Introduction

DART 300 Modem

3.3. Set-up Considerations

The section covers the requirements for a simple test bench installation of the modem. For full details of the physical installation of the DART 300 consult Section 10.

3.3.1.Power Supply

The DART 300 package does not include a power supply in the box, as most installations have 12V DC power available at the site. For this initial testing a 12.0V DC regulated power source with a 1 amp capability is required. The unit comes with a power connector cable with bare wire leads for connection to a DC power supply.

An AC power adapter, using the DART 300 power connector, is available as an accessory from Sierra Wireless (part 6000082).

If you chose to provide your own cable, a description of the DART 300 power connector is provided in Section 10.4. Part numbers are provided for those wishing to assemble custom power supply cables.

3.3.2.Antenna

There is no antenna supplied with the modem as shipped from Sierra Wireless. The antenna you choose to use should meet your particular installation requirements. Consult Section 10.1 for details on the antenna requirements. A 3dB gain magnetic-mount cellular antenna, available from most electronic stores, is suitable for bench testing activity.

An antenna with a hard mount and TNC connector is available as an accessory from Sierra Wireless (part 6000065).

3.3.3.Serial Cable

A standard RS-232 serial cable with 9-pin male D connector is required (not provided in the DART package) for connecting the PC host to the DART 300 modem. A suitable cable is available from Sierra Wireless (part number 6000048) if needed.

3.3.4.Host Computer Terminal

You will require a PC with a communications program capable of operating in ASCII terminal emulation mode. This allows the PC to function as a terminal attached to the modem and permits the entering of AT commands required for modem set-up and diagnostics. We recommend that the program chosen be capable of logging terminal communications activity to a file for later analysis or printout in the event that technical support is required.

For IBM PC-compatibles, Windows Terminal, HyperTerminal, ProComm, and Kermit are all acceptable. If you intend to use SLIP or PPP mode, note that early versions of HyperTerminal do not allow you to send SLIP framing characters to the modem, preventing use of the escape sequence. This was corrected in later versions.

Communication between the host (DTE) and the Sierra Wireless DART 300 modem is factory defaulted to:

bps:

19200

Data Bits:

8

Parity:

None

Stop Bits:

1

Any application being used to communicate with the modem and issue AT commands must be configured this way initially. Auto-baud is not supported in the DART 300.

Flow control is implemented in hardware (RTS / CTS) and is not optional.

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Sierra Wireless DART 300 manual Set-up Considerations, Power Supply, Antenna, Serial Cable, Host Computer Terminal