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[exnooyorka]

Greetings,

Recently installed two VT38A floodcams on the exterior of a detached garage.  I have them set to different unit codes (1 and 2).  On each unit the "Light/dark" control knob is set dead center of its range and the "On time" control knob is set to its minimum.

Walking around the driveway at night successfully turns the lights on via the motion detector and they go off automatically a short time later.

In addition to the motion detector I'm also using the TM751 inside my home with two KR19A SlimFire remotes to control the lights.

I can successfully stand next to the TM751 and use the KR19A remotes to manually turn each floodcam on and off.  This makes me think I have everything wired and set correctly - the housecodes, the TM751 and the KR19A units.

I've searched the forums for VT38A threads but haven't found answers to the situations below, I'm hoping some other members of the community may be able to help.

(1) I have reception issues with using the KR19A remotes outside my home. I'm getting nowhere near the advertised 100 feet of range on the remotes.  If I'm standing outside my house (~25-30 feet away from the TM751) the remotes do not turn the floodcams on or off.  My home is of older construction; brick and stone, plaster and lathe, however I can stand in my kitchen (where the TM751 is located) and successfully use my car's keychain remote (the factory-supplied remote) to lock and unlock the doors of my car when it's inside the detached garage with the garage door closed - so I'm at a loss as to why the KR19A remotes are working so poorly, even with line-of-sight to the TM751 via a window.

(2) Using the remotes while standing next to the TM751, the lights will not turn on during the day.  Perhaps this is good (and by design), however I was expecting that an "On" command would be an "On" command regardless of what the motion detector is seeing, however that does not seem to be the case.  Should I be able to turn the lights on with the "On" command from the KR19A remote even if the settings on the floodcam would otherwise prevent the motion detector from turning the lights on?

(3) At night, after turning the lights on with the KR19A remote, they do not turn off automatically and must be manually turned off.  I guess my confusion over this behavior is that it seems inconsistent with what I'm seeing with #2 above.  If #2 is happening because the design of the VT38A is to have the motion detector settings absolutely govern the lights, I would expect that the lights would turn off after the proscribed amount of time regardless of how they were turned on.  But this behavior seems to conflict with #2.  If an "On" command is an absolute "On" command, overriding whatever is going on with the motion detector and its settings I would expect the lights to turn on during the day when I send an "On" command, but that's not happening for me.

My preference would be to solve #1 and #3.  I really don't care about #2, I only mention it because it seems to conflict with what I'm seeing in #3.

Any help or tips would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Noam]

I don't know about problems #2 and 3, but #1 might simply be a weak battery in the remote.
You might try replacing the battery (or at least checking it if you have a battery tester or multimeter), and see if that resolves the issue.
It is also possible that the transmitter in the KR19A is just not as powerful as the one in your car remote.

[dave w]

1. The Credit Card Remote and Key Chain remote are not known for having good range. Sadly, it is what it is. A solution is to have multiple TM751s or RR501s (RR501 is a better choice when using more than one transceiver) Also metal lath is probably part of your range problem. But like Noam suggested, I would definately replace the battery. A few years back I bought some Slim Line switches and their batteries old and weak. Who knows how long they have been in storage.

2. ftp://ftp.x10.com/pub/manuals/vt38a-om.pdf
Normal operation. Read page 8, para 4,  sentence 3 of your instructions.

3. ftp://ftp.x10.com/pub/manuals/vt38a-om.pdf
Again, normal operation. Read para 5, same page as above.

[exnooyorka]

Ah, the old RTFM.  I'm a little embarrassed that I didn't catch that.  I did read the instructions before I installed the cameras, but it would have been a good idea to re-read the instructions after installing the cameras.

I appreciate the quick response.  I'll meter out the batteries in the keychain remotes and change them if necessary - and report back to the group with the results.

Thanks again!

[dave w]

Ah, the old RTFM.  I'm a little embarrassed that I didn't catch that. 
I'll meter out the batteries in the keychain remotes and change them if necessary - and report back to the group with the results.

X10 instructions tend to be minimal, so is pretty easy to overlook detail when they do decide to include it.

Not sure how easy it will be to do, but try and meter under load.

BTW I get *cheap*  batteries from here:
http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/category/162/Batteries-Non-Rechargeable/1.html
at prices considerably less than Walmart. But it helps if you need other goodies since shipping costs weigh in.

[exnooyorka]

Update - I replaced the batteries in the keychain remotes and unfortunately there's no improvement.

I also have since purchased some of the IR34A remotes as I had a need for several universal remotes.  Those are supposed to have a more powerful RF signal than the keychain remotes however I don't get any better results (attempting to) controlling my X10 devices with the IR34A remotes than I did with the keychain remotes.  If I'm in the same room with the TM751 everything's fine but once I walk around the corner it's all over.

I'm coming to the conclusion that the construction of my house is too solid for these remotes.  I'm sure they work a lot better with an open floorplan or standard stick / drywall construction.

Maybe I'll have better results with my next house.

Thanks again for your help!

[dave w]

I'm coming to the conclusion that the construction of my house is too solid for these remotes.  I'm sure they work a lot better with an open floorplan or standard stick / drywall construction.

$0.02
It sounds like your home may be the problem, but yet, 310MHz should not have *that* big of a problem with non-metal lath. Could you have some RF interference causing your range problem? It would not have to be 310MHz but a multiple of 310MHz could cause you problems if the interfering signal was strong enough. Router, baby monitor, ham neighbor, Loran, etc.

[exnooyorka]

I do have a wireless router.  I should run a test with the router turned off to see if that increases the range of the keychain remotes.

It would be academic, however, as I would rather live without the wireless control on the lights / install another TM751 in the room where I use the remote to control the other devices than choose the X10 signals over the wireless router.

I'll try to run a test this weekend.

Thanks again!

[dhouston]

The problem is likely that the remote and/or the TM751 are poorly tuned and thus operating at slightly different RF frequencies.

Someone replaced the superheterodyne receiver in a CM15A with a wide-band superregenerative receiver and saw a large increase in the range of Stick-a-Switches. The best explanation being that the transmitters were not at 310MHz while the narrow-band superhet receiver was.

[dave w]

I do have a wireless router.  I should run a test with the router turned off to see if that increases the range of the keychain remotes.

In reality I doubt a router would be a problem unless it is *next to* the TM751 or your remote. same for the baby monitor. However a ham radio next door might.