Re: Frustration with X10 Powermid

[nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Dave Houston)]

Are the areas where you have tested near a military base?

It's very common to see reports of the LED flickering on the IR->RF
(transmitter) unit due to the reasons cited earlier. It is not common to see
reports like yours. I dug my Powermid pair out to test and the transmitter
LED flickers almost constantly if the room sees sunlight but the LED in
RF->IR (receiver) unit only illuminates when 418MHz RF is present. I also
tested using a 433.92MHz RF transmitter in close proximity and the receiver
LED never flickered.

It's difficult to imagine what could be transmitting a continuous 418MHz
signal that you would see in all of the locations where you tested. I would
expect there would be complaints from others if the entire area is saturated
with 418MHz RF.

If your other receivers also indicate RF at all the test locations, I would
suggest you take a serious look at the GC-100. Even if you have to add a WAP
in order to reach it via 802.11B, it gets you entirely away from RF in the
418-434MHz bands. If you already have a wireless router just connect the
GC-100 to the wired side of your network.

km@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

>>NO, it is not. That is the receiver. See...
>
>Yes, It turns out I'm using the terms receiver and transmitter
>backwards from the manufacturer. I thought of them from the standpoint
>of transmitting/receiving IR, while they are labeled by whether they
>transmit/receive RF. I'll be careful to use the terms correctly in the
>future.
>
>>What you describe has near zero probability. Either you live in a parallel
>>universe where the laws of physics do not apply or your Powermid RECEIVER is
>>defective.
>
>I can only report what I see. I do have two other receivers  (which are
>normally not used). I will repeat the outdoor and office tests with
>them. In my apartment they all exhbit the same problem.
>
>
>>Given that you have multiple Powermid transmitters it would make more sense
>>to try another receiver
>
>I did try the Terk a couple of years ago, and it worked less well than
>the Powermid. I didn't do extensive testing at the time.
>
>Right now I have a universal remote in each room that has a powermid
>transmitter. It would be less convenient, but I could just carry the
>one urc-9910 remote from room to room, if it actually worked better.