Micrel's MICRF505 based design

micrf505

Hi,

Has anyone here worked on Micrel RF Chip MICRF505. Please let me know i am facing some problems in my design.

Thanks in Advance.

micrel micrf505

What types of problems?

Can you describe your question in detail?

well.. the first problem faced in my design is that i am not able to get a good range (only about 150-200 meters in line of sight) even when i am using just a one directional communication. I checked the transmitted power level and it is maximum. And with building in between it is only 60 meters.

the second thing is dont know how can i check the rec. signal strength. I know there is a dedicatd pin for that on the chip available but i am somehow not able to calibrate it.

and the third big prob is that i am not able to setup a very reliable bi-directional communication where as for the one way comm. the part is quite stable.

As for the design part, i have used the same schematic as given in the MICRF505 datasheet.

So, what i want now is that what is the best possible way to increase the range.. and to have a bidirectional communication.

Thanks.

200 meters at 10 mW--you are not happy with that?

Assuming that the two boards comminicate fine at close distances (like 20 meters), you will want to tweak up the boards as good as they can be to go a little farther.

Do both boards put out the rated 10 dBm?
What is the exact frequency of both boards when they are transmitting to the nearest 100 Hz?
What did you program the FM deviation to be?
What did program the IF filter bandwidths to be?
How many mV of ripple is there on the DC power supply?
What is your modulation rate?
Are you Manchester encoding the data, or using some sort of randomizer?