The Terrawave battery pack has served me well, performing site surveys. However, it is a heavy beast, coming in at 3.82 kg.
I would like to introduce the Tracer Lithium Polymer battery that I am currently using for site surveys and share how I use it. The Tracer battery is a 12v battery with a charge indicator and it weighs 680g, this is great for an access point that will accept 12v, a Ruckus 7372 for example.
This however, is not so good for a Cisco AP which requires will require 48v DC input or PoE. This is where the Ligowave 12v PoE injector comes in.
Assemble it all together and you get…
While performing a survey I would place the battery and PoE injector into a soft camera bag and run the ethernet cable up the tripod to the AP.
I have performed two endurance tests so far:
Ruckus 7363 Survey AP // Both radios set to full power // powered using 12v jack
DURATION: 30 hours
Cisco 3600 // Autonomous SE-CONNECT mode // powered via 12v LigoWave PoE injector
DURATION: 12 hours
The PoE injector does get warm and introduces loss into the system but so far I have found the endurance to be better than that of the Terrawave.
This battery has also proven to be very useful as a portable power source for keeping smaller devices topped up. Although many train carriages provide power, this battery pack has enabled me to sit wherever I choose and not have my seat selection influenced by an AC power outlet.
Reach out to me on Twitter @nickjvturner
Data sheet for the LigoWave 12v PoE injector:
Web page for the Tracer battery:
These can also be ordered from Amazon
Data sheet for the Terrawave:
Disclaimer I am not affiliated with any of the companies mentioned in this article in any way, shape or form.