@kiettyyyy can probably shed much more light on this than I but I don’t think our radios qualify as VLP (very low power) devices in the context of the new rulemaking here. Admittedly my Google-fu on the FCC site is not what it used to be and I didn’t see a definition of VLP to compare to the power output of the new radios.
My impression is this is to allow high-thruput device connectivity in the single-digit foot range not the double or triple digit foot range our new radios can achieve.
Exactly spot on here! I actually played with this and reduced EIRP to 14 dBm. We were only able to reliably hold a “competitive” link on 3/4 of a field.
FWIW, the production LPI (low power indoors) devices we made for VH-109 and VH-113 are right at the regulatory limit of 21 dBm.
Preseason testing in 2023 was at 17 dBm and CMP 2024 had it set to 19 dBm. We were able to get an excellent link on all robots in a normal match. The issue we typically see in terms of margins is when teams bury their radios. The field AP can hear their robot radio, but, they’re unable to hear the AP.
The 19 to 21 dBm change was made on the latest FCC submission when we had to certify new antennas.
We’re juicing this lime for everything it can give in the interest of team performance and margins 
WCP has listed the VH-113 (WCP-0395) on the radio product page
https://wcproducts.com/collections/featured-products/products/frc-radio
WCP definitely needs to label that differently. I’d probably prefer that be on its own page too. Otherwise we are 100% going to be having teams buy that with its current naming. “Robot Access Point” makes it seem like that is what you need to use for the access point for the robot.
Question for @kiettyyyy if a team accidentally orders that, can they upload normal robot FW onto it to at least use in AP mode, or would that be stuck running one of the 113 like firmwares? Since 113 like FWs require both external hardware and manual configuration each boot.
The VH-109 and VH-113 are identical except for cooling and antenna placement, so both can run both the radio and AP firmware.
In fact all the VH-113’s will be shipping with the radio firmware IIRC.
Would it be possible or useful (even if not legal) to use a VH-113 as the robot radio for drive practice to allow for longer practice sessions without overheating?
You could, but the VH-113 is not shock rated and the first impact will likely destroy the fan.
You would be better off using the VH-109 with a heat sync.
Is there any news on if there will be an increase to the bandwidth limit this year? I can’t find any in-depth info about the radios beyond this thread, and there hasn’t been any updates this year.
See R704
The fan isn’t rated for the hits… but… if you really want to, YMMV.
Am I safe to assume that the radios shouldn’t have any issues “seeing” through the lighting truss, barge net, algae and LED lighting?
Hasn’t been an issue with 5GHz radios, so should not at 6.
What are the differences between WCP radio and the old white ones?
The two key points are legality for competition this year (the white ones aren’t legal) and frequency bands (white ones are 2.4GHz and 5GHz, new ones are 6GHz as far as you’re concerned.)
Ah ok.
