Here's the situation. IR/RF Pyramids send the IR to components behind doors, and Rear Projection TV built into wall in the main room, and a receiver in the Master bedroom to control the components from there. TV in master gets signal through a modulator on UHF ch50. Another Pyramid receiver in the office, just two rooms away to control the same equipment. They've been working for several years. Also about 10 x-10 devices, 6 in main room and the rest throughout the house. No problems with the x-10 devices.

There's been a few changes since the original installation. 802.11b wireless installed to run a notebook and a pc attached to the big screen, and a wireless keyboard, and a 2.4GHz phone added.

Problem One:
IR is now unreliable in the main room. Sometimes it works just fine, sometimes some codes get dropped when running the startup macro (pretty long, on a Pronto TS1000, mainly to get the Denon, with no descretes, and the digital cable box up)

Problem Two:
IR/RF Pyramid in the office two rooms away will not work unless plugged into just certain wall outlets. Will not work on any outlets in the office, and only some in the main room. I have no clue with this one unless the x-10 has a dirty device somewhere flooding the line so that the receiver only works on certain circuits.

Seemed, at first, it was just a weak signal at the components, but why now? I have tried two different sets of pyramids, same results.

Can the wireless network, or 2.4 phone effect the RF of the Pyramids? Also, it's not like it quit working as soon as the wireless network or phone was installed, it was some weeks later.

Any ideas how to trouble shoot this?

Thanks in advance. BYW I'm not a professional installer, just a nut that likes all this stuff.
Q

Does it work with the wireless net off ?

Did it start after the the network was begun ?

You might want to get an appliance filter and try it on your computer and or network base unit.

Do you have two panels ? (electrical panels or two breaker banks) if so, you may need a whole house coupeler.

If none of these work I'm shure Larry will chime in here in the near future .

Wireless net off, no change.
Yes it started after the wireless net was installed, but not right away. It was several weeks later.
As for the appliance filter and/or whole house coupler, I understand that, but it's been working for several years until now.
There are two seperate 100 amp panels, but I thought the coupler was if x-10 wasn't being passed. I don't have a problem with the x-10 devices, just the pyramids all of a sudden only working if plugged into certain outlets.
Quiller

Is something emitting IR radiation into the transmitting pyramid? Is something emitting RF interference on the pyramid's frequency? An IR detector card or even a video camera can help in locating stray IR sources. My guess is that it's stray IR causing the problem, and when you move it, the IR source is no longer visible to the pyramid.

Wouldn't the talk back LED blink if it was getting stray IR? I have a Sony 8mm, but it's about 8 yrs old. Can I use that to see the IR? Couldn't I also shield the pyramid with a black cloth or something and see if it responds to the remote from a close range to eliminate or proof this theory?

Quiller

You said:

"a pc attached to the big screen"

PC's are notorious "noise" makers, Disconnect it from the AC & TV and see what happens.

Talk back light might glimmer if there is some ir corrupting the signal. Plugging in an emitter that blinks (eg, xantech 283) would show at the other end.
No, the Sony camera shouldn't "see" the ir.
Yes, putting a cloak over the pyramid will knock that out of the ir picking up equation, BUT it does not prevent the system from picking up radiation from other sources.
Make sense?

The sony camera WILL see the IR, you can test it by shooting it with any IR remote, you'll see the light through the camera, but not with your own eyes. That's IR. Covering the pyramid might work, but it might not. Alot of people cover their IR sensors to filter out interference, but some materials work and some don't. I'd darken the room, and check for stray IR with the video camera, if you don't find any, try the remote. Put the receiving pyramid right by the transmitting one and see if it's outputting IR. It should actually output identical IR signals. You could also, with the room still dark and the camera on, look at the receiving pyramid and see if it's emitting IR just....on it's own. CCD cameras have a unique ability of seeing IR light, it's what makes the whole IR security camera concept work. The IR light is visible to the camera, but not the intruder. Test your camera by looking through the viewfinder and pointing a remote at the lens and pressing a button. If it's a working remote and it's outputting an IR signal, the camera will see it. Keep the room dark for all of this testing. Flourescent lights, the sun, plasma monitors, and a few other things are notorious sources of stray IR signals. Unfortunately, they're all impossible to detect with the camera and need an ir detector card. But if the room is dark and none of these sources are present, you can test the system to see if it works, if it does....one of these sources is causing the problem. I'd try one pyramid set at a time, unplugging all others.

This message was edited by ItsColdInMN on 07/26/02 19:54.37.