Why doesn’t my FSII BP connect to a closer transceiver?

So … this is a common fallacy of understanding how the system works.

In FSII, the BP will not try to find and switch transceivers until it runs into trouble keeping its connection on the antenna it is attached to.  So even if it’s right under a different transceiver, if it still has a reasonable connection, it will remain on its transceiver.   Now, if you are experiencing BPs that remain attached even though its audio and RF are unacceptable, then it could be one of several issues.

The most common is DECT sync due to improper antenna length metrics.  This means that one transceiver is, say … close to the basestation and the other is quite far from it.  When a BP switches from one Transceiver to another, they must be synced so the BP has a seamless hand-off.  Think of it like a conductor setting a downbeat that every musician in the orchestra locks to.   When there’s a long cable length difference between two transceivers that a BP is trying to hand off to and they are not getting the same “downbeat”, the BP stutters during the handoff and either won’t hand of or will even disconnect from the system altogether.

The other issue might be bad DECT sync being generated from the basestation, or the transceiver having issues with keeping up.

First let’s explore the cable length method. You can add cable length in the OVERVIEW window of the SW by clicking on a connected antenna (those vertical lines displaying the antennas) there you’ll find a dropdown to add some length.  If you know there is a considerable difference in cable length between the two transceiver cable lengths, add some and see if that helps.  Start will small differences and work from there.  Keep in mind that, though the lengths are measured in meters, they are not precise, as different cables have different gauges and qualities that will affect the resistance that the cable adds to the signal, so it’s just a general suggestion.  You have to play with it.

If that doesn’t help, then we need to explore some logs and see if there are other anolomies in your system.