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[TakeTheActive]

Cut a length of coat hanger wire about 18 inches long and tape it to the wall horizontally about 1 inch above the motion sensor.  See if that improves your range.  (If this sounds bizarre, think "Yagi").

Antenna Passive Repeater to Boost Signal Strength

[TakeTheActive]

WELL...  you're half right!  I tried outside, near my front door, which isn't more than 25' away from the sensor, and NIENTE...

Eggbeater Antenna

 

[TakeTheActive]

DeltaNu1142 : RR501

• BUY some "[/size]Troubleshooting Tools [/b]": Besides the ELK Signal Strength Meter, get a wired controller, a [/size]RR501, a PalmPad, a Universal Module (or Chime, but the UM has more functionality).
  

You won't enjoy X10 until you understand it. And you won't understand it until you either waste hour after hour going through what we "[/size]Oldtimers[/b] " went through *OR* reading our NOTEs. 

On top of that, unless you personally can *SEE* electrons moving, you need the "[/size]Troubleshooting Tools [/b]".[/size]

TakeTheActive:  some people just don't like fishin!

Should we switch to canned goods then?     

[-Bill- (of wgjohns.com)]

Many CM15A's seem to have poor RF reception range.  Mine only worked from a handfull of feet away until my wife bumped it with something and broke the plastic antenna loose.  Now there is about one inch of wire hanging out of the case with the antenna dangling down from it.  The range has never been better!   

Unless you plan to return the unit, I'd definitely recommend some of the antenna mods referenced above as they are much cheaper than buying another device to repeat the RF signal.

Besides, as an electrical engineer, saving a buck by making a mod is more fun IMHO.   

[DeltaNu1142]

Many CM15A's seem to have poor RF reception range.  Mine only worked from a handfull of feet away until my wife bumped it with something and broke the plastic antenna loose.  Now there is about one inch of wire hanging out of the case with the antenna dangling down from it.  The range has never been better!   

Unless you plan to return the unit, I'd definitely recommend some of the antenna mods referenced above as they are much cheaper than buying another device to repeat the RF signal.

I just removed the plastic tube covering the antenna wire, soldered an extra 9.5" of wire on the end of the existing wire, and heat-shrunk (sp?) the thing.  DOUBLED my range.  Fantastic!

I'm still looking for something better than the flimsy shrink-wrap though.  I've got two layers on & I'm thinking about just using straws...  any ideas?

Thanks for all your suggestions!

[-Bill- (of wgjohns.com)]

Many CM15A's seem to have poor RF reception range.  Mine only worked from a handfull of feet away until my wife bumped it with something and broke the plastic antenna loose.  Now there is about one inch of wire hanging out of the case with the antenna dangling down from it.  The range has never been better!   

Unless you plan to return the unit, I'd definitely recommend some of the antenna mods referenced above as they are much cheaper than buying another device to repeat the RF signal.

I just removed the plastic tube covering the antenna wire, soldered an extra 9.5" of wire on the end of the existing wire, and heat-shrunk (sp?) the thing.  DOUBLED my range.  Fantastic!

I'm still looking for something better than the flimsy shrink-wrap though.  I've got two layers on & I'm thinking about just using straws...  any ideas?

Thanks for all your suggestions!

Glad to help!     DOUBLED huh!     Now I'm going to have to try that!  What guage of wire did you use?

To stiffen it up, how about the long spray tube from a can of WD-40?   

[DeltaNu1142]

Glad to help!     DOUBLED huh!     Now I'm going to have to try that!  What guage of wire did you use?
To stiffen it up, how about the long spray tube from a can of WD-40?   

I used about the same gauge as the antenna wire, quite small--22?  The WD-40 spray tube is a good idea, it would probably fit just fine, except over my shoddy solder job.    And it would have to be around 15" long (but who couldn't use 2 extra bottles of WD hanging around the house?)

I still need an RR501 (now that I now what that module is, I'll call it by its model number TakeTheActive!) for my garage sensor, but now my CM15A is picking up my front door sensor no problem.

I'm sure the other methods will work better--I did the quick & dirty because I didn't have to mess with the internals (yet).