X10 Community Forum
🖥️ActiveHome Pro => ActiveHome Pro General => Topic started by: rob meldrum on September 20, 2005, 10:47:57 PM
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Hi all, After 12 months of waiting for our
new house to be built, we're moving in next
month. I am now re-testing all my X10
paraphernalia. The CM15A RF range with the
keychain remote was 15 feet. Ugh. I did
the range mod, but used an inexpensive
dipole antenna from Radio Shack (the wire
in a clear sheath, in a "T" used for FM
reception in lots of stereos) and now I
have reliable RF reception from the
keychain remote in my entire 4000 sq ft
house, plus from the driveway. Amazing.
Looking forward to setting up and testing
motion sensors, dimmers, etc. Now that
this is fixed, the next big issue is making
sure the X10 signals are getting through.
Need to add a phase coupler and
X10 "filters." Will keep you posted on
progress.
Rob
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OH Yes the mod does make things work so much
better. We will stay tuned for future
updates and questions.
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Rob: Did you change the length of the of
the dipole antenna? Also, did you use a
matching transformer? Does anyone know
what impedance the CM15A is expecting to
see?
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Schematic for the receiver isn't much help
[says 240mm for lenght] as is the receiver
chip makers refference design show the
impedance. The WGL v572 that uses a simmilar
receiver module comes with RG6 cable that is
75 ohms but that isn't 100% on what X10s
uses. Thank goodness receivers are more
forgiving than transmitters. When I tested
my modified cm15a I used the WGL supplied
one. I have also seen a message on the
accessha.com forum where someone got better
distance just by uncoiling the extra antenna
wire inside the cm15a and putting a longer
hollow tube in place of the shorter one on
the side with the wire fully extended.
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Rob Meldrum,
What is the part number for the antenna that
you used, and how did you connect it to the
CM15A?
Thanks,
Bob
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Glad someone is interested! Radio Shack FM
dipole antenna:
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?
catalog%5Fname=CTLG&product%5Fid=42-2385
First I tried straightening out the
internal antenna, got *maybe* an extra
three feet of coverage, and this is in an
open area, no walls, range died at fifteen
feet with regular unit, maybe two-three
more feet with antenna extended. The
antenna mod is described here in other
threads, but the link is:
http://www.accessha.com/howto_fconnector_pag
e1.html
I did *not* make a coax connection, as I am
a novice at messing with electronics. I
soldered in a ground wire per the link, cut
the antenna wire, and soldered each to a
female spade connector. I used a glue gun
to glue the two wires firmly to the box
where the old antenna connected. I mounted
the dipole antenna on a wall, with
the "arms" of the antenna at right angles.
Plug the CM15A in to the dipole antenna
with the spade connectors, and suddenly the
weak keychain remote works everywhere in
the house. PalmPad remote works great,
too. I was very pleased at how easy this
mod was. In about three weeks we'll be
moving in and I'll have more to report.
Feel free to ask if I can be of help!
Rob
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Roger,
I did not change the antenna in any way.
I'm too electronically illiterate to know
about impedance or transformers. I did try
using lengths of coat hangers first (some
random web site suggested that), but they
didn't help at all. I'm about to order a
phase coupler to connect at the 220-volt
dryer. I think I'll order an active
bridge, does that make sense to you?
Rob
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Rob: Thanks for the info. It makes me
wonder if that isn't a better approach than
using an F connector. When the warrantee
expires on my unit in December, I will have
to do a similar mod.
With regards to the phase coupler, I highly
recommend getting one. Check out a
tutorial I wrote at:
http://www.x10.webhop.org/Phase_Coupling.htm
One word of caution though, if you are
using a CM15A, I would stay away from the
Smarthome and Leviton (and probably X10 Pro
since the Leviton is made by X10) brands of
Coupler/Repeaters (their passive couplers
are fine). People on here have reported
that when used with a CM15A a flood
of “Status Request” signals will start
being sent that prevent other commands from
being transmitted. The ACT brand
coupler/repeaters apparently don’t have
this problem.
I suspect it is a bug in the CM15A and not
the coupler/repeater (in a separate thread
I theorized a cause of this problem), but
regardless of the exact cause it is best to
avoid these combinations.
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HI
having trouble with remotes
communicating.the seem to only some of the
time.added phase coupler.i like te idea of
the ant mod.how can i do this? thanks
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HI
having trouble with remotes
communicating.the seem to only some of the
time.added phase coupler.i like te idea of
the ant mod.how can i do this? thanks
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Sparky,
Go to the following web site and click on
projects. you will find the antenna mod
there.
http://www.accessha.com/index.html
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Only update for that mod is. If you have a
later unit. The extra antenna wire maybe
glued to the case in a loop and not balled
up in a mess like my early one was.
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Correction. The transmitting antenna is
glued to the cover. In my later one the
extra length of the receiving one was glued
in a 'U' shape to the main board between the
receiving and transmitting daughter cards.
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Roger said: The ACT brand coupler/repeaters apparently
don’t have this problem.
I'm sorry to report that I have two new ACT CR234 units
here that both exhibit the signal storm within 1 hour of
plugging them in...
michael
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I understand that the SmartHome USB
controller 1132UCP doesn't have the rf range
problem exhibited by the CM15A. Anyone know
if that is the case???
John
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Michael: You say you have two ACT
CR234’s. I presume you aren’t using them
both at the same time. That would
certainly cause a signal storm.
John: The 1132CUP doesn’t have an RF
transceiver so it doesn’t have an RF range
to have problems with. Many people who use
the 1132CUP use it with a WGL V572AB
transceiver. The V72AB apparently has a
much better RF range than the CM15A but
when you combine the cost of both the
1132CUP ($100) and the WGL V572AB ($80) it
works out too much more than AHP, even with
Smart Macros.
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Thanks for the information, Roger.
I see many posts about folks modifying their
CM15A because of need to improve RF
capability. I certainly wouldn't expect to
have to do that. I would expect it to do its
job. This isn't a hobby for me.
Once I get my phase(s) hooked together, I can
see what I'm dealing with in terms of RF
performance with the CM15A that I have. If I
have to, I'll switch to SmartHome in a
heartbeat if it does the job.
Thanks again for your reply!!
John
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John: I hope things work well for you once
you get a phase coupler, but if you are
still having problems and decide to go with
the 1132CUP / V572AB solution, Automated
Outlet has a promotion on right now that,
if you type in "palmpad" (all lower case)
in, the coupon code section when you order
online and your order is over $100.00 U.S.,
then they'll include a free Palm Pad Remote
with your order. You need to be a new
customer for it to count, not an existing
customer. Obviously, this promotion is
subject to change or cancellation at any
time and I can’t take any personal
responsibility for it, but I thought I
would let you know about it.
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Roger H. said:
Michael: You say you have two ACT
CR234’s. I presume you aren’t using them
both at the same time. That would
certainly cause a signal storm.
Naturally... I just had to try a second one after the first
one failed so un-characteristically for ACT products... One
at a time... Each fails the same way.
michael
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Rogar H. - Thanks again.
I called SmartHome after perusing their
website. Looks like you have to get the
TW532A to interface the V572A into the power
line. So, I figure the V572A gets a signal
from something like a motion detector and
couples that same code into the power line
through the TW532A.
I got the impression from the SmartHome
fellow that the V572A was Receive only,
whereas the CM15A is both TX and RX.
Sooooo, could the TW532A co-exist on the
power line with the CM15A? And, what would
happen if both the CM15A and V572A picked up
the same RF signal?
I'm way ahead of myself here. Must learn to
walk first!!! ;o)
John
John
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Yes the v572ab is all house code receive
only. Smarthome also has a version with
their 1132B interface. One less thing to
plug in as it has the power supply and
interface in one module. With the TW523 you
also get a wall wart power supply for the
v572ab.
Yes it receives the RF signals from a remote
or motion sensor and sends the X10 Line
Signals over the power line.
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Brian is correct although the V572A is the
version with only the transceiver and the
V572AB is the one that includes a TW523.
A V572A (or AB) could co-exist on the
powerline with the CM15A although you will
have to disable transceiving on the CM15A.
The only caveat is that CM15A might run
macros twice if it receives the command via
RF. This is a bug that was introduced
several revisions back and I am not sure if
it has been fixed yet or not (or if it will
be fixed).
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Michael,
Using two ACT 234's simultaneously would be
the X10 version of Pong ;-)
I assume you are driving the CM15A
with "Xtensions" so this firestorm is
created by CM15A hardware/firmware problem?
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If I did want to add a V572AB, would I really
need a TW523, or would I just need a PSC05
(not sure about number, but it's one way).
The V572A RF is receive only. So it seems
that you would only need the power line
interface to burp out the received x10 code
onto the power line. You wouldn't ever be
going the other direction. Is this right or
am I really messed up?
Thanks
John
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I believe it tries to be polite and listens
for X10 Line Signals before transmitting.
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Dave W said:
Using two ACT 234's simultaneously would be
the X10 version of Pong ;-)
I assume you are driving the CM15A
with "Xtensions" so this firestorm is
created by CM15A hardware/firmware problem?
One CR234 on the powerline here, with NO X10 controller
on the lines at all... within one hour, the CR234 will start
sending 'status' messages continuously. Perhaps some
interaction with a couple of PR511's or perhaps some of
my Powerflash modules. Both CR234's are awaiting RMAs
from Smarthome :-(
michael
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John; One more thing. X10/X10Pro in all
their wisdom, wired the RJ jack on the one
way and two way differently. The one way has
a separate common for the Zero Crossing and
Transmiter control signals. The two way has
one common for all three signals. Good
chance that a one way connected to the v572
will be missing one of the needed signals.
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Michaael: Hmm. The way I see it there are
only 2 possible explanations:
1) Both 234’s are from a bad batch. This
is unlikely, but it is possible that their
manufacturing test didn’t catch the problem.
2) More likely there is something in
your “environment” that is causing it to
misbehave. The PowerFlash is transmit only
(it isn’t polite) so I highly doubt if it
would be the source of problems. The PR511
is 2-way, but I also doubt if it is causing
you problems. Do any of your neighbours
use X10? Is it possible that one of them
has a coupler-repeater and the two of them
are ping ponging off of each other?
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Thanks, Brian....so if I wind up going with
V572AB, it'll be with the TW523. I think only
about $20 difference.
Expecting my SmartHome phase coupler/repeater
today. Will try it out this evening. Watch
out clothes dryer, here I come!
Wheeeeee!
John