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RF Measurement
RF Equipment
In-Line Monitoring for Receive Antenna Health
4046E Receive Antenna Monitor
The 4046E Receive Antenna Monitor is an Ethernet-based RF sensor for continuous, in-line receive-path monitoring. It performs scheduled return loss measurements and provides SNMP alarms to detect antenna and feedline degradation early without disrupting service.
Receive Antenna Monitoring—How It Works
The 4046E RX Antenna Monitor is an Ethernet-based RF sensor installed in-line between the receive antenna and receiver, enabling continuous monitoring of antenna performance without disconnecting the feedline or interrupting service.
The 4046E sensor injects a controlled test signal and measures return loss at user-defined frequencies. Measurements are compared against established baseline values to identify changes over time that may indicate receive-path degradation.
Your Antenna Path is the Common Failure Point
Small issues in the antenna path — moisture, corrosion, cable/connector stress — can quietly raise loss and noise long before a transmitter fault is obvious
Water & Moisture
Water in the feedline
Rain, humidity, or a small crack in the jacket lets moisture in. Return loss changes, noise increases, and receive sensitivity drops even though transmit power looks fine.
Corrosion & Connectors
Connector corrosion
Oxidation at antenna or jumper connections slowly degrades impedance matching, creating loss and reflections that reduce what the receiver can hear.
Weather & Movement
Wind, ice, and vibration
Antennas shift. Mounts flex. Ice loads change electrical length. These mechanical changes alter the antenna match and degrade receive performance over time.
Aging Cables
Cable and component aging
Feedlines and jumpers don’t fail all at once. They drift over time as loss increases, noise rises, and coverage slowly shrinks until it becomes a real outage.
Know What’s Happening Before It Impacts Coverage
Receive antenna problems don't fail all at once. Gradual changes such as connector wear, moisture ingress, and antenna aging quietly reduce receive performance over time. Without visibility, these changes often go unnoticed until coverage gaps or degraded audio appear.
The Bird 4046E sensor gives teams in-line visibility into receive antenna performance. Installed between the antenna and receiver, it measures return loss at defined frequencies and compares results to established baselines helping teams detect meaningful changes in antenna health without a feedline disconnect.
Resources
You can’t fix what you can’t see.
Bird’s RF monitoring sensors give you real-time visibility into the health of your transmit and antenna systems so small issues don't become coverage failures. Whether you need channel-level detail or site-level insight, you’ll know exactly what’s happening, and where to act.
