January 2010 IL42-4036A
A3 ALPHA® meter with
wireless cellular communication option
General
The A3 ALPHA meter may be ordered with a wireless cellular communication option: the Wireless WAN Interface Card.
The Wireless WIC is available in CDMA 1xRTT and GSM GPRS versions, providing a high speed cellular
communication channel.
This leaflet provides general information for the Wireless WIC that is installed within an A3 ALPHA meter.
■ For information on installing the A3 ALPHA meter, see the “ALPHA Meter Installation Instructions” (IL42-
4001Q or later)
Use authorized utility procedures to install and service metering equipment. Dangerous voltages are present.
Equipment damage, personal injury, or death can result if safety precautions are not followed.
Use circuit closing devices on current transformer secondaries (3S, 4S, 5S, 5A, 6S, 6A, 8S, 9S, 10S, 10A, 26S,
29S, 35S, 36S, and 36A meters). Equipment damage, personal injury, or death can result if circuit closing
secondaries are not used.
Location of antennas
See Figure 1 for the location of the Wireless WIC antenna. If the A3 ALPHA meter is serving as an EA_Gatekeeper,
then the A3 ALPHA meter has 2 antennas: the Wireless WIC antenna is in the upper position and the EA_LAN antenna
is in the lower position.
The Wireless WIC antenna and the EA_LAN antenna (if present) are fix-mounted to the periphery of the A3 ALPHA
meter’s electronic housing. The Wireless WIC antenna and the EA_LAN antenna (if present) are not adjustable or
removable.
Elster
Raleigh, North Carolina USA
+1 800 786 2215 (US toll free)
+1 905 634 4895 (Canada)
energyaxis.support@us.elster.com
www.elster.com
IL42-4036A January 2010
Wireless WIC internal
antenna
Internal antenna for
connection to the EA_LAN
Electronic housing of
the A3 ALPHA meter
(Present only when serving
as an EA_Gatekeeper)
Figure 1. Location of the internal antennas
2