The amount of power our long range HDX readers need depends on the antenna design.  Some antennas consume more power than others.  The maximum power level is 4 amps before the reader will be shut off by a thermal cutout.  Most antennas require the reader to supply between 1 and 3 amps.


The power level of the multiple antenna reader is in the same range as the single antenna readers since only one antenna is on at a time.


Once the antenna is built the amount of power the reader is using is measured by the datalogger.  There are two amperage levels on an HDX reader for the charge and listen phase of a read cycle.  The charge can require many amps while the listen amperage is usually around 0.25 amps.  The datalogger uses the duration and level of the charge and listen times to calculate the effective amperage which is the overall values to use when sizing a solar power system or other energy source.