508 DVR UHF Remote Problem

[WB0JFC]

We used to live in a double-wide moble home about 60 ft. long. We had two 508 DVRs in the front room and could control them via the UHF remotes in the bed room at the other end of the double-wide. It had to pass through three walls and worked just fine. We also had a 2400Mhz. cordless phone and a WIFI network active. No problem.

We have moved into a 40 ft. motorhome. The 508s are installed up front by the living area TV. We do not have a cordless phone active but we do have a WIFI network. The remotes are totally unreliable. Some days they work fine and other days they must physically touch the antenna to get anything to happen. They may be working fine and then stop for a short period and then start working again. All the time the controller is within line of sight of the antenna often not more than 15 feet. Sometimes the controller for one 508 will work while the other one won't.

Its not battries, I replaced the battries with fresh ones with no improvement. Its not the WIFI, I have completely shut it down with the same results. This is a real pain and the wife is about ready to start throwing the remotes at me when they won't work.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[garys]

Something in the frame work of the home or something else by the receivers may be causing you interference. You can try moving the antenna around to see if the remotes will work. You can move the antenna by using a regular piece of coax.

 

[WB0JFC]

I have tried that with no difference, but thanks for the suggestion. One thing I haven't tried yet is putting a 10 db attentuator on the antenna. The user guide says this sometimes help if another signal is interfering.

 

[rcdallas]

Yeah probably something to do with the motorhome, as your a ham you know RF does some funny things.

The utility I work for has given me a RFI detector to track down noise on powerlines, it's amazing what little thing on the poles can do to cause interference.