Telemetry Bin: Installation & First Use - directedmachines/customer-support GitHub Wiki

Initial Wiring

Option 1: USB A to Micro USB cable powers the entire Telemetry Bin and can be easily plugged into and unplugged from any standard USB port. One upside of this power supply method is that you can move the device from one power source to another (even a portable battery pack) to track just about any person or asset on the fly. One downside of this method is that most vehicle USB ports lose power within a few minutes of powering off the vehicle.

Option 2: OBD to Micro USB cable powers the entire Telemetry Bin and can be easily plugged into and unplugged from most OBD ports. A couple upsides of this power supply method are that you can move the Telemetry Bin from one vehicle to another and (optionally) supply continuous power. A couple downsides of this method are that it's limited to vehicles and not all OBD ports are supported.

Option 3: Hardwired power leads can be wired to an vehicle's battery terminals - negative >> black and positive >> red. To do this, you'll need to attach quick disconnect terminals on the Telemetry Bin's power leads and connect them to a longer set of 14->16AWG wires that are wired into the vehicle battery in a robust, semi-permanent configuration. You can also add a single pole, single throw toggle switch between the positive battery terminal and the red wire to allow for powering off the Telemetry Bin without requiring disconnection - which might be necessary if your vehicles tend to sit unused for days at a time.

First Use

Once the Telemetry Bin is powered up for the first time DO NOT it to power off for at least 5 minutes. Powering off the Telemetry Bin during the first 5 minutes of its first use will lead to SD card corruption, preventing over the air updates and normal operation. Telemetry Bins can be powered on/off at any time after the initial 5 minutes of the very first use.

Power Draw

Telemetry Bins draw 0.240A at 14V and will deplete approximately 75% of a 12V SLA 50Ah (standard vehicle) battery in about 150 hours. We recommended the units are either attached to vehicles/batteries that are regularly used and recharged or, for less frequently use, then attached using a power supply method (Option 1 or 2) that allows for the Telemetry Bin power to be efficiently powered off when the vehicle/battery will not be used and recharged for extended periods of time.

GPS Antenna Placement

The GPS antenna should be positioned with the black (rounded) surface facing open sky, if possible, and the magnetic bottom surface attached to a metal surface, which will act as a shield from multi-path signals.

LTE Modem Coverage

The unit supports most major telecom providers and automatically switches to available service providers in any area. In a moving vehicle, telemetry data might be delayed during telecom provider switching, but will be transmitted and stored like normal once the unit reconnects to a cellular network.