RF is driving me crazy

[jonbanjo]

I've not idea why they do it but I noticed the same with my Oregon sensors when I replaced the batteries.

As for RF woes, things are a bit intermittent here. There is a trend where the early hours of the morning tend to be the worst time but conditions vary from day to day and I've been unable to pin the problem down to anything in the house. Everything I have is affected to some degree or other, remotes can fail, rxfcom may not get a signal, etc.

For the automation side of things, the only part resolution I've found is to transmit commands twice instead of once as well as allow triggers to action three times (effectively, a sensor trying to turn a light on has 6 attempts at doing so). That gets me something approaching "reliability" for most devices, most of the time...

Maybe one day, I'll have a brain wave and work out the root problem but I do wonder whether at least some of my problems are external. Police and Ambulance vehicles do sometimes park up on standby in the area and (although I'm not sure it's the same frequency) know someone who found these things were playing havoc with his wireless alarm system. I also sometimes wonder about a small airfield about 1Km from here and what signals may come from there...

[xanhoera]

It all started after changing some batteries about a month ago . After batteries were changed and codes reassigned in homeseer, I noticed a communication failure again a few days later. There were a few new codes to choose from (again), obviously I did not know which one was for which device. So I removed batteries device per device so I knew which (new) code to assign.

And now more recently the same issue for the same 3 oregon temperature sensors. Again 3 new codes available to assign via rfxcom homeseer plugin . What would cause the oregon devices to send out via a new code? Batteries are full and placed correctly, and reset button isn't touched obviously .

Pffrt, another communication failure again, for the same sensors. Three new codes showing up .
Reliabiliy-- & annoying++

Just venting

[b_weijenberg]

Which sensor type, Oregon 1.0 protocol?

[xanhoera]

Which sensor type, Oregon 1.0 protocol?

OREGON SCIENTIFIC THN 122 N, would be v2 protocol i guess?

[b_weijenberg]

Please be more specific,
- how many sensors?
- are all sensors producing communication failures?
- has the sensor(s) got another ID?
- which ID before and after?
- which home automation application?
....

[xanhoera]

Please be more specific

It all started after changing some batteries about a month ago . After batteries were changed and codes reassigned in homeseer, I noticed a communication failure again a few days later. There were a few new codes to choose from (again), obviously I did not know which one was for which device. So I removed batteries device per device so I knew which (new) code to assign.

And now more recently the same issue for the same 3 oregon temperature sensors. Again 3 new codes available to assign via rfxcom homeseer plugin . What would cause the oregon devices to send out via a new code? Batteries are full and placed correctly, and reset button isn't touched obviously .

- how many sensors?
- are all sensors producing communication failures?

10 in total spread around the house (per 5 divided over channel 1 and 2 if I remember correctly), of which 3 act crazy since last battery change

- has the sensor(s) got another ID?

Yes, all three regularly receive a new ID, I believe it's the fourth time now in 4('ish) weeks

- which ID before and after?

Currently assigned (comm failure), all three last changed 01:02:48 today
TEMP2[56321]T
TEMP2[33537]T
TEMP2[5890]T

New id's available
TEMP2[62209]T
TEMP2[63746]T
TEMP2[37633]T

- which home automation application?

Homeseer Professional Edition 2.5.0.52, with HSPI_RFXCOM version 15.0.0.17

Edit: It looks like years ago Tane had similar problems. Any idea how it ended?

[b_weijenberg]

Did you stop Homeseer with a normal shutdown after you have changed the sensor ID's?
If Homeseer is restarted with an abnormal shutdown for example system restart, the sensor ID's are not saved.

Please try this procedure:
Remove the batteries from the 3 sensors,
On the RFXCOM Input devices page click Clear Heard,
put batteries in the first sensor and wait until it has send a message,
Modify the sensor and select the new ID,
put batteries in the next sensor and wait until it has send a message,
Modify the sensor and select the new ID,
put batteries in the last sensor and wait until it has send a message,
Modify the sensor and select the new ID,
Stop and restart Homeseer.

The next text has nothing to do with channels changing but for your information:
The THN122N is cheap but has only 3 channels. It is not a good idea to use more than 3 of this TEMP2 type sensors.
If you use multiple sensors on the same channel the risk is high that they will transmit for several hours at the same time and both sensors will produce a communication error.
For the list of Oregon sensors with type see http://www.rfxcom.com/oregon.htm#Oregon

[xanhoera]

Did you stop Homeseer with a normal shutdown after you have changed the sensor ID's?
If Homeseer is restarted with an abnormal shutdown for example system restart, the sensor ID's are not saved.

Please try this procedure:
Remove the batteries from the 3 sensors,
On the RFXCOM Input devices page click Clear Heard,
put batteries in the first sensor and wait until it has send a message,
Modify the sensor and select the new ID,
put batteries in the next sensor and wait until it has send a message,
Modify the sensor and select the new ID,
put batteries in the last sensor and wait until it has send a message,
Modify the sensor and select the new ID,
Stop and restart Homeseer.

Thanks for the tip, I'll try this weekend!

Edit: done! Let's hope that this got things resolved