Setting up a camera / repeater node

Testing signal strength

The first thing you’ll want to do when you’ve found a place you’d like to install a camera is to make sure the signal is adequate. Open up the camera (or connect to the camera using the mobile App if it’s a newer model) and click the Next button a few times until you get to the screen that says “Signal to [node that it’s pinging to] - measuring…”. Wait a moment, and it should display the strength of the signal in decibels. The higher the value the better (note - decibels are negative values, so -50dBi is a stronger signal than -60dBi. Decibles are also lograithmic, not linear).

You may also see “No response!” displayed intermittently. We believe this is due to radio interference, and some amount of “No response!” warnings (i.e., <25% of the time) seems to be acceptable.

Improving the signal strength / antenna selection

We recommend first testing the signal strength with the small, 8” stock antenna. They seem to be more than adequate in most situations. However, these radios need near perfect line-of-sight to whichever node they’re sending data to, and while in our testing and experience they can transmit through a decent amount of tree canopy/foliage, but they can not transmit through or around large land masses. Because of this, it may be advantageous to use a larger, detached antenna (connected to the camera via antenna cable) to get it elevated or around objects that are blocking line-of-sight. Any gains you get in signal from larger antennas may be partially or entirely negated by having to travel the length of antenna cable, so the actual decibel improvement may be small when upgrading to a larger antenna. Their real purpose is to allow for more flexible positioning.

Changing what parent node the camera is routed to

To change the route of the node (select a new parent node to ping to), click Next until you get to the screen that says “Routed to [parent node]”, click Change, wait for it to perform its search, and then select the node you’d like to reroute to. This may be slightly different if you’re changing the routing of a bluetooth X80 via the mobile app.

Buckeye-specific hardware assembly recommendations

There are a few non-intuitive aspects of assembling Buckeye hardware. They include:

• Use self-tapping screws to connect solar panels to the solar panel mounting arm. The Buckeye solar panels and mounting arms come with a small bag of various machine screws, washers, and pieces hardware, but of them you only need the self-tapping screws (pictured below).

Self-tapping screws for Buckeye solar panels

• Pad batteries with cardboard to prevent jostling. The 12v batteries don't fit perfectly snugly in the Buckeye battery housing, so we recommend making cardboard wedges and spacers to make it more secure and prevent the batteries from moving around within he housing:

Folding corrugated cardboard into a spring-like shape and placing it between the battery and the lid of the housing will help keep it secure

Follow hardware deployment best practices

All other best practices are applicable. Click the link below for guidance on positioning solar panels, mounting hardware, wire managment, etc.:

Hardware deployment best practices