CommScope PWR-COBRA-1 RET A User Manual

639568 • Revision C • November 2008

Page 1 of 6

PWR-COBRA-1 RET Antenna System Quick Installation Guide

Scope

This document briefly describes the installation and operation of the PWR-COBRA Remote
Electrical Tilt antenna system. It is intended to give an overview of basic installation and
operation for experienced antenna users.

Equipment Required

 COBRA™ RET capable antennas
 Antenna mounting hardware (standard or 0–15° mechanical downtilt kit included with

antenna)

 Coaxial cables from BTS to antenna RF ports
 CBL-COBRA one feed line and one jumper per additional antenna, or smart bias tees

and jumper cables. Bias tees eliminate the need for the one main RET cable run

 PWR-COBRA-1 interface power supply
 RS-232 cable (supplied with PWR-COBRA-1)
 Laptop or computer with PWR-COBRA software (supplied with PWR-COBRA-1) installed

Installation Instructions

1. Install the antennas using the mounting hardware provided. Record on an Installation
Configuration sheet the antenna sector, model number, serial number, and pointing angle
from 0–360°.

2. Attach the feed lines from the BTS to the antenna RF ports.

3. Attach the female end of the CBL-COBRA homerun data cable to the first antenna
actuator input port. (The homerun cable is the data cable that runs from the base of the
tower to the input of the first antenna in the RET system.)

4. Attach the male end of the CBL-COBRA jumper line to the output port of the first antenna
and route/connect the female end to the second antenna. Repeat this process until all the
antennas are attached to the RET system in a daisy chain configuration. Cap the output
port of the last antenna with the cap cover provided. Please the see note at the end of

this document for cable length recommendations.

5. Attach the male end of CBL-COBRA feed line at the base of the tower to the barrel
connector port on the PWR-COBRA-1 interface power supply.

6. Plug the interface power supply (PWR-COBRA-1) into the power source.

7. Attach the RS-232 cable (or USB-to-Serial adapter cable) to the laptop or computer and
into the PWR-COBRA-1 interface power supply.

8. Boot up the laptop or computer and launch the COBRA™ RET application software.

9. Click on the Scan button (located under the RET/Identification tab) to search for all
antennas connected to the RET system. When the scan is complete, all the antenna
actuators will be listed by their serial numbers (Figure 1).

Andrew, A CommScope Company

3 Westbrook Corporate Center, Suite 900, Westchester, Illinois U.S.A. 60154
U.S.A.: [phone] • International: [phone]

WWW.CommScope.Com

© 2008 CommScope

639568 • Revision C • November 2008

Page 2 of 6

Figure 1. RET Device Scan Results.

10. After the device scan has found all the installed antenna actuators, double click on the
serial number for the antenna actuator in the list that is to be configured.
“CONNECTED” should pop up in the Response box in the Selection area.

11. Enter the password Administrator (the password should be entered as shown with A in
upper case and the remaining letters using lower case)Click on Enable. The angle
indicator will move to the current electrical downtilt setting for the antenna.

Important Note:

Every time the Connect button is used, you must also click the Enable
button. If this is not done, errors are likely to result when reading or saving
settings in the RET.

12. Click the Settings tab (located at the top of the screen). At the bottom of the screen, click
on ALL and then click on GET. This will populate the Antenna Data section of the scre en
with information that was programmed into the antenna at the factory (including model
number, serial number, frequency, gain, and the maximum and minimum tilt settings).
The Operator data section will be blank and should be filled in with the information that
was recorded on the Installation Configuration sheet in Step 1 (Figure 2 ).

Andrew, A CommScope Company

3 Westbrook Corporate Center, Suite 900, Westchester, Illinois U.S.A. 60154
U.S.A.: [phone] • International: [phone]

WWW.CommScope.Com

© 2008 CommScope