The OPI Blue system has some systemic limitations on the configuration and deployment of the system on end user sites. These limitations are useful to know if you are installing or troubleshooting an issue on a customer site.
Common Limitations:
- Fan Node Radio INT4 Limit: 100’ (shipped with 50’)
This limit is in place because the communication quality of service from the Fan Node Radio to the Fan Node is reduced to unacceptable levels if the INT4 exceeds 100'. When installing an OPI Blue system with fan control it is important to consider this limitation when deciding where to install the Fan Node Enclosure as the Fan node radios need good line of sight to the Gateway installation location. - Gateway Ethernet Cable Limit: 75’ (shipped with 25’)
This limit is in place because the Gateway Node uses this ethernet cable for both power and communication and the quality of service on both of those functions decreases beyond acceptable performance levels when this ethernet cable exceeds 75'. When installing an OPI Blue system it is important to consider this limitation when deciding to install the Gateway Node and Enclosure as the Gateway Node needs good line of sight to all of the Cable Node and Fan Node Radios, and the Gateway Enclosure needs to be installed somewhere with accessible 110V AC power. - Router Ethernet Cable Limit (between Gateway Enclosure and Router): 150’
This limit is in place because the Gateway Node uses this ethernet cable to communicate with the internet using a customer router and the quality of service for this communication drops below acceptable performance levels beyond 150'. When installing an OPI Blue system it is important to consider this limitation when deciding to install a Gateway Node and Enclosure as the Gateway Node needs constant communication with the OPI Cloud web servers in order for the OPI Blue system to function properly. - Fan Node INT3 to the Plenum Sensor: 150’ (shipped with 50’)
This limit is in place because the communication quality of service from the Plenum Sensor to the Fan Node is reduced to unacceptable levels if the INT3 exceeds 150'. When installing an OPI Blue system with fan control it is important to consider this limitation when deciding where to install the Fan Node Enclosure as the Plenum Sensor needs to be installed in a location in the bin that can detect an increase in plenum pressure but not be affected by the fan exhaust air which would change the fan warming characteristics. - Gateway to Node Radio Maximum Distance: 800 meters (2625')
This limitation is in place because the communication quality of service in between the Gateway Node and the Cable Nodes and Fan Node Radios decreases beyond an acceptable level when the distance between installation locations exceeds 2625'. It is important to consider this limitation before installing an OPI Blue system as well as when troubleshooting the OPI Blue system for radio communication issues. - The Maximum number of Cable Nodes and Fan Node Radios that can communicate with a single Gateway Node is 25
This limitation is in place because the communication quality of service in between the Gateway Node and the Cable Nodes and Fan Node Radios decreases beyond an acceptable level when the number of radios communicating with the Gateway radio exceeds 25. This limitation is important to consider before installing an OPI Blue system as you will need to make sure the Gateway can handle the communication load for all of the Cable Nodes and Fan Node Radios that are mapped to it. In cases where the number of Cable Nodes and Fan Nodes exceeds 25 a second Gateway Node will be required to ensure that the site does not suffer from communication quality of service loss. - The maximum number of sensors allowed on any one channel of a cable node is 30 sensors
This limitation is in place because the Cable Nodes have difficulty reading the data from the sensors connected to them when the number of sensors exceeds 30 for a single communication channel (CN01s have 1 communication channel, CN08s have 8 communication channels). - The maximum length of INT2 cable that can be ran from a sensing cable connection to a cable node is 100'.
This limitation is in place because the Cable Nodes have difficulty reading the data from the sensors connected to them when the length of INT2 exceeds 100'. This is caused by a degradation in the signal on that INT2 as the length increases. This is a direct cable run and not representative of a daisy chain implementation. We discourage daisy chaining at all as it causes more problems than it solves.