My VR36A Mod

[Brian H]

Did you accidentally solder the inner wire and the shield together by mistake?
That would short the antenna completely and probably kill all reception.

[dave w]

Perhaps a solder short? Did you splice the two conductors of the coaxes togeather (center lead to center lead and shield to shield) or solder the center lead and the shield directly to the antenna?

Post a picture.


Sorry Brian, I stepped on you again. Delete this post, I am just repeating what Brian said.

[vinrym]

That must have been what had happened. how do i fix it, or can i?

[Brian H]

dave w; Actually you explained the connections in more details than I did.

[Brian H]

Can you give more details on the antenna?
Did it have two wires coming out of it or have a connector on it?

If you look at the small coaxial cable from the receiver. You will see it actually is a very small wire in the center and some braided wire around the outer circumference. They are two different connections. Depending on how the Motorola antenna was connected. We should be able to assist you in getting the correct connections.

[vinrym]

the antenna end was encased in a spinning housing. it appeared to have a small wire inside and a mesh casing (i thought it was plastic as it felt like typical wire coating). i cut the paddle off of the receiver wire, cut the connector off of the antenna and soldered the two together. i didnt realize that there were two solder points.

[shuggins]

Kramer Chins (it appears) had posted pics of his mod.  Can anyone see them?  I cannot see the pictures?!?!?!

EDIT: Once I logged in, I could see the pics....  (duh)

[MrMike]

purchased 2 off the shelf antennas Ebay and added the mini yagi (about +10dbi) to the X10 camera via modified usb cable ( mounted antenna on pole facing my reciever)
added the panel antenna (about +15dbi) to my X10 reciever via coax and mounted outside.

WOW!!
now ALL my cams come in much stronger and comes in as clear as I have ever seen them.
and the 1 with the mini yagi attached is now 212ft from reciver, on my houseboat and comes in as clear as I have ever seen them.
My cams are on 3 corners of my house and 1 ontop looking down driveway (no line of sight but each about 40ft away) and one on a building (100ft away)
and the KICKER is the one on my houseboat (212ft away).
Not too bad on distances, and I get no RF interfearances at all. the audio is still crystal clear too.

Mini YAGI info
  Weatherproof
No signal loss from USB cord like coaxial cable
7 Elements
14 DBi gain
Dimensions: 1" x 2" x 11 1/2" (W x H x L)


Panel info
11''x11''x2''
Gain-dBi 18dbi
Polarization Vertical
Horizontal Beamwidth  -° 35
Vertical Beamwidth     -° 18
Maximum Power         -W  100
Bandwidth                -MHz 83

Model VR31A  (modified with panel antenna)
X10cams      : Nightwatch low light black n white.
                   X10 Sentinel PTZ (got modified with yagi)

Total spent $26 for antennas and $13.00 in beer!!

Mr Mikeâ,,¢