is compatible. Set the "TX / RX Gain" to "2.6 dBi". Antenna: RAK 5.8 dbi, Cables: RAK pigtail interface converter bundled with antenna. 27dBm + 6dBi = 33dBm in the direction of antenna gain. Location is far more important than antenna (or elevation, for that matter). Most homes are built to keep energy from escaping with concrete, UV blocking windows, and insulation all very bad for radio waves. So in one way, it is helping expand the network. How To Set Up Your Helium Miner With Your Smartphone. For information on how to unsubscribe, as well as our privacy practices and commitment to protecting your privacy, please review our Privacy Policy. regards. I just need to tie back the cables now. Visit the RAIGEN Store. Hi Georgi, I think youd be fine with a McGill 6 or maybe higher. But keep in mind that the longer the cable you use, the more dBi loss. It is recommended to install helium miners at least 300m away from each other for maximum rewards. I mean it is the MOST IMPORTANT FACTORE. Required for Optionally asserting a Data Only Hotspot's Location, We then apply our 5000x multiplier, and the result is a transaction fee, After the transaction is submitted and processed, your resulting Helium Wallet balance will be. Odds Are You Didnt Mount Your Antenna Correctly. For example, this particular antenna has an N FEMALE connector, which means that you will need an N MALE connector on one end of your cable. They have a long history in the HAM radio world and have a proven track record. As you can see from a topographic map of Portland Vancouver the elevation can go from 2m all the way up to over 3000m. Add the gain (dBi) from your antenna and subtract the losses from any connections to figure out your Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP). Antenna (N-Type Male): https://rakwireless.kckb.st/crayban-zmxLightning Arrestor (N-Type Female to N-Type Female): https://amzn.to/3iaxAS9https://amzn.to/35Sjm2rLMR 400 Cable - (N Male, RP-SMA Male): https://amzn.to/3h5O51lGrounding wire: https://amzn.to/3A0jI4YGrounding Rod: https://amzn.to/3BoKNPkPole Base: https://amzn.to/3jfs5UrFlag Pole (ground installation): https://amzn.to/3y0ey6QClamp to attach antenna to a pole : https://amzn.to/3z798bwRoof mount (If base and pole not required): https://amzn.to/3b7qQRZhttps://amzn.to/3jzKMl4..Extras if installing the Bobcat in an Enclosure:Bobcat Miner Enclosure: https://rakwireless.kckb.st/craybanPOE Injector: https://amzn.to/3gSMLjoPOE Splitter: https://amzn.to/3h4ca8F..How to Calculate DBI and EIRPhttps://kyk13.com/helium-101-cable-loss-and-eirp..Recommended Crypto Wallets: Crypto.com : https://crypto.com/app/r5eaf9xh7hBinance App: https://accounts.binance.com/en/register?ref=TQRE6TVJBinance US: https://accounts.binance.us/en/register?ref=53661419Coinbase: https://www.coinbase.com/join/rabban_mc..Timestamps:00:00 Intro00:27 Antenna port connectors00:40 Understand your Miner00:55 What cable do you require?01:38 What is a Lightning Arrestor02:01 What DBI Antenna do you require?02:40 Purpose of a grounding wire03:02 The base 03:18 The pole 03:33 Tow ropes 03:40 Final Setup I really feel that it would improve my earnings as currently, I have it set up inside next to a window. Remember, topography isnt just hills and mountains, it includes buildings, trees, and other obstacles. This provides dangerous static build-up to safely discharge to the ground. . But it is the cheapest way to get started and you can always upgrade later on to an external antenna. If you have to go more than 40, use LMR600 if youre feeling extravagant. I created this blog to promote and educate people on the advantages of crypto-backed communications networks. Setting up a helium miner to be part of the people's network is an exciting time. Put it outdoors at least 10 above all the buildings around you. short of the 35000 required for a send transaction. If you decide to go with a thicker cable than LMR-240, it may be prudent to get the flexible type, these cables can be very stiff the thicker they are. supply the required Data Credits, the transaction will fail after being submitted to the blockchain In the back of the building it is enclosed space with other buildings Also a review of new suppliers who have applied with Helium or MatchX and new information on light hotspot pricing! i live 7 miles and have a 50 feet or so placement what dbi antenna should i get im so confused. Please comment any questions and share if you found this useful. Each has its pros and cons and we will go over which may be better for your application further down in this article. Remember, DB is not a linear value, its logarithmic so an increase of 3db doubles its power. https://crayban.com/products/helium-mining-e-book-1..Antenna setup - Based on elevating it at 25ft(7.62m) high. This is just in case the antenna gets hit with lightning and deals with static buildup. The standard antennas that come with a Miner have a strength of between 2-4 dBi. How to charge 24-volt system trolling motor batteries fast & easy, How to Patch a Vinyl Inflatable Towable Tube Fast, Solved Roomba i7 Not Charging Fix & Other Tricks Easy. A low gain antenna may be all you need to cover these areas. Put it outdoors at least 10 above all the buildings around you. Do NOT, by the way, try to get the giant antenna in the picture below. What a lightning arrestor will do is protect your device from the static build up that happen during storms. But best practice is to do it yourself with TCP to 44148. In fact for every wall RF has to penetrate, its energy can be reduced by up to half or more if its concrete. Lets start with topography. 900 MHz frequency needs some runway, ideally 50/15m to fan out enough to diffract around obstacles. Valk ladies electric bike review. According to a study done in 2012 on a wide swath of building materials and focusing on the GSM 900 MHz band, a reinforced concrete wall that is 20cm / ~8 thick will attenuate the signal by 27 dB. Building materials like drywall, concrete, and wood will significantly impact signal strength. Fee paid by device owner when sending or receiving sensor data. My Sensecap miner averages around 1GB a day or 30GB a month. Rockon! Antenna Upgrades (Better Range) Hotspot. You can purchase a good cable for about 40 dollars shipped. The second cable will go from the lightning arrestor to the antenna. Most people go with the LMR400 cable or above as it has excellent shielding properties and low cable dBi loss. I chose "other" but it would not let me change dbi. How to Increase Helium Witnesses and Earnings Fast on your Hotspot. You should only clamp the antenna to the top of the pole using approved clamps. But I have seen 3dBi in a dense city environment. UPDATE: HeliumVision now reports this for all hotspot owners who have entered this on Helium app. Wireless signals travel farther the higher it is transmitted because there is simply less things that get in the way the higher up you go. Cables: RAK pigtail cable, Sticky Pear Dolphin Elevation: 311 above ground (mountain). Transactions in the Helium blockchain are atomic. Linxdot is designed & built by a team of experienced engineers and IOT experts who specialise in electronics product design and manufacturing. Hi! or a 4dBi(Bobcat) antenna, and is good enough for most miners that are in well populated areas with lot of miners around. Hey Nick, quick question. The bobcat miners installed list a 1.2 DBi antennae in the app instead of the 4 dBi that ships with Bobcats. Step 5: Move the front panel and put it aside. Water allows radio signals to travel much further than normal; look at any hotspot next to a body of water and youll see it will connect with other hotspots at much further ranges across the water than it will across land. Docile Bone Pony Elevation: 16 stories, Area: Greater Boston, MA. Click on the "gear" icon. One of the most important factors in choosing your Helium Miner Antenna is the gain. The diagram below depicts how to set up your antenna, cables, and miner. Hi Nik- I bought the Peoples Antenna based off your recommendation above. (typically) don't need to manually supply DCs to pay fees. The second way is to go to a custom cable shop and just order the exact cable required. Thats incorrect. Pretty normal. Run 40 or less of LMR400 cable to it from your hotspot. You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings. A stock antenna will beat an expensive brand name antenna if the stock antenna is placed outside and high up in the sky. The gain of an antenna is measured in dBi and is directly affected by the antenna's height. This is optimum forRuraland flat/level areas. High-Tech Antennas for Trail Cameras like Cuddeback, Spypoint Cellular, and More!! Figure 1 highlights the difference between poor antenna placement vs good antenna placement. This is yet another reason not to set up inside. Sometimes you just have to think outside the box on how to mount an HNT antenna on your house. Your email address will not be published. The concept is simple. The best way to do this is to increase the coverage of already deployed miners, so in a way, these tips end up helping all of us. The Helium network is the fastest growing decentralized LoRa network in the world. You will also need power over the Ethernet POE injector with a cat6 ethernet cable run to the pole. As noted above, the DC cost of a Send transaction is variable. Order your Bobcat 300 minerhttps://shop.bobcatminer.com/products/bobcat-miner-300/?ref=xO-Nuzdb2VFMH+40 Page Helium Mining Ebook. Coverage providers for the Helium Network are known as "miners". However, this is where a lot of people get confused. Refer to Option 1 above if you are not using an arrestor and Option 2 if you are. As a rule how long would you run each gain option as a test to have an appropriate data sources to pick a winner? More over here. The Linxdot Hotspot runs on a quad core 1.8GHz CPU. 3dBi, 5.8dBi, and 8dBi. Any part of the external antenna that is in the shade of another object will cause signal loss. Im sorry rural Florida, youve just got a tough row to hoe on that one. Above is a chart that quantifies DB loss over a particular type of cable. Ive closed submissions on this page. If that plane is super flat, itll fly right over the tops of all those hotspots you want to hit. LMR-400, should be the default standard. Longest Range 915 MHz antenna for LongFi RAH Hotspot Miner, 61 tall. FREE Returns . Remember that $39 paper I quoted earlier regarding how much RF energy a given building material would absorb? Attenuation can happen with earth, buildings, forests, and even window coatings. Similar concept is used here by the RF antennas. The following is a list of the current set of fees required for various transactions, along with Also, find a better placement location. Its an example of the incredible earning potential that exists when providing asymmetric value to the network. Other apps like Hotspotty connect may also work. No antenna will blast through hills. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time. More and more people have been looking for antennas for 915 MHz LongFi Hotspot/Helium crypto Miners from Bobcat, Cal Chip, Nebra, RAK, and Kerlink, as well as others. The fanciest, coolest, most high tech antenna in the world wont get you much if youre in a crappy location down low. Will it affect the performance on the antenna if the info is not updated correctly to reflect proper DBis? But if you are just putting it on the roof of your house you may not have much option on where the antenna goes. Light Hotspots should make this a thing of the past. Cities in general do not have a flat topography, even if theyre built on flat land. One important thing with outdoor antennas: Lightning arrestors would that matter around hills?so can 6.5dbi reach higher over the hill then 8.5dbi?Am i understanding right? This placement increased the range about 2.5 times greater than the installation on the left. If you are surrounded by helium miners but have more than 2 miners in your hex your returns may be less. The antenna was located indoors on the first floor. Its the specific elevation at the point of install, and how much clear line of sight (to other Hotspots) that gives you.