Today we received a customer enquiry about developing a dedicated RF remote control transmitter and receiver system for shooting range requirement, details is as follows.
Customer has a need for a transmitter and receiver combination with a range of around 200 meters, it is a simple requirement using just one channel with a locked ON then switch OFF feature, the remote control transmitter part could be one button remote which first press locks ON, second press turns OFF, or a two button remote with one button ON and the other button OFF.
Customer requires the receiver unit to provide 24V DC or AC output to operate a small solenoid, when the turn ON button is pressed, 24 volt power is supplied down two wires to solenoid, when OFF button is pressed, the power is dropped, customer would need the receiver unit, including the 24V DC battery power source to be enclosed in a water resistant box with 2 leads coming out, which are 24v + and – to connect to solenoid, among all the components inside, the power supply battery is the largest element, possibly a small alarm battery, this may also need to have a optional recharge feature, overall size is not important, there is no need to concentrate on making it as small as possible, it would only be for the reason to save on the cost of the enclosure and shipping costs of the individual unit to customers.
This is a remote control device that would be in great demand on the shooting range, and customer can foresee numbers in excess of 200,000 possibly 500,000 in the USA, a great many more if accepted across the world, so customer would need to know immediate development costs, and breakdown of costs for bulk shipments i.e 50, 500, 10,000 etc.
After reviewed customer’s development requirement above, here are our reply from product development department, as follows.
For remote control transmitter part, we think customer can use our TX-111 or TX-112 slim waterproof transmitter as remote control, the button is by default with A / B text, which can be changed later for larger order quantity, and yes we can develop customized receiver with feature requested or even with timer addon feature or more, it could be customized based on 202U receiver or 201U receiver enclosure, depending on different size requirement.
Usually the wireless relay receiver’s power output would be DC only, and the wires would be at least three or four recommended – 2 for power input to receiver, and another 2 for power output to solenoids, the additional two wires are for rechargeable feature, and it would be highly recommended if customer can attach it to nearby power source.
Battery maybe the biggest difficulty in customer’s requirement, as for battery choice and battery life calculation, based on our experience, most power is consumed during receiver standby, which is ~8mA standby current, major power consumption is due to receiver module operation, since it has to be always on to receive transmitter’s data, but we can discuss with customer to find a way to reduce power consumption if possible by using software algorithm or more.