X10 questions

Maybe depends on your problems. Maybe you need filters?

Buy a WGL all house code RF transceiver

#1: It really depends on the root cause(s) of the problem. It may be poor coupling between phases, it may be that you have devices which are signal sinks (i.e. that attenuate the 120kHz X-10 signal), it may be noise on the powerline, or it may be a combination of two or more of these. Get an ESM1 signal strength meter. It will help you determine the cause(s) without so much guesswork. AutomatedOutlet.com will even loan you an ESM1.

X-No-archive: yes On Sat, 31 Dec 2005 11:29:48 GMT, snipped-for-privacy@whocares.com (Dave Houston) used recycled pixels to say:

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Now how the heck did someone discover that neat little trick?!

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mailto:postmaster@127.0.0.1

It just popped into my head one day when I was upgrading the foil liner in my helmet. ;)

Actually, there were two people (whose names I cannot recall) who posted here about this. One said he had gotten better range from a transmitter that was suspended by a length of wire and another suggested a half wavelength wire saying it was a parasitic element a la a Yagi antenna.

I tested it and found it did indeed work quite well. One of the BX24-AHT users (Larry Nielsen) had access to a lab and measured a 10dB increase in all directions. Larry also reported over 200' range with an eggbeater antenna and wideband preamp on the receiver end. (I can no longer walk well enough to conduct long range tests.)

The wire can also be vertical and one BX24-AHT user put two small holes behind the transmitter and put the wire behind the drywall for higher SAF.

I can imagine the average spouse's response to lengths of coathanger taped to the walls: Either call the men in white coats or the divorce attorney!

Wasn't there also a guy who got better range by operating his credit card remote tucked under his chin?

-- Bobby G.

Well there's actually some scientific basis for that. The average human skull is about the right size to form a 1/4 wave resonant cavity. The emptier the cavity, the better it's reported to work.