Maker Pro
Maker Pro

wireless motion lighting control range problem

We picked up this unit to remotely control spotlights. The lights are
mounted on a building but due to the distance to the target we are
trying to light up, the controller must be mounted on a tree near to
the target. The system receiver is part of the light system. When
activated it supplies 120V to two built in spotlights. We have a camera
mounted on another tree powered separately in the woods aimed at the
target. We also needed the switched 120V which turns on the lights to
activate a relay having auxilliary dry contacts to start a video event
recorder as well, so we came off the red wire which feeds the lights
and ran a 5ft. length of romex to the relay box. Although this works it
cuts the range of the system from 100ft. to just over 3ft. Is the short
length of AC line that feeds the two bulbs part of the antenna's
resonant circuit? Could I actually have detuned the system by adding
the additional 5ft.? I can't confirm with a signal generator if this
problem is now just a gain problem or if I have actually shifted the
resonant frequency of the antenna circuit because there is a digital
address code superimposed on the transmitted carrier that I cannot
duplicate to open up the system receiver. I suppose I could move the
relay closer to the receiver but could it be the reactance of the relay
thats causing the problem, the added wire length or both? I appreciate
any thoughts on this. Thanks, Lenny Stein, Barlen Electronics.
 
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