Base Station alert troubleshooting

When troubleshooting Base Station alerts, consider the following:

General troubleshooting

  • Errors are often generated by issues with the GPS. Make sure that the GPS antenna is properly connected and positioned outside where it has a full 360° view of the sky.
  • Make sure that the antenna make, model, and serial number are all documented for each Base Station. Errors may arise from an antenna that needs to be recalled or changed, or that may have a default.
  • You may need to replace the Base Station battery. When acquiring a replacement battery, make sure that you order a battery with the correct connector type, shape, size, and chemical composition. Sensus sells replacement Base Station batteries.

On site troubleshooting

  • To make sure that you are at the correct Base Station when on site, try triggering the Bit 1 Intrustion alarm/Door Open alarm.
  • When visiting the Base Station in person, be aware that Base Stations make attractive habitats for undesired occupants such as mice, ants, and wasps if they can find entry. These occupants can cause damage to the Base Station that triggers alarms. Come prepared to deal with any animals common to your area that may seek out such a habitat, and make sure that the Base Station is closed and sealed when you leave.
  • When troubleshooting the Base Station with a Cordex power supply on site, you may need to connect to the Cordex power supply to obtain further information and resolve issues. Make sure that you bring a laptop with an ethernet port and an ethernet cable so that you can connect to the power supply.

Base Stations and Network Command Suite

When troubleshooting Base Station alerts, you can remotely connect to the Base Station via SSH through the Show Terminal option in the Network Command Suite (NCS) software. This allows you to obtain more information from and troubleshoot the Base Station before visiting in person. You can also download any relevant remote files from the Base Station to where you are, but you will need to know the exact path to the file on the Base Station.

While troubleshooting, you can also reboot the Base Station remotely through NCS to see if that resolves your problem.

The 'halt' command stops all communications to and from the transceiver, including instructions to power the transceiver off and on. Do not issue this command remotely without someone on site to power the transceiver off and back on again.

If you are having issues with errors that do not make sense, check the cabinet type in the JSON file in NCS or by connecting to the Base Station on site. This is set during installation, and may be incorrect. If the cabinet type is incorrect after commissioning, send in a ticket to Sensus Technical Support.

Please consult the Network Command Suite documentation for more information on working with Base Stations remotely.