Re: X-10 RF home automation being overwhelmed by M2 OFF, C2 OFF and Gxx DIM signals

["Robert Green" <robert_green1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

A quick (for me!) followup, so please forgive the top post.  Interference
was off for a week after Labor day but is now back on again full force.
Just stopped at 5AM.  Distributed 6 TM751's located proximate to most
important RF switch controls as their effective range bathed in interference
is about 6 feet.  No collisions with each other because except for a few
spots, each TM751 is in a non-contiguous sphere.  Does NOT work with the WGL
transceiver active, too.  Collision city.

Two kinds of X-10 interference in this case.  One is plain old noise, the
other is noise that the X-10 receivers believe is an actual X-10
transmission.

I haven't yet "run down" the noise because a) I am lazy and b) IMHO, it's
not a solution if it depends on something or someone external to my house
doing something.

All in all it's been an interesting study in how low power gear like X-10 RF
acts when receiving "undesired" interference (is it ever desirable?").  Now
I'm going to see if I can put those TM751's on lamp or appliance modules to
switch between the WGL global network or the array of TM751's.  There might
be some very strong benefits to being able to disable RF control, room by
room.  X-10. Forever futzing. (-:

--
Bobby G.


"dlh" <dlh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:c38f5cf4-0fbb-48aa-85d3-dbbb3be06ec9@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Aug 29, 10:06 am, "Robert Green" <robert_green1...@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
> Howdy all,
>
> Slowly but surely, my X-10 RF reception is being knocked out by endless
> streams of these commands broadcast on different days at different times.
>
> M2 OFFs
> C2 OFFs
> Gxx DIMs
>
> At first, when only C2 OFFs appeared, I searched in vain for a stuck
> transmitter button or some other internal cause. I could find none. The
> problem occurred with TM751's, the WGL all-house code unit and with
RR501's,
> too. Setting the WGL to ignore those three housecodes was all but
useless -
> the constant strong signal overwhelmed any X-10 transmitter not within a
> foot or less of the transceiver. This interference started out slowly over
> time, and now forces me to shutdown the RF section of my X-10 system
almost
> daily.
>
> I'm in the Washington, DC area. Has anyone else seen anything similar? Any
> ideas where to look for the transmission source. Could the RF signal
"ride"
> the powerlines that an X-10 transmitter could receive? Even putting the
> receiver in a metal coffee can doesn't seem to point to a potential source
> of the signal. It seems to be very uniformly distributed throughout the
> house. If I can't get it to stop, I'll have to hardwire a lot of things
I'd
> rather not. )-:
>
> TIA for any help.
>
> --
> Bobby G.

If you could capture the raw RF signal using the techniques shown on
my website it might help identify the source.

     http://davehouston.org/learn.htm

Who supplies your electricity? Have they recently installed new meters
that can be read remotely? I've seen a few reports of problems from
some metering systems although nothing similar to what you are
experiencing.

Is there any pattern as to when it occurs?