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[eagle]

Hi guys,

I have 4 ActiveEye sensors (MS16A) around the perimeter of the house plus two floods (PR511).
Motion sensors are under roof eaves and never in the sun but do look into areas brightly lit by the sun.  I have them controlling lights outside and inside as visual indicators.  I also have BVC with appropriate messages where motion is detected.

I have AHP and two TM751s on far ends of the house to help RF signals from outdoor socket rockets and floods.  I will eventually eliminate the two transceivers once I do some tweaks to improve RF reception to the CM15A or get two RR501s.

Okay, below is a short overview of what's been happening.

Initially, everything worked fine.  Then one of the sensors started acting up.  It kept toggling back and forth all DAY.  After a couple of days of doing this and concluding that it is caused by the sunny area it is seeing, I decided to take it down.  That eliminated the repeated false triggers. 

The next day, one of the remaining sensors started acting up during the day and also at night.  It kept toggling back and forth!  Similar to the first sensor, it looks into areas lit by the sun but no plants or trees.  After a couple of nights, I took it down.  No more false triggers.

Now, one of the floods is acting up.  It toggles back and forth all night.

I'm also seeing now that the two remaining sensors are also being triggered intermittently and toggling back and forth.

Even some appliance modules not on any sensors are intermittently coming on. 

What the..... 

My better half is getting really annoyed and fed up with it already. 

I should mention that the Activity Monitor report shows device action as "RECEIVE" and not "RECEIVE RF".  So I take it the TM751 is the one receiving the trigger and sending the PLC commands to the lights as recorded by AHP.

We are going to do a full house check hopefully today.

We'll unplug unused TVs, computers, and appliances. 

We will reduce flood sensitivity from high to medium.  There are a couple of tall plants that are within 10 feet of the floods.  Is movement of tall plants enough to trigger the floods at night? 

So, while I try to troubleshoot it, I'd appreciate any pearls of wisdom you might want to share in helping identify possible causes for the overactive sensors.

Advance thanks.

r,
eagle

[everydayflyer]

Three months ,455 views and no replays  so here are my $0.02 worth.

Yes tall plants such as you described will trigger motion sensors and it does not take much wind if the plats sway the sensors are tripped.

If yo have two TM 751 s on the same House and unit code they can interfer with each other and perhaps cause the back and forth toggling .

I do not have my X-10 floods as yet but I have several other brands of them and when the wind gets up or during severe lighting storms I have to shut them off to keep them from constantly being re-triggered as soon as they time out.

Note I am not using any computer software but found this post while looking for a means to reduce the sensitivity of the Eagle Eyes. Seems like I saw range listed as 20 feet somewhere but mine detect at a good 50 feet which causes unnecessary triggers to the point that a Robin will trigger them.

 
 

[eagle]

Thanks for the reply everydayflyer.

I have since resolved this issue on a related thread elsewhere.

I've done a few of things to reduce the false triggers.

FLOODS: 
- Reduced the sensitivity of the sensors from High to Medium
- Cut back the tall plants/vegetation

EAGLE EYE:
- Placed and positioned them strategically that reduces their line of sight to bright reflective surfaces like patio floor tiles or even the driveway

The floods have been behaving flawlessly.  The EagleEye sensors still get triggered once in a while but not incessantly like before the adjustments.  In those instances when they get triggered falsely, it's because the sun is really beating down on the ground and its reflection from the surface is really strong and bright. 

r,
eagle

[HA Dave]

I have since resolved this issue on a related thread elsewhere.

I've done a few of things to reduce the false triggers.
- Reduced the sensitivity of the sensors from High to Medium
- Cut back the tall plants/vegetation
- Placed and positioned them strategically that reduces their line of sight to bright reflective surfaces like patio floor tiles or even the driveway

Great tips from BOTH of you... and TIMELY as well. Anyone reading this post may be having similar problems.

Spring has sprung almost everywhere by now. Leafy vegetation that maybe wasn't around when a sensor that was positioned last fall or winter can develop problems. As well.. the sun rises earlier and sets later. That means rises further to the east... and sets further to the west. Both of these conditions can cause problems... that may require some adjustments.

My wife likes the market umbrellas on the patio and decks. They look nice, add valued shade, keeps seating dry during rains, and play hell with a motion sensor. I've developed winter and summer settings.... and actually reverse the direction that one floodlight points.

I love BVC and the voice warning/announcement is a great feature. But recently when expanding my occupancy sensing I realized I could use a conditional macro to turn the sensors [macro] reaction On and OFF. This allows me to have daytime recording when I am NOT home. Yet freedom to enjoy the outside without warnings or recorded video. It could also be used to shut down a system... during high winds. As a safety with mine... I use dusk to reset (turn the sensors macro back to normal)... in case I forget.