PCTEL MFB1443, MFB1503, MFB1563, MFB1683, MFB2203 Installation Instructions Manual

MFB SERIES

INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

© 2010 PCTEL, Inc.

471 Brighton Drive, Bloomingdale, Illinois 60108

All Rights Reserved

Part #: MIS-MFB-3 REV B

Printed in the U.S.A.

WARRANTY

GENERAL WARRANTY. PCTEL, Inc. ("PCTEL") warrants that the
PCTEL products furnished herewith (the "Products") shall be free
from defects in material and workmanship for a period of two (2)
years from the date of shipment by PCTEL under normal use and
operation; provided, however, that MPRC and MPRD parabolic
reflector antennas and Bluewave series antennas are similarly war­ranted for five (5) years from the date of shipment by PCTEL.
PCTEL's sole and exclusive obligation under the foregoing warran­ty shall be, at its option, to repair or replace any defective Product
that fails during the warranty period. The expense of removal and
reinstallation of any item is not included in this warranty. THE
FOREGOING WARRANTY IS EXCLUSIVE AND IN LIEU OF ALL
OTHER WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FIT­NESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND ANY WARRANTIES
ARISING FROM ACOURSE OF DEALING, USAGE OR TRADE
PRACTICE WITH RESPECT TO THE PRODUCTS. Repair or
replacement in the manner provided herein shall be the sole and
exclusive remedy of the buyer for breach of warranty and shall
constitute fulfillment of all liabilities of PCTEL with respect to the
quality and performance of the Product.

EXCEPTIONS. PCTEL DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE OPER­ATION OF THE PRODUCTS IS ERROR-FREE OR THAT OPERA­TION WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED. IN NO EVENT SHALL PCTEL
BE LIABLE FOR: (i) ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSE­QUENTIAL DAMAGES TO THE BUYER OR ANY THIRD PARTY
ARISING OUT OF THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OR ANY
DEFECTIVE PRODUCT WHETHER THE DEFECT IS WARRANT­ED AGAINST OR NOT, WHETHER THE CLAIM IS BASED UPON
CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, (ii) ANY
AMOUNT EXCEEDING THE PURCHASE PRICE OF THE PROD­UCT, (iii) SYSTEM PERFORMANCE, INCLUDING COVERAGE;
(iv) THE BUYER'S SELECTION OF PRODUCTS FOR THE
BUYER'S APPLICATION; AND/OR (iv) FAILURE OF PRODUCTS
TO MEET GOVERNMENT OR REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS.
The foregoing general warranty shall apply only if: (a) the Product
has been properly installed and used at all times in accordance,
and in all material respects, with the applicable Product documen­tation; (b) no modification, alteration or addition has been made to
the Product by persons other than PCTEL or PCTEL's authorized
representatives or otherwise approved by PCTEL in writing; and (c)
the Product has not been subjected to misuse, neglect or unusual
physical, electrical or electromagnetic stress, or some other type of
accident.

WARRANTY PROCEDURES: In the event of a warranty claim, the
buyer must contact PCTEL to arrange for Product return. No
Product will be accepted for replacement or repair without first
obtaining a Return Material Authorization (RMA) number from
PCTEL Customer Service by telephone: [phone] or by email
to [e-mail]. PCTEL reserves the right to
inspect all defective Products. Product returned without an RMA
number will not be processed and will be returned to the buyer
freight collect. The warranty period of any repaired or replaced
Product shall not extend beyond its original term.

Equipment to be repaired or replaced under warranty is to be
returned, freight prepaid, to the following address with the assigned
RMA number displayed on the box:

PCTEL, Inc.
Attention: RMA Coordinator
471 Brighton Drive
Bloomingdale, Illinois 60108 U.S.A.

MFB VHF 3dB SERIES SPECIAL

TUNING INSTRUCTIONS

To optimize your VHF 3dB gain base station antenna, we
have designed a special top rod tuning section. This high
quality stainless steel whip has been factory tuned for the
lowest frequency in your ordering band. For example: The
MFB1503 will be factory tuned to 150 MHz.

DO NOT LOSE YOUR FACTORY TUNED TOP ROD!

If you do, you will need to trim your own rod starting at
about 27" for 144 MHz using a thru line watt meter to check
for lowest VSWR.

To "fine tune" the antenna to your exact operating frequen­cy, follow these simple steps:

1. Noting that the operational bandwidth of the antenna is
about 5 MHz at 2.0:1 VSWR, choose your desired fre­quency. You may either tune the antenna to your exact
frequency or tune it to the center of two or more frequen­cy bands.

2. Using the cutting chart provided, trim the top rod (about
one inch per 1/2 MHz). This may be done with side cut­ters or with a grinding wheel. If possible, check tuning
with a watt meter and the antenna mounted in as similar
a place to its actual location as possible.

3. Tighten the rod securely with the two set screws provided
before mounting the antenna.

For Example

If you have ordered an MFB1503 (150-156 MHz) antenna
and you wish to tune its center frequency to 153 MHz, trim
the top rod by approximately 5-1/8", according to the chart
below. Check with a watt meter for greater accuracy.

Remember, always make the first cut a little long to
avoid over-cutting the rod. Cutting the rod too long or

short will move the antenna outside of its desired frequency
range resulting in a high VSWR (above 1.5:1) and degraded
gain performance.

MOUNTING HINTS

1. Always mount your base station antenna as high and
clear of surrounding objects as possible.

2. Use extreme caution when working near telephone and
electrical power lines. Always mount antennas at least
twice the length of the antenna away from power lines.

3. Always insulate your connectors with tape, silicone or
other weather proof materials for long life and trouble free
operation.

4. When side mounting to a tower, make sure that your
antenna is at least 24" from tower legs or other antennas.

5. Some antennas are equipped with drain holes, either on
the side of the aluminum sleeve or on the bottom bush­ing, next to the connector. When mounting, be careful not
to seal the hole, as this will prevent water from escaping.

MFB VHF 3dB SERIES

MFB VHF SERIES

PART NUMBER

FREQUENCY

RANGE

FACTORY TUNED

FREQUENCY

3 dB GAIN

MFB1443 144-150 MHz 144 MHz

MFB1503 150-156 MHz 150 MHz

MFB1563 156-162 MHz 156 MHz

MFB1623 162-168 MHz 162 MHz

MFB1683 168-174 MHz 168 MHz

MFB2203 220-225 MHz 220 MHz

Example:
The dark line indicates that to tune an MFB1503 to 153 MHz
(3 MHz shift), you must trim 5-1/8” from the total rod length.

Note: The MFB UHF, 800 MHz and 900 MHz antennas do
not require any tuning.

Part #: MIS-MFB-3 REV B

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Frequency Shift (MHz)

Length To Trim Rod (inches)