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[msimmons]

I used to have my receeiver in a great
location and all was crystal clear but i
have finaly finished my home automation
server a stuck it all in a hidden room,
which is not as great of a location as far
as reception goes.

[msimmons]

bump

[dan]

There was a previous posting from someone
with a similar question.  X10 sells a kit
for setting up your computer to work as an
MP3 and DVD player broadcasting to your TV
set.  The cool aspect of this kit is that it
gives you a sender and a receiver fairly
cheaply.  You can supposedly take this
receiver and plug it into the sender and
thereby create a repeater.

Another thought is to either use wired
cameras or try to extend the existing camera
antennas to a better spot by cutting the
camera apart and adding enough cable to the
antenna to position it where you want.

[thedanc]

There was a previous posting from someone
with a similar question.  X10 sells a kit
for setting up your computer to work as an
MP3 and DVD player broadcasting to your TV
set.  The cool aspect of this kit is that it
gives you a sender and a receiver fairly
cheaply.  You can supposedly take this
receiver and plug it into the sender and
thereby create a repeater.

Another thought is to either use wired
cameras or try to extend the existing camera
antennas to a better spot by cutting the
camera apart and adding enough cable to the
antenna to position it where you want.

[mike]

Dan,

Use x10's Smart Repeater ($69.99).

[thedanc]

The SR731?  I knew that repeated X10
signals, but it doesn't echo video
broadcasts.  Or is there some other repeater
now?

[msimmons]

I believe what dan is referring to is:
http://www.x10.com/products/x10_vk54a.htm

[socal]

Mike,
So The x10's Smart Repeater will extend the
RF signal of the wireless cameras?  Anyone
try this?  Any results?

Thanks,

[thedanc]

Msimmons is right - the "make your own video
repeater" is the one on x10_vk54a.htm.  I
have two SR731 repeaters at home to get
around the aluminum siding and other signal
dampeners.  They repeat the X10 signal very
nicely, but they do NOTHING for the video
signal.  I ordered the vk54a setup, but
before I got a chance to play with it found
that the floodcams I was using work better
with the antenna pointed UP.

In my case, the floodcam was downstairs and
my receiver was upstair in my office.  The
floodcam comes with the antenna pointing
down, so I carefully took it apart and
flipped it over.  The antenna is the big,
square, flat thing.  This, and realizing the
my receiver is on 'A' channel while my
floodcam was on 'B' (groan) gives me pretty
clear images.  I might still add the video
signal repeater.

Also ... the SR731 is available cheaper
elsewhere than X10.  

[msimmons]

has anyone actualy tried it though?

[thedanc]

Summary: Theoretical Bull****.
The SR731 will repeat X10 signals like when
you have a motion detector outside and need
to carry its signal inside so that the
computer can hear it.  It does NOTHING for
the video signal.

Since I had the vk54a set still sitting in
the box, I thought I'd try it out as a
repeater.  I set my ActiveHome/iWitness to
scan all of my cameras; switching cameras
every 30 seconds.  This gave me a nice
screenfull of "before" images.  I then
plugged in the sender/receiver together to
make a repeater and positioned it near my
weakest camera and went back to my office to
watch the results.  The "after" pictures
slowly replaced the "before" pictures on the
scan and I saw no difference at all.  No
matter where I positioned the vk54a set I
NEVER saw any improvement in camera image
quality.  I'm not sure who originally
suggested this idea, but in actual practice
it does not work.  It probably does a
reasonable job at its intended purpose
though, but at present I don't care about
that.

[msimmons]

darn.

[ultrabev]

Extend the signal by daisy chain-
this requires two recvrs and one sender
1. wireless signal from cam to 1st recvr
(you must use a different channel for the
first portion of this chain from the cam to
the first rcvr)This first relay should be
half the distance of your total send/recv
and/or working around any obstructions.
2.  audio and video out from 1st recvr to
audio and video in to X10 VK54A Audio video
Sender
(this is a wired transfer, so both units
will be together to accomodate the cable
length)
3. Sender and 2nd Rcvr (at your PC or
wherever you originally wanted it to be)
should both be on the same channel
(Different from Cam and 1st Rcvr)

I have tried this with great sucess.  Yes
it means buying yet another X10 product.
As of this writing, have cut the price on
the audio video senders.  Hope this helps

[thedanc]

I'll test that out this weekend.  My testing
was ALL on channel A.  I did notice that
this kit is under $50 now ...

[msimmons]

Let me know and I'll definanatly get one if
it works.