We make quite a few radar sensors (and coming soon the L12, and we hope to make some fall detection radars), they now come in 1U, 1WX, 1MR, 1MS, 2A, and F2, and some of you are confused as to what they stand for, and how to choose.
We have made three classifications of them based on sensor:
- LD2410C: all sensors starting with 1, 1U, 1WX, 1MR, 1MS. we call them Gen1, a series.(https://docs.screek.io/gen1)
- LD2450: 2A(https://docs.screek.io/2a)
- LD1125F: F2(https://docs.screek.io/f2)
Then, one of the most important concerns is which one is the best?
They each have their own characteristics:
- Gen1 (LD2410 sensor, 1U, 1WX, 1MR, 1MS) cost-effective, good performance, the difficulty lies in the exclusion of interference to set the threshold will be a little convoluted, about this, the recent HLK APP will have optimised.
- F2 (LD1125F), and Gen1 is similar, the range is slightly larger, it has only three settings, foolproof, the antenna is a little larger, but not necessarily more powerful than Gen1 how much, we call it easy to set the sensitivity (Gen1 has 8 gate, F2 only three), it is easy to set the maximum range of detection (radar level) which can be conveniently used to rule out interference outside the wall! (This will also come in handy when Gen1's APP is upgraded, and we have positive feedback on some of the shortcomings of the current HLKRadarTool Configuration APP. Another point is that the heat generation is smaller and more energy efficient. This may be thanks to the better MCU processor.
- 2A (LD2450), which is different from the previous radar is the ability to detect the target coordinates, and up to three coordinates, which can do some area detection problems, and can be imagined as a simplified version of FP2 with cost-effective advantages. But it falls short in that multiplayer mode may lose one or two targets, the static capability isn't as good as the Gen1 and F2, and it may lose you when you're sitting motionless. The latest firmware has made improvements, but it will still come up short due to the performance of the antenna and other things. But it's good for tracking targets that are dynamic and when paired with a delay can achieve good results.
Finally, in terms of usage scenarios, how should you choose?
- If you need a cost-effective alternative to a PIR, the Gen1 is the first choice. You use half a minute to configure it (connect sensor hotspot distribution network, HA auto-discovery), it will give you feedback on whether there is a target in front of the radar, and how far away it is, very simple and pleasant. The challenge with it is the possible interference from those fixed electronic devices such as electric fans, this is when you need HLKRadarTool to analyse and remove the fixed interference. If you don't have those complications, then it's perfect and it's good to replace it.
- If you want a bit of simplicity to limit the maximum detection distance, a quick sensitivity setting to filter out some common interference and don't like a sensor that heats up, then the F2 is slightly more expensive and it will bring easier setup options.
- If you want people to get to an area and turn on the lights. Or to rule out interference in a fixed area, the 2A is great for that. Also the 2A is great for excluding pets and such.
Finally, we'd like to welcome the L12 radar, which is based on the LD2412 and has a larger measuring angle, longer range, and better antenna with intelligent background noise analysis than the Gen1 series (LD2410C sensor). I think it will be an interesting adventure.
Finally thanks for all the support for SCREEK, we had a great time and we sourced a lot of sensors. It was a very rewarding journey, thank you all and have a great day.