Testing and Setup

When you're using RF zones, each venue presents a unique challenge. Measure the amount of RF that travels between coordination areas to assess whether devices in each area might interfere with one another.

Test each of your spaces against each other one at a time using these steps:
  1. Position your transmitters and receivers as you'll have them during the event.
  2. Turn on one of your transmitters.
  3. Use the frequency plot tool to scan your environment.
  4. Note the peaks caused by each of your transmitters. The exact frequency isn't important, but the strength at which the RF peak comes through is. Suggested zone settings based on RF peaks:
    • Peak > -70 dBm: These areas are part of the same RF environment. Respect both channel-to-channel and intermod spacing (The blue and fuchsia boxes, both checked).
    • Peak < -70 dBm: Respect channel-to-channel spacing, but ignore intermod spacing (The blue and fuchsia boxes; only the blue is checked).
    • Peak < -85 dBm: These areas can be treated as separate RF environments (The blue and fuchsia boxes, neither checked). To consider zones entirely separate RF environments, transmitters from this zone should reach a receiver in another no higher than the noise floor. By default, WWB6® considers -85 dBm the noise floor, but you may wish to be more conservative if your environment allows.
Repeat these steps using a receiver in each coordination area.
Note:
When multiple RF zones are set to consider each others' intermod spacings, frequencies from one RF zone may roam into any of the others, but may not be in multiple other RF zones simultaneously. For example, if a technician has a mobile transmitter (RF Zone 1) and needs to be able to walk into two different rooms (RF Zones 2 and 3), understand that the transmitter is calculated to work in each of the RF zones individually, but not in both at once.

Adding, Removing, and Editing RF Zones

Zones are managed from the RF Zone Manager screen (Tools > Manage RF zones). Use the + and - buttons to add and remove zones, and double-click a zone to rename it.

Assigning Equipment to RF Zones

  1. From the Inventory tab, find the RF Zone column.
  2. Double-click the RF zone cell for your device.
  3. Choose an RF zone from the drop-down menu.

A device can’t be in multiple RF zones. This means that a receiver with multiple channels must all use channels within the same RF zone. Additionally, any linked transmitter and receiver pairs must be within the same RF zone.

Configuring Your RF Zones

Go to Tools > Manage RF zones > Configure. Each of your RF zones are listed across the top and down the side of the RF zone configuration table, and each cell represents the relationship between the row zone and the column zone.

Select or clear checkboxes to choose between the 3 zone settings:
  • Respect both channel-to-channel spacing and intermod spacing (The blue and fuchsia boxes, both checked)
  • Respect channel spacing, but ignore intermod spacing (The blue and fuchsia boxes; only the blue is checked)
  • Ignore both channel spacing and intermod spacing (The blue and fuchsia boxes, neither checked)

Saving Your RF Zones

To preserve your RF zone configurations, you must save them to a show file before turning off your equipment. Loading the show file will restore the RF zone assignments for your components if they go offline.

To save your show file, select File > Save and enter a name for your show file.