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[lviper]

I have recently added the RS 270-1402 34" antenna to my cm15a. All I did was remove the plastic over the antenna, stripped off enough insulation to crimp and eyelet on the wire. Found a screw and nut to fit through the hole of the replacement antenna and clamped the wire to the antenna. With the antenna fully extended and counting the exposed length of the original wire antenna, I have about a full wave antenna and my reception is wonderful. All ds10a sensors on all 5 doors report without a problem and my ms16a on the front porch reaches without a problem. I can even see all my security keychain remotes without any problems.

Here is the antenna I used: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062261

FYI, the cm15a is located on the main floor in a central location. My house is 2 story with a full basement. Almost 2000 sq feet. Furthest ds10a is about 40 feet line of site. I have another that is about 30' line of site but passes through a few walls, around a few corners and sometimes through a door when closed. Another about 30' away is always behind a second door.

The ms16a is about 25' away and outside on the front porch so it only passes through one outside wall to reach the cm15a.

I did have my cm15a plugged in to the same outlet as my ds7000 but I was getting quirky results. So I moved the ds7000 console to another outlet on the other side of the room and the quirky went away.

Also, I used a palm pad and a kr22a slim remote to trigger a chime and walked throughout the house testing range on both. I could use the palm pad anywhere in the house. The kr22a worked almost every where except in the far corners of the house. This includes the basement for both remotes.

[bkenobi]

I picked up the 34" antenna as one of the 3 yesterday.  I wasn't sure if I would need to add a significant length of wire for that one to reach 38" (full wave length), so I had been thinking of using either the 30" or 28" units.  The 28" one has a smaller diameter which pretty much matches the original plastic antenna cover of the CM15a, so it was the one I was leaning towards.  However, since these are fairly easy to switch between, I could try the largest one and then go smaller if I can't get a full 38".

The other thing I was contemplating was going with the F-connector mod and finding a 38"+ TV antenna.  If I did that, I could place it anywhere I wanted to optimize performance without needing to use an extension cord on the CM15a.  I suppose the Radio Shack antennas are an easier mod that would be on the way to the F-connector mod, so I might as well try that one first.

EDIT:  What about using a Dipole FM antenna such as this one:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062691

Couldn't I cut the ends of the antenna and resolder them together to make a 38" span rather than 58"?

Or perhaps one like this that covers UHF, VHF, and FM?

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103077

[lorcott]

Aslamma....

just finished the mod. Took maybe 20 minutes. Did a few things differently...

I sanded down the end of the antenna base. Once sanded I was able to solder the wire directly to the base...no glue!

Then I realized I used to have a perfectly good working TM571 and now I have parts and an old CM15A antenna....

Using some tin snips I was able to make the CM15A original antenna work in the TM571. Since I'm no where near concerned about range with the 571, this worked perfectly!!

Thanks for the tip. Keep 'em coming.


s

[DJ Cornfield]

The other thing I was contemplating was going with the F-connector mod and finding a 38"+ TV antenna.  If I did that, I could place it anywhere I wanted to optimize performance without needing to use an extension cord on the CM15a.  I suppose the Radio Shack antennas are an easier mod that would be on the way to the F-connector mod, so I might as well try that one first.

No, no.  You're making this too hard with all those wacky antenna theories. I'm an AM and FM transmitter engineer.  I can tell you that all this little x10 jobby needs is a longer "real metal" antenna to function better.  Just jam a Radio Shack antenna onto the end of the existing wire and it will work to its fullest.  It literally takes a couple minutes to screw it on and fasten it to the case.  Do that, and you can spend your time worrying about something else, man.   

[JMac]

I agree - 10 inch piece of coathanger will do the trick.  Everything else is cosmetics.

[Brian H]

Yes. You are not messing with the transmitter antenna in the CM15A. So it should not be critical.

[bkenobi]

I installed an F-connector mod a couple weeks back and used the 20-176 from Radio Shack.  When it was in the office on the ground floor, I was able to get coverage over the vast majority of my 5 acre property.  When I installed it upside down in the attic, I get good coverage in the house, and ok coverage outside (I didn't need to be able to control the lights from the next county anyway).