Re: Insteon - watch out for RF interference

[nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Dave Houston)]

Ralph <nospam@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>The Insteon RF signalincs are subject to 900 MHz interference, at least
>from continuous transmitting devices like the RCA Lyra RD900W music
>transmitters. With the Lyra, I was able to switch to channel 2 and the
>interference stopped, but I suspect that things like baby monitors may
>also interfere with Insteon and you may not be able to change channels
>with some.
>
>When the Lyra was transmitting on channel 1, the signalinc range was
>less than 10 feet in the same room with the Lyra transmitter about 35
>feet away. After switching channels, the signalinc works over 30 feet
>away and through several walls and a floor.

With more and more wireless devices like your Lyra being introduced, that's
likely to be an ongoing problem.

There is a way to avoid that kind of interference but it needs to be
incorporated into the Insteon design. Philips double modulates their RF,
using both the data envelope and 38kHz - the RF receiver output (bursts of
38kHz) is then fed to an Atmel U2538B chip that demodulates the 38kHz and
outputs the data envelope.