I bought the perimeter fence kit and need a perimeter closer to 500’. The directions say the signal will degrade but is there a way I can make 500’ work? I have a 5vdc power supply I am going to use and I haven’t bought any wire yet for the fence.
Thank you so much in advance for your help!
Hi,
Welcome to the RobotShop community 
The perimeter wire we used to test the generator circuit was 100’ long. This doesn’t mean that the wire can’t be longer.
From the datasheet of the NE555, the maximum recommended current output of the chip is 200mA. Therefore, with a VCC of 12V, the maximum power output would be 2.4 Watt.
So theoretically, the total output resistance should be less than 60 Ohms. There is an output resistance of 47 Ohms in the generator circuit, so it leaves 13 Ohms for the loop wire resistance.
A 22 AWG wire gauge is rated for 16.14 Ohms of resistance per 1000ft, therefore, the maximum theoretical length of the perimeter wire, would be approximately 805’. The wire length of the perimeter wire is based on all these parameters (perimeter wire gauge, voltage input, output resistance, etc…)
Could I use 16awg wire instead since it’s about 4 ohms per 1000’?
You could, as long as you can plug it into the screw terminal connector.
