Range extender desperately needed.

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • DBMandrake
    Automated Home Legend
    • Sep 2014
    • 2361

    #31
    Is it really MicroUSB ? Or is it just a MicroUSB connector with non-USB data/signals on it ?

    Or does it just look similar to a MicroUSB but not actually fit a microUSB plug ? I can't say I've tried to plug one in to check, but I seem to recall that while it looks like a MicroUSB socket it isn't. There are quite a few other sockets of the same basic design that look very similar that are not the same.

    Comment

    • paulockenden
      Automated Home Legend
      • Apr 2015
      • 1719

      #32
      Pretty sure it uses a microusb type socket. But it won’t, of course, be wired for USB.

      Comment

      • Dan_Robinson
        Automated Home Ninja
        • Jun 2012
        • 347

        #33
        And what is on the other end?
        Kind Regards - Dan Robinson (Jennings Heating Ltd)

        Comment

        • emmeesse68
          Automated Home Guru
          • Dec 2014
          • 103

          #34
          Originally posted by paulockenden View Post
          Just googled it. Looks like they are simply plugging a 1m microUSB lead into the socket.

          Maybe someone with range/reception issues could try and see if it really works?
          As I found that "huge value-added hi-tech signal booster" searching for some solution to the range issue that affects my farthest valve... I gave it a try. Snapped off the lid and shoved a micro-USB cable (the one that came with my old Lumia phone... a standard USB 2.0 micro to USB used to charge and transfer data) into the socket, with nothing connected to it. Here the results:

          1) the plug fits into the socket. The socket is definitely a micro-USB.
          2) the HR92 didn't burst or behave erratically.
          3) the RF communication improved in a noticeable way: performing RF test from the controller to the HR92, values read on the HR92 went to max (5) with cable, while kept swinging 1 to 4 without. The values read on the controller were both "good" (sensor and actuator) with cable, while without the sensor reading was "poor" and the actuator was "poor" or "no signal received".

          So it works in the end... Maybe I'll play around to check if I can build something better than a shielded cable (shields usually are not good for antennas), and maybe cut it shorter (antennas are usually Lambda/2 or Lambda/4 with Lambda being roughly 34cm at 868MHz, so a decent antenna could be 17cm or 8,5cm).

          When I find some time (and cheap USB cables) to spare I think I'm trying to see what could do to avoid leaving a black USB cable hanging from my bathroom radiator (not something I would post a photo on Facebook about ). A simple micro USB cable would be roughly £73,50 cheaper than the high-tech product I found earlier...

          To be continued!

          Comment

          • Dan_Robinson
            Automated Home Ninja
            • Jun 2012
            • 347

            #35
            Interesting. Especially if the head can be turned sideways to hide the connection and the cable run down the back of the pipe under the floor in order to hide it.
            Kind Regards - Dan Robinson (Jennings Heating Ltd)

            Comment

            • G4RHL
              Automated Home Legend
              • Jan 2015
              • 1580

              #36
              Originally posted by Dan_Robinson View Post
              Interesting. Especially if the head can be turned sideways to hide the connection and the cable run down the back of the pipe under the floor in order to hide it.
              Perhaps a means found to enable the radiator to become part of the antenna system! This is back to the old days, when to get a better signal on the radio you got hold of it, or put a screwdriver or piece of wire in a relevant socket. Of course many mobile phones and portable radios have FM radio built in and the bit of wire they use as an antenna is the earphone cable, or a length of copper cable.

              Comment

              • DBMandrake
                Automated Home Legend
                • Sep 2014
                • 2361

                #37
                Originally posted by Dan_Robinson View Post
                Interesting. Especially if the head can be turned sideways to hide the connection and the cable run down the back of the pipe under the floor in order to hide it.
                If it's acting as an external antenna the last thing you want is for the wire to be running down the back of a metal pipe and under the floor! Worst possible way to position an antenna up against a probably grounded metal pipe, let alone leading it under the floor.

                Comment

                • G4RHL
                  Automated Home Legend
                  • Jan 2015
                  • 1580

                  #38
                  Originally posted by DBMandrake View Post
                  If it's acting as an external antenna the last thing you want is for the wire to be running down the back of a metal pipe and under the floor! Worst possible way to position an antenna up against a probably grounded metal pipe, let alone leading it under the floor.
                  Antennae work well when grounded. The problem here though may be the frequency for the HR92 is not just receiving a signal it is transmitting as well.

                  Comment

                  • dty
                    Automated Home Ninja
                    • Aug 2016
                    • 489

                    #39
                    Excellent work emmeesse68!

                    Comment

                    • DBMandrake
                      Automated Home Legend
                      • Sep 2014
                      • 2361

                      #40
                      Originally posted by G4RHL View Post
                      Antennae work well when grounded. The problem here though may be the frequency for the HR92 is not just receiving a signal it is transmitting as well.
                      Ah, no.

                      There is a huge difference between an antenna that is designed to operate grounded, like a 1/4 wave ground plane, and running what is essentially an ungrounded long wire antenna taped to the side of a copper pipe that is most likely grounded. The "antenna" (if we can call this bodge that) will be massively detuned by the close proximity of a parallel running pipe whether that pipe is grounded or not frankly.

                      You want to get it away from any nearby metal objects, not tape it to the side of one...

                      Comment

                      • emmeesse68
                        Automated Home Guru
                        • Dec 2014
                        • 103

                        #41
                        Hi all,

                        instead of sticking a random length cable into a pseudo-micro-USB socket, I'm looking into adding an actual 868MHz antenna in some more scientific way to increase my HR92 range.

                        Since the web yields a lot of results for "868MHz antenna", before buying anything or trying to build my homemade one I would like to inspect the interior of my HR92 so to understand what's already in there, what is connected to the "usb" socket and whether there's enough room to try to hide something in the shell.

                        Did anyone try opening an HR92? Is there a safe way to open the plastic shell without risking to break something?

                        Thanks for any advice!
                        Last edited by emmeesse68; 24 November 2017, 10:17 PM.

                        Comment

                        • Dan_Robinson
                          Automated Home Ninja
                          • Jun 2012
                          • 347

                          #42
                          They're not too hard to take apart, but there's a lot of gears and whatnot that will be fun to put back together.

                          Biggest fiddle though is the screen and ribbon cable.
                          Kind Regards - Dan Robinson (Jennings Heating Ltd)

                          Comment

                          • paulockenden
                            Automated Home Legend
                            • Apr 2015
                            • 1719

                            #43
                            As for attaching a proper antenna, we first need to work out which of the pins is providing the signal input.

                            Comment

                            • bruce_miranda
                              Automated Home Legend
                              • Jul 2014
                              • 2307

                              #44
                              BTW @paulockenden a few of us have already tried just repeating everything the controller and the HR92 says and it works. The duplicate messages are simply ignored by the devices. So an extender is absolutely buildable. We did this on an RFBee so the HGI80 would be even better. To keep the RF chatter down we just repeated the comms between the controller and a single HR92. So all we were doing was making the RFBee act like the HR92 for the controller and the controller for the HR92. Works well but it was a prototype and requires a lot of hardcoding in terms of specific Device IDs etc. Ofcourse needs to be a powered device. The processing needed was just killing the batteries, yup tried that too.

                              Comment

                              • paulockenden
                                Automated Home Legend
                                • Apr 2015
                                • 1719

                                #45
                                I think DanD mentioned a problem with certain device IDs last time we spoke.

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X