Elster Solutions REXILCA Users manual
A3 ALPHA® Meter/Collector
Product Guide
PG42-1005B
© 2004 by Elster Electricity, LLC. All rights are reserved.
No part of this software or documentation may be reproduced, transmitted, processed or recorded by any means or
form, electronic, mechanical, photographic or otherwise, translated to another language, or be released to any third
party without the express written consent of Elster Electricity, LLC.
Printed in the United States of America.
ALPHA, ALPHA Plus, and EnergyAxis are registered trademarks; and Metercat, AlphaPlus, and REX are trademarks of
Elster Electricity, LLC.
Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their
respective owners.
DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES AND LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY
There are no understandings, agreements, representations, or warranties either expressed or implied, including warranties of
merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose, other than those specifically set out by any existing contract between the parties. Any such contract states the entire obligation of the seller. The contents of this document shall not become part of or modify any prior existing agreement, commitment, or relationship.
The information, recommendations, descriptions, and safety notices in this document are based on Elster Electricity, LLC experience and judgment with respect to operation and maintenance of the described product. This information should not be considered as all-inclusive or covering all contingencies. If further information is required, Elster Electricity, LLC should be consulted.
No warranties, either expressed or implied, including warranties of fitness for a particular purpose or merchantability, or warranties arising from the course of dealing or usage of trade, are made regarding the information, recommendations, descriptions,
warnings, and cautions contained herein.
In no event will Elster Electricity, LLC be responsible to the user in contract, in tort (including negligence), strict liability or otherwise for any special, indirect, incidental, or consequential damage or loss whatsoever, including but not limited to: damage or
loss of use of equipment, cost of capital, loss of profits or revenues, or claims against the user by its customers resulting from
the use of the information, recommendations, descriptions, and safety notices contained herein.
A3 ALPHA Meter/Collector
Product Guide
A3 ALPHA Meter/Collector
July 2004 Product Guide
Contents General Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
A3 ALPHA Meter Circuit Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Metercat Programming Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Metering Software and System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Metercat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
EnergyAxis Metering Automation Server. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Operation of the A3 ALPHA Meter with ILC1 Option Board . . . . . . 4
Billing Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
TOU Schedules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Season Changes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Call Initiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Power Failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Loss of Real Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Reading the A3 ALPHA Meter/Collector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Changing an A3 ALPHA Meter with ILC1 Option Board . . . . . . . . . 7
Display List Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
ILC1 Option Board Error Codes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
No error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Clock error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Carryover error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Table CRC error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
General configuration error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Shared memory error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Power fail data save error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
ILC1 Option Board Status Codes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Collector operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
ILC1 Option Board Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
REX LAN ID 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
REX LAN ID 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
REX utility ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
ILC number of nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
ILC number of repeaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Memory Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
FCC and Industry Canada Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Compliance Statement (Part 15.19) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Warning (Part 15.21) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
RF Radiation Safety Guidelines per Part 2 of FCC Rules and Regulations . . . . . . .11
User Information (Part 15.105) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Industry Canada Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Technical Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Operating Ranges. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
i
A3 ALPHA Meter/Collector
Product Guide July 2004
ii
A3 ALPHA Meter/Collector
Product Guide
A3 ALPHA Meter/Collector
July 2004 Product Guide
General Description The A3 ALPHA meter/collector is the component of the EnergyAxis
that provides the interface between the Metering Automation Server (MAS) and
the local network of REX
communicates with the A3 ALPHA meter/collector using a standard telephone
line. The A3 ALPHA meter/collector then communicates with its registered REX
meters using a 2-way 900 MHz radio frequency network. The primary task of
the internal LAN controller (ILC1) option board is to maintain the local area network (LAN) and read and store billing data from REX meters. The A3 ALPHA
meter/collector is responsible for various activities within the network of REX
meters, including the following:
■ reading and storing the billing data from each REX meter on a periodic
basis
■ reading and storing the load profiling data from a configurable number
of REX meters on a periodic basis
■ notifying the REX meters to perform demand resets based on a sched-
ule from MAS
■ reading and storing the previous billing period data from REX meters
after a demand reset has occurred
■ notifying the REX meters to perform season changes based on a
schedule from MAS
■ reading and storing the previous season data from REX meters after
season changes have occurred
■ synchronizing the REX meters to the system time and TOU day type
™
meters that are registered to the meter/collector. MAS
®
System
A3 ALPHA Meter Circuit Board
■ distributing TOU rate schedules and associated display lists to the REX
meters
■ reading or sending commands to an individual REX meter on request
from MAS
■ performing other network maintenance tasks
■ reporting the billing and load profiling data back to MAS
The A3 ALPHA meter builds upon the strengths of the existing ALPHA meter
designs. Like its predecessors, the A3 ALPHA meter uses Elster Electricity's
patented digital measurement techniques that offer high accuracy, repeatability,
and low ownership costs. In support of open architecture standards, the
A3 ALPHA meter is the first Elster Electricity meter to fully support ANSI C12.18,
C12.19, and C12.21 standards.
To function as a collector, an A3 ALPHA meter requires the following two option
boards:
■ internal telephone modem (ITM3) with optional outage reporting capa-
bilities
■ internal LAN controller (ILC1)
The ITM3 option board connects to the A3 ALPHA meter using the 20-pin
header (J4) on the meter circuit board as shown in Figure 1. The ILC1 option
board connects to the ITM3 option board using the 20-pin header (J5) as shown
in Figure 1.
The antenna for the ILC1 option board mounts directly onto the electronic housing (see Figure 2) and fits completely under the cover of the A3 ALPHA meter.
1
A3 ALPHA Meter/Collector
Product Guide July 2004
An A3 ALPHA meter/collector has a 4-conductor telephone cable exiting the
meter with an RJ-11 connector at the end as shown in Figure 3. There is a wire
marker approximately 6 inches from the RJ-11 end with “INT MOD ITM3”
printed on it for identifying that the ITM3 option board is installed.
Figure 1. A3 ALPHA meter electronic assembly
ILC1 option
board
ITM3 option
board
J5
Meter circuit
board
J4
Figure 2. A3 ALPHA electronic housing with antenna
Meter electronic
housing
Antenna
2
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