X10 Community Forum
📸Cameras & Camera Software => Camera General Discussion => Topic started by: tom j on April 02, 2006, 11:58:10 PM
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UPDATE, After returning two Video Commanders 5 times I finally got two that will at least learn the motion detector codes!! All the other 4 were DOA (dead on arrival) one thing of possible interest through is after the first one actually did accept the code, I thought will I'll clear it and try it again just to check. Well what I did was just pull the little plug from the back wait a few seconds and then start the process over again. Well no.......... when I tried to reprogram it it would not accept the code I said well this one must be defective to why won't it relearn the code??? well after some hair pulling I don't have that much left after some of this x10 stuff, I said well let me clear it like the instructions indicate although I figured there wasen't any difference because it would surely lose it's memory after you unplug it that's why you have to use batters right? Well not exactly. When I did clear it according to the instructions it did in fact relearn the code perfectly. So what I discovered is that if you unplug this thing and waited a few seconds it won't lose it's programing I unplugged it waited about 30 seconds and plugged it back in and it still retained the programing when I walked pass the motion detector I used to program it it stated blinking!! So if you want to reprogram CLEAR THE UNIT AS PER THE INSTRUCTIONS. Never even got that far with the other four they wouldn't even learn the codes initially. Support was no help with this it was just something I figured out myself and thought I would share with the group. This stuff can be very frustrating sometimes. Think x10 should compensate me in some way for all the money I spent on shipping. I would have given up a long time ago but after buying four wireless cameras I needed this thing for the recording which is what I bought all this stuff for in the first place. The End
Tcj
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My experience with motion detectors (Eagle Eye and Active Eye) is that after you set the Video Commander to learn the motion detector and you remove one of the batteries in the motion detector to mount it via the included screws, it would lose it's 'live' connection with the Video Commander which then wouldn't pick up the RF signals from the motion detector. To get around that, I didn't remove the batteries after setting it up but instead mounted the motion detector with velcro, and now it works fine (over 80 feet away). I suppose you could put batteries in the Video Commmander and then take it to the screw-mounted motion detector to 'learn' the motion detector, but it seemed easier to use a big fat piece of velcro instead. This little problem drove me crazy and took me several weeks of troubleshooting to figure this out, so I hope this helps somebody, even though it may not be applicable in this particular case.
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My experience with motion detectors (Eagle Eye and Active Eye) is that after you set the Video Commander to learn the motion detector and you remove one of the batteries in the motion detector to mount it via the included screws, it would lose it's 'live' connection with the Video Commander which then wouldn't pick up the RF signals from the motion detector. To get around that, I didn't remove the batteries after setting it up but instead mounted the motion detector with velcro, and now it works fine (over 80 feet away). I suppose you could put batteries in the Video Commmander and then take it to the screw-mounted motion detector to 'learn' the motion detector, but it seemed easier to use a big fat piece of velcro instead. This little problem drove me crazy and took me several weeks of troubleshooting to figure this out, so I hope this helps somebody, even though it may not be applicable in this particular case.
Pretty cool idea! 8) This will also be helpful when the motion detector batteries die (usually on a dark rainy night thanks to Murphy ;) ). You can take it indoors to change the batteries, reset it and if necessary re-teach the Video Commander its code. Pretty neat! Earned you your first 'helpful' too! ;D
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My experience with motion detectors (Eagle Eye and Active Eye) is that after you set the Video Commander to learn the motion detector and you remove one of the batteries in the motion detector to mount it via the included screws, it would lose it's 'live' connection with the Video Commander which then wouldn't pick up the RF signals from the motion detector.
Anytime you remove the batteries from a motion sensor it will need to have the unit and house code reset but this should have no effect on the Video Commander. I have been using the Video Commander for several years in which time I have added and removed motion sensors numerous times without having to reprogram the Video Commander. Of course the motion sensors need to be set to the correct unit and house code.
I do like your Velcro idea. It can be a real pain trying to program a motion sensor once it is mounted outside, especially on a bright sunny day. (very hard to see the LED's). I wonder how well the Velcro will hold up outside ???
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I had some trouble programing my commander myself. I had planned on using my oldest VCR. But after some time I tried a newer (though much cheaper) VCR.
The 2nd VCR worked fine, so I tried again on the older VCR, but it was still a no-go.
I just assumed that the IR lights were not bright enough, or didn't stay on long enough for the older VCR (1000 of a sec counts with IR devices).
I decided then to use sender/receiver units to bring the signal to the newer (silver colored) VCR that had been located in my den. Which worked out fine as it gave me a great place to review the tape.
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My Video commander works fine, except programming the Stop. I'm thinking about sending it back but I don't want to keep sending it back because they sending me product that is not working. They should replace the bad product free of charge. Very disappointed that the company knowingly sending you a bad Item.
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My Video commander works fine, except programming the Stop.
When you say program the stop..... do you mean programing the stop command for the VCR into the commander II (UX23A) ...or are you trying to stop it before the 5 minute run time?
Also be sure you UN-plug the IR emitter before trying to program the stop (or any) command. The commander won't learn (program) with the IR emitter(s) plugged in.
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When I press the Stop button on the VCR Commander II, I should have 8 blinks before the programming of the Stop command with the VCR remote. I do not get that. Just blinks as usual.
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When I press the Stop button on the VCR Commander II, I should have 8 blinks before the programming of the Stop command with the VCR remote. I do not get that. Just blinks as usual.
If I remember correctly, I had to hold down the stop till if blinked, then release it, and it would blink some more......
The directions aren't the easiest to understand, and/or follow. I struggled with my commander for sometime, but it completed my camera set-up and works fine.
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And you may want to take a peek here: http://www.x10community.com/forums/index.php?topic=8734.0