Hi all,
I've installed a number of Harrison curtains in our house. Most of these curtains work fine, with the remote control as well as with an Rfxcom transmitter and the Rfxcom Homeseer plugin.
There are however two curtains that work well most of time, but occasionally don't work at all and it is really puzzling me...
The situation:
- These curtains are located close (within 8 meters) to the Rfxcom transmitter and/or remote control, so rf signal range should not be the problem.
- The curtains both have the same address (one is for the left curtain and one is for the right curtain; they should open/close at the same time; I used two rails because of the weight of the curtains). If they work, they work at the same time. If they don't work, they don't work at the same time.
- The motors are 6 meters apart, so interference of the two rails is unlikely.
- Because both rails have the same address, I have two remote controls, as well as the Rfxcom transmitter. All give the same result at the same time, so it's not a matter of an empty battery/broken remote.
- Because both rails don't work at the same time, it's not a matter of a broken receiver inside one of the rails either.
- The only thing I can think of, given these observations, is that the rf signal is somehow jammed at times. Other rails (with different addresses, but at similar distances) work well at the same time, though, so this seems to be unlikely.
Any ideas to the cause of this are welcome!
BTW Is it possible to change the antenna on the rails? If all else fails, I might try to extend it/replace it to see if it is maybe a matter of local jamming/interference (which would be weird, but I don't see any other option).
Thanks!
Lennart
Harrison curtains unresponsive
Harrison curtains unresponsive
Could you change the adress of the rails?
I would change the adress to one of the good working rails and see what's happens.
Maybe also change a good working rail change the adress to the adress of the 2 rails that have those problems. and look if they have the problem now or not.
But I don't know if you can change a adress on a harrison rail ??
I would change the adress to one of the good working rails and see what's happens.
Maybe also change a good working rail change the adress to the adress of the 2 rails that have those problems. and look if they have the problem now or not.
But I don't know if you can change a adress on a harrison rail ??
Harrison curtains unresponsive
Hi Nielsy,
Thanks for your reply. I've thought about changing the address (it can be done through dip switches inside the motor casing), but it will void my warranty.
So there you have the dilemma: to find out if it's broken, I need to void the warranty that I need in case it is broken...
Lennart
Thanks for your reply. I've thought about changing the address (it can be done through dip switches inside the motor casing), but it will void my warranty.
So there you have the dilemma: to find out if it's broken, I need to void the warranty that I need in case it is broken...
Lennart
Harrison curtains unresponsive
RF interference is highly likely.
I have 10 Oregon Scientific thgr228n temperature/humidity sensors in my house and I also operate a wireless PLCBUS remote that operates on 433.920 MHz.
It happens quite often that when operating the remote that the signal does not come through. I have to press three or four times to make it work. It is highly possible that one of the thgr228 sensors is also transmitting at that time, thereby causing enough interference to block the remote of getting through (I also see it happen sometimes when two sensors are transmitting at the same time: In this case I miss temperature readings).
My suggestion would be to send the same command three or four times at random intervals to make sure it reaches the curtains.
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by lennart</i>
<br />Hi all,
I've installed a number of Harrison curtains in our house. Most of these curtains work fine, with the remote control as well as with an Rfxcom transmitter and the Rfxcom Homeseer plugin.
There are however two curtains that work well most of time, but occasionally don't work at all and it is really puzzling me...
The situation:
- These curtains are located close (within 8 meters) to the Rfxcom transmitter and/or remote control, so rf signal range should not be the problem.
- The curtains both have the same address (one is for the left curtain and one is for the right curtain; they should open/close at the same time; I used two rails because of the weight of the curtains). If they work, they work at the same time. If they don't work, they don't work at the same time.
- The motors are 6 meters apart, so interference of the two rails is unlikely.
- Because both rails have the same address, I have two remote controls, as well as the Rfxcom transmitter. All give the same result at the same time, so it's not a matter of an empty battery/broken remote.
- Because both rails don't work at the same time, it's not a matter of a broken receiver inside one of the rails either.
- The only thing I can think of, given these observations, is that the rf signal is somehow jammed at times. Other rails (with different addresses, but at similar distances) work well at the same time, though, so this seems to be unlikely.
Any ideas to the cause of this are welcome!
BTW Is it possible to change the antenna on the rails? If all else fails, I might try to extend it/replace it to see if it is maybe a matter of local jamming/interference (which would be weird, but I don't see any other option).
Thanks!
Lennart
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Als het niet gerepareerd kan worden dan is het niet kapot!
I have 10 Oregon Scientific thgr228n temperature/humidity sensors in my house and I also operate a wireless PLCBUS remote that operates on 433.920 MHz.
It happens quite often that when operating the remote that the signal does not come through. I have to press three or four times to make it work. It is highly possible that one of the thgr228 sensors is also transmitting at that time, thereby causing enough interference to block the remote of getting through (I also see it happen sometimes when two sensors are transmitting at the same time: In this case I miss temperature readings).
My suggestion would be to send the same command three or four times at random intervals to make sure it reaches the curtains.
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by lennart</i>
<br />Hi all,
I've installed a number of Harrison curtains in our house. Most of these curtains work fine, with the remote control as well as with an Rfxcom transmitter and the Rfxcom Homeseer plugin.
There are however two curtains that work well most of time, but occasionally don't work at all and it is really puzzling me...
The situation:
- These curtains are located close (within 8 meters) to the Rfxcom transmitter and/or remote control, so rf signal range should not be the problem.
- The curtains both have the same address (one is for the left curtain and one is for the right curtain; they should open/close at the same time; I used two rails because of the weight of the curtains). If they work, they work at the same time. If they don't work, they don't work at the same time.
- The motors are 6 meters apart, so interference of the two rails is unlikely.
- Because both rails have the same address, I have two remote controls, as well as the Rfxcom transmitter. All give the same result at the same time, so it's not a matter of an empty battery/broken remote.
- Because both rails don't work at the same time, it's not a matter of a broken receiver inside one of the rails either.
- The only thing I can think of, given these observations, is that the rf signal is somehow jammed at times. Other rails (with different addresses, but at similar distances) work well at the same time, though, so this seems to be unlikely.
Any ideas to the cause of this are welcome!
BTW Is it possible to change the antenna on the rails? If all else fails, I might try to extend it/replace it to see if it is maybe a matter of local jamming/interference (which would be weird, but I don't see any other option).
Thanks!
Lennart
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Als het niet gerepareerd kan worden dan is het niet kapot!
Harrison curtains unresponsive
@Jfn: I tried that, but it doesn't help; if they don't work, they don't work consistently. If the curtains don't work and I push the button on the remote control several times at different intervals, it still won't work. After a while (say 10 to 30 minutes) it works again.
I called Harrison and they advised me to change the address, as Nielsy suggested. I asked them about the warranty seal but they said they wouldn't mind. I'll test this sometime soon and keep you posted.
Lennart
I called Harrison and they advised me to change the address, as Nielsy suggested. I asked them about the warranty seal but they said they wouldn't mind. I'll test this sometime soon and keep you posted.
Lennart
Harrison curtains unresponsive
Do you (or one of your neighbours) happen to have a wireless headphone / wireless speakers switched on all the time? Those are also known to cause interference.
Try writing down the times when the curtains do not seem to work. Does it happen at specific times of the day?
I doubt that changing the address will work. By doing so you will not change the RF frequency (that seems to be causing the problems).
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by lennart</i>
<br />@Jfn: I tried that, but it doesn't help; if they don't work, they don't work consistently. If the curtains don't work and I push the button on the remote control several times at different intervals, it still won't work. After a while (say 10 to 30 minutes) it works again.
I called Harrison and they advised me to change the address, as Nielsy suggested. I asked them about the warranty seal but they said they wouldn't mind. I'll test this sometime soon and keep you posted.
Lennart
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Als het niet gerepareerd kan worden dan is het niet kapot!
Try writing down the times when the curtains do not seem to work. Does it happen at specific times of the day?
I doubt that changing the address will work. By doing so you will not change the RF frequency (that seems to be causing the problems).
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by lennart</i>
<br />@Jfn: I tried that, but it doesn't help; if they don't work, they don't work consistently. If the curtains don't work and I push the button on the remote control several times at different intervals, it still won't work. After a while (say 10 to 30 minutes) it works again.
I called Harrison and they advised me to change the address, as Nielsy suggested. I asked them about the warranty seal but they said they wouldn't mind. I'll test this sometime soon and keep you posted.
Lennart
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Als het niet gerepareerd kan worden dan is het niet kapot!