X10 Community Forum
🔌General Home Automation => Automating Your House => Topic started by: agape2007 on May 02, 2007, 04:10:16 PM
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I use x-10 products for my surveillance system at the shop and over the years I have acquired a lot of X-10 products, but the down side I have found is that the wireless devises as well as the transceivers don't work to well or at all in a metal-walled structure. Any suggestions as to how I can overcome this problem? are there wired motion sensors available? What about the spotlight cameras which are hardwired; will the sensor work better on them. I've hesitated on buying them since the other wireless cameras won't work. I have all the X-10 software available.
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Good Evening,
I do not think your prospects are very good. Your building is acting as a faraday cage blocking the signals everywhere there is metal. The building will also adsorb (attenuate) RF energy dramatically reducing your RF signal strength. The only option but no promise is to try different devices operating at different frequencies. I would think Radio and TV reception in the building is all but nonexistent. If one of them works that would give you an idea of what frequencies would work.
Sorry
Gil Shultz
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I use x-10 products for my surveillance system at the shop and over the years I have acquired a lot of X-10 products, but the down side I have found is that the wireless devises as well as the transceivers don't work to well or at all in a metal-walled structure. Any suggestions as to how I can overcome this problem? are there wired motion sensors available? What about the spotlight cameras which are hardwired; will the sensor work better on them. I've hesitated on buying them since the other wireless cameras won't work. I have all the X-10 software available.
Do you have the same poor performance if an RF transmitter (sensor or RF remote) is operated while not against a metal wall? I've gotten virtually zero signal from a wireless wall switch mounted on a wall which is plaster over metal lath, but a good signal if held a foot or more away from the wall.