Installation
RockBLOCK 9704
Before you commence installation of RockBLOCK 9704 please ensure that you have considered the following items.
- You have read and fully understood the provided instruction material
- You have a physical installation plan for the Device and Antenna
- With the appropriate connections to power and any equipment that you wish to connect to the device
- Ensuring that the available antenna cable length is properly considered
- You have all the required additional equipment needed. Including:
- An appropriate power supply unit
- For RockBLOCK 9704-SMA - A SMA male 50 Ohm RF terminator if the device is to be used in testing without a connected antenna
- An appropriate antenna mounting solution
Power Connection Options
Please refer to the hardware page for connection options.
Ensure your power supply is able to meet the limits quoted in the specification page.
Iridium certification requires that if the RockBLOCK 9704 is to be powered from an external battery source, the supplied power to the transceiver will fall within the specified range(s) to the Iridium transceiver's power input. The on-board super capacitors in RockBLOCK 9704 will provide the transceiver peak demands so the external battery source only needs to provide the maximum specified power without falling outside the 3.6 to 4.5V voltage range.
Mounting RockBLOCK 9704
RockBLOCK 9704 is intended only for OEM applications. It does not provide any environmental protection so should always be mounted within an enclosure designed to keep the device within it's environmental limits.
RockBLOCK 9704 should be mechanically fastened using the mounting holes provided in the PCBA (9704-ANT) or the mounting box accessory (9704-SMA).
Antenna options (9704-SMA)
The Iridium certification for the 9704-SMA version will only cover the use of our part ACC-HELANT-9704 together with a MMCX to SMA socket cable that introduces a maximum loss of 0.5dB over the 1616MHz - 1626.5MHz frequency range.
Note that in order to comply with the Iridium certification the antenna must be mounted at least 1 metre above the ground or at least 1 metre above any metallic surface that could act as a ground plane. ALSO: There should be no additional co-located transmitters within the same housing as the RB 9704.
If the 9704-SMA device is being used prior to installation it is recommended that a 50 Ohm RF terminator is attached to the Iridium antenna connector prior to the device being powered up