Re: Improving Tranceiver Reception...

[nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Dave Houston)]

My advice is don't mess with the transceiver antenna. There is a very real
danger of electrocution.

"Michael G." <514mike@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>Hi guys (and David!)
>
>Me again.
>
>So, things have been working great X-10 wise.  My filters have blocked
>out the random codes, and so far, I have not had one light go on by
>itself in about three weeks.  Excellent.
>
>I was curious about one thing, though.
>
>As you may remember, I gave up on using the CM15A antenna, and use it
>only to generate macros.
>
>So, I am back to using three separate, cheap, X10 transceivers on the
>main level of my home.
>
>90% of my remotes trigger the units, but not always.  Of course, the
>slimline ones are always a pain.
>
>Here's my question:
>
>At a local electronics store, I purchased (for $2.00) a slightly larger
>telescoping antenna.  I think that makes a bit of a difference.  I
>wonder, however, if there are different frequencies of these
>telescoping antennas.  Is it possible that I have degraded the
>reception?
>
>Also, I wouldn't mind aiming for even better reception.
>
>Therefore, I was thinking of wrapping a wire onto the antenna, and just
>let it hang behind my sofa.
>
>Could this hurt, or is more wire always better?
>
>Is there a special wire I should use?  I still have lots of left over
>RG6U (I believe) from my eggbeater attempt.  I also have an old FM
>antenna (two fine strands of copper wrapped in plastic)...  would that
>help if I wrapped it around the current antenna?
>
>I'm just looking for a small boost, but of course, I don't want to
>cause problems.
>
>Thanks!
>
>Mike