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Topic:
intermittent RF failures
This thread has 36 replies. Displaying posts 31 through 37.
Post 31 made on Sunday March 17, 2002 at 11:06
gages
Founding Member
Joined:
Posts:
March 2002
23
I got my high gain at extronixs.

Why would removing the cover make a difference. I tried it, no change.
Post 32 made on Saturday March 30, 2002 at 05:36
RTI Installer
Super Member
Joined:
Posts:
March 2002
3,320
Hold on every body!
There is nothing wrong with the Remote or the IRF-6, we have installed a ton of these things and have tried everything. The biggest problem is the low gain antenna- “CABLE”
What you have to understand is that these RF remotes are basically garage door openers, meaning they operate at about the same frequency’s (in this case 418Mhz) as a garage door opener or at the mid band of a radio scanner, if you want to learn about this kind of stuff, try some place like www.maxrad.com or equivalent.

You see the problem you are having comes from the need save money on packaging, that little RG-nothing cable and antenna (called a rubber duck) weigh next to nothing and fit nicely in the little box, which just happens to be the same box they use to package the remote in.

First off RG-58 is the minimum 50-ohm cable that should be soldered to the board and ideally RG-8 is really the way to go. The best place to put the antenna is directly above where you use the remote the most, the higher the better. Obviously the wire they provide does not allow this and splicing on to this cable is not going to help without an amplifier.

So here is a guaranteed David G. trade secret (guaranteed to ruin your warranty) drill a hole in the side of the end of the blue box near the antenna and attach a PL259 jack. Cut the existing cable soldered to the circuit board down to 2 inches and solder this on to the Pl259 jack, attach to this jack to a less than 50 foot length of RG-8 run this up hi someplace like the attic and attach on the other end to a Radio shack pole mount scanner antenna with a PL 259 jack on it, or better yet get a 418 MHz freq. matched pole mount antenna.

We use this system for whole home automation (the RTI techs do not like it when you say that). I can’t guarantee the aforementioned will work for you since you probably have little experience with such things, but you should get a noticeable improvement or at least have fun trying.

There are other set in stone, works every time tricks (some we may actually market) But I will save that for latter, but lets just say that we have come up with a way to use the RF feature of the remote anywhere in a house bigger than Bill Gates. With out adding any extra wires or antennas.

The RTI for the money is the best remote in the world, if you know
#1- how to program it right and
#2- how to install it right.

If you feel the need to get politically active, e-mail RTI and tell them to hire a go getum CEO. Further, tell them to make an IR only version of the blue box with a dinky link, so you can still use the sensors and speaking of sensors tell them to hurry up and build an optical sensor. Oh and an RS-232 adapter with “bi-directional communication would be cool to” but probably cost prohibitive.

Blessings
Never Ignore the Obvious -- H. David Gray
Post 33 made on Tuesday April 9, 2002 at 18:02
markrubin
Founding Member
Joined:
Posts:
February 2002
919
RTI installer

Thanks- I installed BNC bulkhead connector on IRF-6 and ran low loss coax to my existing remote antenna- (Sony DSS remote antenna) it works much better

any other ideas to improve use of T2 would be appreciated- this is still the best remote I have tried

Mark
Post 34 made on Thursday April 11, 2002 at 03:22
rjp
Founding Member
Joined:
Posts:
April 2002
4
Had all the same problems you discussed, still probably the best of these type of remotes as far as code capture and user friendlyness. If you wan't to see a poorly designed product, just check out the new Prontos. Again terrible RF performance and severe macro problems. I am a custom installer and have tried all of these types of remotes. Why can't someone get it right. I hear there is a new version of the RTI coming soon
Post 35 made on Wednesday April 24, 2002 at 14:20
highdefhome
Founding Member
Joined:
Posts:
April 2002
2
thought i would chime in with extensive experience with T2 and RF. first of all, the failure rate of the T2s have been about 50%, at least here in No. California. We always use High Gain Antenna T'd with the original antenna. About 50% of the time, we use a Channel Plus DA1000 (variable gain adjustment). rti seems to always want to replace the IRF6. (They seem to have a lot more of those in stock). However, we have had no problems with the IRF6, just the T2. And, also, be forewarned, a drop of the T2 can jar the RF antenna loose. And we found that's usually the explanation for spotty RF transmission when the IR works fine. If the IRF6 could hold macros in memory and the RF antenna was easier to get to, I believe, RTI may continue its niche-success as the the sub-Crestron, AMX solution. But, all the wasted troubleshooting time we've spent with this product gives us second thoughts about using them in the future.
Post 36 made on Saturday March 1, 2003 at 20:21
XTCsound
Lurking Member
Joined:
Posts:
March 2003
6
We have had spoty operation with the IRF-6 and tried extending the cable and putting a high gain antenna. It helped a bit, but it still is not perfect, and locks up once in a while.
I like to find out what signal boosters, and types you have used with what results?

Thanks,

[email protected]
Post 37 made on Sunday March 2, 2003 at 05:11
Theater Builders
Long Time Member
Joined:
Posts:
November 2002
43
Do a Search of this forum, where in I explain how to easily modify your IRF-6 for better reception. I also have a modification for the Remote, but I do not want to get RTI in to trouble with the FCC. So I am keeping that to my self.
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