Wireless Connections - Acorn 5210MG and 6210MG - MMS Sending

Fig 1:  11db Yagi Anttenae

In this post:
Using a Yagi Antenna.
RF Propagation at GSM Frequencies.
MMS Problems with the Acorn 5210MG and 6210MG.


Using a Yagi Antenna

At my indoor location a connection to the local cell tower is mostly non-existent and to enable bench testing I have recently set up two 11db gain Yagi Antenna.

The reason for two antenna is to enable simultaneous up and down links without insertion loss from the use of a splitter/combiner.

These antennae are the same as the one on my sales page and are working well, providing a steady 2 to 3 out of 5 bars on the Acorn wireless cameras. Since I installed them I've been able to carry out tests with a consistent almost 100% sending performance sending

GPRS Wireless Module Problem in Acorn Series 2 Wireless Cameras

Post Updated: 06.03.2013

Please note that the information in this post only relates to wireless cameras produced from December 2012 to February 2013.

Fig 1: 6210 Wireless PCB and SIM 900 Wireless IC

Fig 2: 5210 Wireless PCB and M10 Wireless IC

Early in February 2013 I received news from Acorn that they were having problems with the production of their wireless cameras.

I've delayed posting about this until now because I wasn't sure of enough detail to make an informed comment. 

It was obvious that something wasn't right because of recent problems with display and connectivity with the 6210MG which started last December. I've now got more information from Acorn and basically the situation is as follows.

I'm informed that the manufacturers of the original M10 GSM/GPRS Wireless Module (produced by a Shanghai local company) discontinued the product and forced Acorn to look for an alternative.

The new module is the SIM 900 which is produced by a big Shanghai international company; and is shown on the 6210 wireless