You may certainly switch the batteries, or order lithium batteries from Tehama. However you will not see any significantly longer life, perhaps 5% at most. Lithium batteries ARE recommended if the MDT will experience sub-freezing temperatures or daily temperature swings in excess of 30º F.

The MDT assumes a dry contact connection for the pulse input. The Pulse input is tied high to the battery voltage (nominally 3.0V) through a high impedance pull-up resistor. Closing the dry contact switch at the meter drives the pulse input low which generates a count. The meter switch must be closed for more that 25 mS to pass the MDT’s de-bounce logic.

Generated pulse meters (Badger RTR, Zenner, Hersey) also work with our MDT, however some of these meters generate a pulse shorter than 25mS (older Hersey, newer Zenner). Those meters require our “Hersey” MDT that does not implement the de-bounce logic.

The input signal from generated pulse meters should not exceed 4.5V. A generated pulse meter with a voltage value higher than this could damage the MDT (for example some Carlon water meters).

No. Hersey MDTs are Generated Pulse type meters, as are Badger Recordall and Zenner meters for example. If the Hersey MDT is connected to a reed switch meter, there is a very high potential the MDT will over-count due to the mechanical “bounce” of the reed switch.

Yes, this information IS read by the Encoder MDT. Since it is static data, it is only sent once a day. Therefore it could take up to 24 hours for you to see the serial number in the CIT or your daily reports.

The DCAP uses about 2 kWh per month or roughly 24kWh per year. This applies to all the various DCAP sizes.

The Repeater consumes under 5 kWh per year.

30-50 MB if just generating 1 report / day

100 MB if monitoring and using the CIT more than a few times a month

On our older DCAPs with the external antenna, this can happen for a minute or two after power-up as the DCAP performs a self-check. This check is much faster on our diversity DCAPs.

If the flashing is persistent beyond a few minutes, a power cycle might resolve it. If that doesn’t work, contact Tehama.

Our TFA DCAP is a hybrid system that contains a full Tehama system and adds a serial interface to connect to an Inovonics FA receiver. Thus the DCAP is able to receive data from both Tehama MDTs and Inovonics PMTs. The TFA DCAP is managing two totally separate systems: MDTs can't talk to Inovonics repeaters, and PMTs can't talk to Tehama Repeaters. However the data is collected from both and presented as a single set of data in the CIT and the daily reports.

There is no minimum speed required for the DCAP to operate and the quantity of data is very low, on the order of 2MBytes per day.

Please Inquire using the Contact button at the upper right

In most cases Windows will automatically download and install the drivers required for our configuration cable. If this does not happen, you can get drivers here: https://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm

For CIT to communicate with the DCAP:
Connection to *.tehamawireless.net on port 1717:

For email: outgoing SNMP connection to the following URLs on port 587:
email-smtp.us-east-1.amazonaws.com
smtp.mailgun.org

For cloud data:
api-v3.tehamawireless.net on HTTPS port 443

In a working site, active alerts should always say false. The CIT will indicate an active alert when it detects one, such as low battery voltage, repeater unplugged, leak detection, etc.

Our leak detection alert is designed to monitor for “Continuous Flow” leaks, e.g. something like a leaky toilet or faucet that will trigger some usage every hour for a 24 hour period. You can configure this time period to any value you wish, however 24 hours is the default.

This alert is NOT intended to catch a busted pipe. For that we have a “Standing Water” sensor that generates an alert immediately when the sensor cable is immersed in water.

There are two primary messages sent by MDTs and RPTRs: Log and Link messages.

Log messages contain the meter reads data and are transmitted every hour, unless you have a ToU MDT in which case Log messages are sent every 15 minutes, synchronized to the top of the hour.

Link messages contain network statistics such as Link Quality, RSSI, Link Partner, etc. These messages are typically sent every six hours for MDTs and every two hours for Repeaters.

The Time Stamps of these two message types are unlikely to be the same. Generally the Log message last timestamp is the most important.

The Node ID is a free-form text field where you can enter any info you like. Many of our customers generate a unique Property ID, and then an MDT ID that could encode the building and apartment number. By combining these into a Node ID, they create a system-wide unique ID for their many thousands of MDTs across the country.

The solar repeater battery has some temperature limitations and the unit is designed to prevent any damage at the temperatures extremes.

The repeater can operate from battery power between -4º F to 140º F (-20º C to +60º C). If the temperature is outside of this operation range AND the solar voltage is too low (night time) then the unit is put in a sleep mode.

Regardless of temperature, the solar repeater will operate when there is enough sunlight on the panel. If the temperature is within the charging temperature range, energy from the solar panel will first power the repeater, and any excess solar energy will charge the battery.

Continuous operation over 122º F (50º C) could lead to a reduced battery life. It is highly recommended the system is setup such that the solar panel protects the Repeater and battery box from direct sunlight.

Under normal conditions, a fully charged battery will last over seven days with zero sunlight (i.e. with a snow covered panel).

It takes only 4 hours of direct sun to fully charge a fully depleted battery

During a 100% overcast day, the panel will provide more than enough energy to the batteries to power the repeater through the night.

Check the Power LED. If it is off then check the DCAP power.

If the Power LED is on (green), then issues can range from an unplugged or faulty Ethernet cable, a change in Internet settings or service provider, new networking equipment, or loss of power to a switch that the DCAP is connected to.

Where the Ethernet cable plugs in, there are green/yellow lights; if those are off there is a physical connection problem within the Ethernet LAN (cable unplugged, switch unpowered). If those connector lights are OK, then check the Status LED on the front of the DCAP. If it is orange/red, then that indicates there is likely been a change in the property's internet configuration. If the Status LED is Green, then our older DCAPs may need to be power cycled. Unplug the power for 20 seconds until the Power LED goes out, then re-power. If the Status LED is off completely, then the DCAP is defective and we can issue an RMA to replace it should it still be under warranty.

Our policy is to require a take-over form, signed by the property management or owner before we can transfer control. You can download the transfer form here.