I did a quick experiment testing the drop off rates for the new anchors. I placed the anchor on the wall at 4.5 ” for the tall trial (which would be a more natural position to have the anchor in) and 3 ” for the short trial (which would be level with the pager). I stood at different distances and got the RSSI measurements.
From the following table- it can be seen that the sharpest drop-off is between 8 and 10 feet. Also, the tall trial seems to have given better results for two reasons. First off, except for the first data point, the data follows the expected pattern with the RSSI dropping as distance increases. Secondly, the data is more precise because the standard deviations are lower.
In the graph, the two data sets are put together. It is seen that the tall trial follows a nice downward trend, whereas the short trial was a little bumpy.
All in all- the tall trial seems to have gone well, giving the trend we were looking for.