Radiometrix

Hartcran House, Gibbs Couch, Watford, WD19 5EZ, England

Issue 3, 13 April 2001 Tel: +44 (0) 20 8428 1220, Fax: +44 (0) 20 8428 SILRX-UHF

UHF Radio Telemetry Receiver Module

UK version: SILRX-418-5 / SILRX-418-10
Euro version: SILRX-433-5 / SILRX-433-10

The SILRX-418-5 and SILRX-433-5 integrate a

complete FM superhet UHF radio receiver on a
small module. Together with the matching TXM-
418-5 or TXM-433-5 transmitter a one-way radio
data link can be achieved over a distance upto 200
metres on open ground

left: TXM-418-5 transmitter right: SILRX-418-5 receiver

Typical features include:
• PCB mounting, space saving SIL style
• 418 MHz SAW controlled wide band FM reception
• Selective double conversion superhet
• Sensitive typ. 0.5µV (-113 dBm) for 20 dB S/N
• High data rates, 5kbps and 10kbps
• Analogue and Digital data outputs
• Carrier detect output
• Fast enable time,< 3ms for duty cycle power save use
• Wide supply range, 4.0V to 9.0V
• Low current, 13 mA continuous, 130µA on power save (100:1)
• The SILRX radio receiver and the matching DTI (RA) approved transmitter (TXM-418-5) are self
contained, PCB mounting modules capable of transferring analogue or digital data up to a distance
of 200m.

The SILRX receiver module is particularly suitable for battery powered portable applications where it’s
low power requirements and small size are of advantage. It may also be used as a lower cost option to
the RXM-418-10 in fixed applications where the higher data rates and signal strength output of the
RXM-418-10 are not required.

Typical applications include:-

Site paging receivers Paging car alarms
Line powered telephone auto diallers Domestic and commercial security
Guard patrol/lone worker protection Medical Alert/Nurse Call system
Mobile panic attack Remote industrial process monitoring
Battery powered half duplex data networks Data transfer through hazardous environments
Lighting control, Garage door openers Fire alarms
Picture/antique protection alarms Remote control, Access control

Radiometrix Ltd, SILRX-UHF Data Sheet page 1

Brief description

The SILRX receiver is a double conversion FM superhet with a data slicer driven by the AF output.
Additionally a fast acting carrier detect signal is available to indicate to external circuits that a signal is
present. This signal is extremely useful when implementing duty cycle power save circuits (see fig 4) or
to indicate to external logic that a signal is being received. It is internally derived from the degree of
noise quieting due to the presence of a receive carrier.
The SILRX-418 is designed to work with the matching transmitter (TXM-418). With the addition of
simple antenna the pair may be used to transfer serial data up to 200m. The range of the radio link is
very variable and depends upon many factors, principally, the type of antenna employed and the
operating environment. The 200m quoted range is a reliable operating distance over open ground using
1/4 whip antenna at both ends of the link at 1.5m above ground. Smaller antenna, interference or
obstacles (e.g. building etc.) will reduce the reliable working range (down to 30m in extreme cases).
Increased antenna height, slow data or a larger receive antenna will increase the range (our best is
3km).
We recommend that the module evaluation kit, EVAL-418-A, can be used to assess the reliable working
range under the anticipated conditions of use.

The following figure shows the receiver’s block diagram.

figure 1: Block diagram

figure 2: Test cicuit

Radiometrix Ltd, SILRX-UHF Data Sheet page 2

Pin Description

pin 1 RF IN The receiver antenna connects to this input. It has nominal RF

impedance of 50Ω and is capacitively isolated from the internal circuit

pin 2 RF GROUND This pin should be connected to any ground plane against which the
antenna works. It is internally connected to pin 4.

pin 3 DETECT
This pin may be used to derive a carrier detect to enable external circuits
when a signal is being received. If the detect function is not being used a
10 kΩ pull-up to pin 5 (Vcc) should be connected. Refer to applications
note for further details on the use of this pin.

pin 4 0 volt Ground for supply.

pin 5 Vcc Positive supply of 4V to 9V 13 mA. The supply must be clean (<2mV pp)
stable and free of high frequency digital noise. A supply filter is
recommended unless the module is driven from it’s own regulated supply.

pin 6 AF This is the FM demodulator output. It has an standing DC bias of

approximately 1.4V and may be used to drive analogue data detectors
such as modem chips or DTMF decoders. Load impedances as low as 2 kΩ
and up to 100 pF can be driven

pin 7 DATA This digital output from the internal data slicer is a squared version of
the signal on pin 6 (AF) This signal is used to drive external digital
decoders, it is true data (i.e. as fed to the transmitters data input). Load
impedances as low as 1 kΩ and up to 1 nF can be driven
.

figure 3: Mechanical Dimensions:

Radiometrix Ltd, SILRX-UHF Data Sheet page 3

Performance data SILRX-418-5 and SILRX-433-5
ambient temperature: 20°C
supply voltage: + 5 Volt
test circuit: fig. 2

Parameter Min. Typical Max. Units Notes

Operating voltage range (Vcc) pin 5 4.0 5.0 9.0 V -

Supply current pin 5 11 14 17 mA -
Receive frequency - 433.92 - MHz -
Overall frequency accuracy - 100 0 + 100 kHz 1
Sensitivity for 20 dB S/N pin 1 - 0.5 1.0 µV 2
Carrier detect, threshold pin 1 - 0.5 2.0 µV -
RF input impedance pin 1 - 50 - Ω -
IF bandwidth - 250 - kHz 3
AF output level pin 6 - 500 - mVpp 2, 3
AF bandwidth pin 6 DC - 5 kHz 3
Frequency/voltage conversion pin 6 - 10 - mV/kHz -

Data output, Logic low pin 7 0 0.2 0.8 V 4

Logic high pin 7 4.0 4.5 5 V 5
Data bit duration 0.2 - 20 ms 6
Data Mark:Space 20 % - 80 % 7
Data settling time pin 7 - - 15 ms 8
(minimum preamble duration)
Enable time pin 3 - - 2.5 ms 3, 9
Signal detect time pin 3 - - 0.5 ms 3, 9

Notes: 1. over supply and temperature range

2. ±25kHz deviation, 1 kHz tone
3. 3µV input
4. 1mA sink
5. 1mA source
6. time between transitions
7. (time high / time low) * 100 %, averaged over any 20 ms period
8. time from valid carrier detect to stable data output
9. from application of supply to carrier detect low (active)
10. from application of signal to carrier detect low (active)

Absolute maximum ratings:

Supply voltage Vcc, pin 5 - 0.3 to + 10 V
Operating temperature - 10°C to + 50°C
Storage temperature - 40°C to + 100°C
RF input, pin 1 0 dBm
Any input or output pin - 0.3 to Vcc V, ±10 mA

Radiometrix Ltd, SILRX-UHF Data Sheet page 4

Performance data SILRX-418-10 and SILRX-433-10
ambient temperature: 20°C
supply voltage: +5V
test circuit: fig. 2

Parameter Min. Typical Max. Units Notes

Operating voltage range (Vcc) pin 5 4.0 5.0 9.0 V -

Supply current pin 5 11 14 17 mA -
Receive frequency - 433.92 - MHz -
Overall frequency accuracy - 100 0 + 100 kHz 1
Sensitivity for 20 dB S/N pin 1 - 1.0 2.0 µV 2
Carrier detect, threshold pin 1 - 2.0 4.0 µV -
RF input impedance pin 1 - 50 - Ω -
IF bandwidth - 250 - kHz 3
AF output level pin 6 - 500 - mVpp 2, 3
AF bandwidth pin 6 DC - 20 kHz 3
Frequency/voltage conversion pin 6 - 10 - mV/kHz -

Data output, Logic low pin 7 0 0.2 0.8 V 4

Logic high pin 7 4.0 4.5 5 V 5
Data bit duration 0.05 - 2 ms 6
Data Mark:Space 20 % - 80 % 7
Data settling time pin 7 - - 5 ms 8
(minimum preamble duration)
Enable time pin 3 - - 1 ms 3, 9
Signal detect time pin 3 - - 0.3 ms 3, 10

Notes: 1. over supply and temperature range

2. ±25 kHz deviation, 1 kHz tone
3. 3 µV input
4. 1mA sink
5. 1mA source
6. time between transitions
7. (time high / time low) * 100 %, averaged over any 20 ms period
8. time from valid carrier detect to stable data output
9. from application of supply to carrier detect low (active)
10. from application of signal to carrier detect low (active)

Absolute maximum ratings:

Supply voltage Vcc, pin 5 - 0.3 to + 10 V
Operating temperature - 10°C to + 50°C
Storage temperature - 40°C to + 100°C
RF input, pin 1 0 dBm
Any input or output pin - 0.3 to Vcc V, ±10 mA

Radiometrix Ltd, SILRX-UHF Data Sheet page 5

figure 4: Typical performance curves

figure 5: Timing wave forms

Radiometrix Ltd, SILRX-UHF Data Sheet page 6

Antenna configurations
The positioning of the antenna is of the up most importance and is one of the main factors in
determining system range.
The following notes should assist in obtaining optimum performance:-
1. Keep it clear of other metal in the system, particularly the ‘hot’ (top) end.
2. The best position by far, is sticking out the top of the product. This is often not desirable for
practical/ergonomic reasons thus a compromise my need to be reached.
3. If an internal antenna must be used try to keep it away from other metal components, particularly
large ones like transformers, batteries and PCB tracks/earth plane. The space around the antenna is
as important as the antenna itself.
4. Keep it away from interference sources, bad interference can easily reduce system range by a factor
of 5. High speed logic is one of the worst in this respect fast logic edges have harmonics which extend
into the UHF band and the PCB tracks radiate these harmonics most efficiently. Single chip
microprocessors and ground planed logic boards reduce this problem significantly.

The next diagrams (fig 6) show three different antenna configurations which can be used on both the
transmitter and the receiver. Additionally a coax fed external dipole or 1/4 wave ground plane antenna
may be considered if system range is paramount.

figure 6: Antenna configurations

Radiometrix Ltd, SILRX-UHF Data Sheet page 7

Module Mounting considerations
1. The module may be mounted vertically or bent horizontal to the motherboard.
2. No conductive items should be placed within 4 mm of the modules’ component side to prevent
detuning.
3. Observe RF layout practice between the module and it’s antenna i.e. < 10 mm unscreened track,
use 50Ω microstrip or coax for >10mm
4. It is desirable, but not essential, to earth plane all unused area around the module.
5. Mount as far as possible from high frequency interference sources, Microprocessors with
external busses are totally incompatible with sensitive radio receivers and must be keep at least
1 metre from the receive antenna. Single chip micros are not a problem.
6. In some applications it is advantageous to remote the receiver and it’s antenna away from the
main equipment. This avoids any interference problems and allows flexibility in the sighting of
the receive antenna for optimum RF performance.

Using the DETECT output

Pin 3 of the module may be used in several ways:-
1. Pulled up to pin 5 (Vcc) with a 47 kΩ resistor unmutes the AF and DATA outputs for normal
operation.
2. Pulled down to 0 Volts with a 47 kΩ mutes the AF and DATA Outputs (both go to 0V).
3. To drive the base of a PNP transistor (see fig 2) to derive a logic compatible carrier detect. The
data detect output on pin 3 may be used for duty cycle power saving control in portable
equipment where battery life is a problem. By pulsing the receiver on/off the average supply
current may often be reduced by a factor of 20 or more depending upon the system
requirements the data detect output is valid 1.5 ms (2.5 ms worst case) after application
of the supply and is used to inhibit the power saving while data decoding is done.

Internal data slicer

A CMOS compatible data output is available on pin 7, this output is normally used to drive a digital
decoder IC or a microprocessor which is performing the data decoding. The data slicer in the receive
module is designed to accept data with a wide range of pulse widths and mark: space ratio’s, see
specification table for limiting values. The data slicer has a 10 ms transient response time this is the
settling time of the adaptive comparator, i.e. the first 10 ms of signal may be corrupt at the data output.

System coding
The transmit and receive modules have no internal digital coding/decoding thus allowing the flexibility
to send many types of data. Encoder and decoder IC’s are required to give the system a high degree of
protection from false triggers due to noise/interference/neighbouring systems and often for security
reasons. There are wide range of suitable encoder/decoder IC’s which may be used with the modules,
including :-
MM57C200, MM57410,National Semiconductor
UM3750, UMC
HT12 series, Holtek
MC145026 series, Motorola
AS2787, Austria Mikro Systeme International GmbH
Additionally IR. remote control, DTMF, Selcall and modem IC’s can be easily interfaced to the modules.

Radiometrix Ltd, SILRX-UHF Data Sheet page 8

AF output
This output is the FM demodulator’s output after buffering and filtering. Since it is taken before the
data slicer in the module, it may be used to drive external data slicers / demodulator’s in cases where
the internal data slicer is not suitable. This is the case where an analogue subcarrier is being employed
e.g. 2 tone AFSK or DTMF tones. In these cases the AF output is used to drive the FSK / DTMF decoder
directly.
The AF output is also a very useful test point for monitoring signals or interference. The AF output is
DC coupled to the FM demodulator thus the DC level Varies with the frequency of the incoming signal.

Supply requirements
The module requires a clean supply. Noise and ‘hash’ in the 5 to 500 kHz band and 16 MHz ±1 MHz
must be less than 2 mV, We recommend a 10 µF capacitor to ground on pin 5 (Vcc) and a 10Ω series feed
resistor in cases where the cleanness of the supply is in doubt.

.Warning: Don’t be tempted to adjust the trimmer on the module, it controls the receive
frequency and can only be correctly set-up with an accurate RF signal generator!

Additional Reading
BS 0799 British standard for Wire-free intruder alarm systems
BS 4737 British standard for intruder alarm systems in buildings from British standards
institution - Tel. 44 171 629 900
MPT1340 DTI type approval specification for 418 MHz Telemetry from department of
Trade and Industry - 44 171 211 0502/0505
ARRL Handbook Excellent radio engineering text
ARRL Antenna Book Practical antenna design book

Radiometrix Ltd, SILRX-UHF Data Sheet page 9

Applications note

Four Channel Receiver with battery saver

Fig 7 shows a simple four channel paging receiver with 256 setable codes. The CMOS 555 timer
provides a duty cycle power save circuit which latches ON when a signal is present. The values used in
the example give 4ms ON; 400 ms OFF, i.e. 1:100 duty cycle. The total quiescent current is less than
200µA, thus a 9V alkaline battery (500 mA/hr) will give a life of over 2000 hours. The ON time is
determined by the receiver’s power up settling time (3 ms worst case) + any tolerance of the duty cycle
oscillator. The OFF time is controlled by R8 in the circuit and should be selected to suit the application
depending upon the required response time and any limits imposed upon the duration of the
transmission. It is recommended that the OFF time be no longer than 1/2 for the transmission
preamble duration.

figure 7: Four Channel Receiver with power save

Ordering information
SAW based OEM Transmit and Receive modules.

TXM-418-5 UK Transmitter on 418 MHz, Type approved to MPT1340

TXM-418-10 Fast transmitter on 418 MHz, Type approved to MPT1340
RXM-418-5 matching UK receiver module on 418 MHz
SILRX-418-5 Low current UK receiver module on 418 MHz
BiM-418-10 Bi-directional short range module on 418 MHz
RPC-418-5 Self-contained module wich integrates the BiM transceiver with a Radio Packet
Controller
EVAL-418-A Evaluation kit for TXM & RXM
EVAL-418-B SILRX supplementary PCB for EVAL-418-A
BiM-KIT Evaluation kit for BiM-UHF modules.

All modules are available in a 433.92 MHz version for use in other European countries.

Radiometrix Ltd, SILRX-UHF Data Sheet page 10

 Radiometrix Ltd
Hartcran House
Gibbs Couch
Watford
WD19 5EZ
ENGLAND
Tel: +44 (0)20 8428 1220
Fax: +44 (0)20 8428 1221
[email protected]
www.radiometrix.co.uk

Copyright notice

This product data sheet is the original work and copyrighted property of Radiometrix
Ltd. Reproduction in whole or in part must give clear acknowledgement to the
copyright owner.

Limitation of liability

The information furnished by Radiometrix Ltd is believed to be accurate and reliable.

Radiometrix Ltd reserves the right to make changes or improvements in the design, specification
or manufacture of its subassembly products without notice. Radiometrix Ltd does not assume
any liability arising from the application or use of any product or circuit described herein, nor
for any infringements of patents or other rights of third parties which may result from the use of
its products. This data sheet neither states nor implies warranty of any kind, including fitness
for any particular application. These radio devices may be subject to radio interference and may
not function as intended if interference is present. We do NOT recommend their use for life
critical applications.
The Intrastat commodity code for all our modules is: 8542 6000

R&TTE Directive

After 7 April 2001 the manufacturer can only place finished product on the market under the
provisions of the R&TTE Directive. Equipment within the scope of the R&TTE Directive may
demonstrate compliance to the essential requirements specified in Article 3 of the Directive, as
appropriate to the particular equipment.
Further details are available on Radiocommunications Agency (RA) web site:
http://www.radio.gov.uk/topics/conformity/conform-index.htm

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