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[lmweishaar]

I have a pretty basic problem that I can’t figure out. I hope I am asking it in the right place.

I have a detached building at my home with exterior lights. I wanted to control those lights from the house. The lights are on an X10 WS469 Push Button Relay Wall Switch. In the house I have an X10 PRO XPT4-W-NS PRO 4-Button Keypad Plus Transmitter Base Kit. I found one circuit in the house where the transmitter would consistently turn the lights on and off. I then extended the circuit and added another 4-Button Keypad Tranmitter. In this situation, only ONE controller would turn the lights on and off. If I removed either of the transmitters, the other would work.

I installed an X10 XPCR Coupler Repeater Amplifier but it didn’t make any difference.

I have an X10 3 Pin Plug In Appliance Module AM466 and an X10 SR227 SuperSocket Receptacle. I installed both of these in the detached building and I can control them both from the 4-Button Keypad Transmitter. When I add the second 4-Button Keypad Transmitter I can still control both of them. I just can’t control the lights (X10 WS469 Push Button Relay Wall Switch) when two 4-Button Keypad Transmitters are on the circuit.

In an attempt to remedy the problem, I added a dedicated 20 amp circuit in the breaker box connected only to the second 4-Button Keypad Transmitter. This transmitter on the new dedicated circuit will not control the lights (X10 WS469 Push Button Relay Wall Switch) in any situation. It will however, control the X10 3 Pin Plug In Appliance Module AM466 and the X10 SR227 SuperSocket Receptacle in every situation.

Any suggestions on why the lights can only be controlled when one 4-Button Keypad Transmitter is on the good circuit? Also, any suggestions on why only one circuit will work to control the lights?

[bkenobi]

FWIW, I used to have the same configuration (slightly different modules) using one transmitter and one light switch between house and detached shop.  The 4 button transmitter should have no issue doing what you want, however there could be an issue with range.  The further two devices are apart, the more the signal degrades.  It's possible that the second transmitter is right at the limit.  In any case, there should be no issue using more than one of those transmitters so your issue must be with the signal.

The best option would be to use a signal tester, but I don't know where you can get one these days.  I have used my XTBM for similar tasks and located devices that were damaging the X10 signal which caused issues like you are experiencing.  Without such a tester, the alternative is to turn off circuit breakers and unplug devices until the signal works.  Once you isolate the culprit device, the solution is usually adding a filter to eliminate the problem.

[Brian H]

Are you using the same X10 transceiver for both remotes or two different one in different locations?

[JeffVolp]

One thing to consider is that every transmitter does absorb some X10 signal - more than a receiver.  So if the signal was marginal with a single transmitter, adding the second transmitter could attenuate the signal below the receiver threshold.  And as pointed out already, the further the transmitter is from the panel, the weaker its signal will be.

[lmweishaar]

Thanks for the feedback. I was finally able to get the two transmitter switches to work. I tried connecting the X10 XPCR Coupler Repeater Amplifier to different circuits and found a combination that worked.