Re: 2 100amp panel coupler help needed

[Marc F Hult <MFHult@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 12 Dec 2005 07:15:44 -0800, "carlford" <carlford@xxxxxxx> wrote in
message  <1134400544.799679.289990@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

>Marc, the 6201 I have is working.  I have tried it with and without it
>and there IS a big difference:however, I guess my big question is
>whether or not a "real" amplified signal would help on the furtherest
>ends.  The two whole house blockers that are now turned off and are
>installed in each 100 amp panel might also cause a problem if i move to
>2 repeaters ???  There are lots of 6201's still available too.  Do you
>know if the 10E model of the leviton coupler really amplifies ??
>Thanks to you both for your replies
>Carl Ford

I'm surprised that 6201's are still being sold.  When my 6201 died in
January 2001,  I was told by the Leviton rep who did the screening for RMA's
that the he 6201 was superceded/obsolete and the HCA02-10E was the
replacement and much better. (There was about a 2-fold _reduction_ in price
from the 6201 to the HCA02-10E so an explanation was needed for  why I was
being sent something that cost 1/2 what it was replacing ...)

Note that at least some 6201's  have the quirk that they will sometimes
won't start/train/boot properly if the wrong phase is energized first. This
was one of the things I had to check out before Leviton's rep would issue an
RMA. One of the leads/breakers needs to switched on first to avoid the
problem entirely which obviously doesn't happen when the power comes back on
unattended after an outage. So with two 6201's (all else equal) you only
have a one-in-four chance of everything coming up right.

You write that you have low measured signal strength in some places. Have
you tried switching circuits one-by-one at the breaker panel(s) to determine
whether removing particular circuits has more effect than others? The length
of the wires themselves is not nearly as much an issue in terms of signal
loss as are devices connected to them that have a low impedance at 120khz
("signal suckers". This is where having a circuit diagram is very helpful.
There may be equipment plugged in that you are unaware of or not suspect to
be causing a problem.

Yes, the  HCA02-10E  amplifies according to Leviton: the HCA02-10E "also
amplifies and repeats command signals to maintain proper signal strength
throughout the DHC network".

http://www.leviton.com/sections/prodinfo/newprod/npleadin.htm

Note that there have reportedly been several firmware revisions of the
HCA02-10E.

HTH ... Marc
Marc_F_Hult
www.ECOntrol.org