In article ,
mm wrote:

"If interference occurs, she should move the CFLs away from the
electronic equipment or plug the light fixture and the electronic
device in different outlets." Plugging into different outlets!! That
doesnt' sound to me like it would help. After all, it's the light
from the bulb that goes in through the IR sensor in the device. No
one claims the IR light from the light fixture goes back into the
electric wires and then goes into the TV through the power cord. So
why do they say things like this. Did he copy and paste from an
article on something else?

I suspect that all of the "if interference occurs" advice above,
including the "different outlet" suggestion, is simply the standard
language for trying to work around RFI issues between devices... some
of which is due to radiated RF noise, but some of which is due to
conducted EMI on the power lines. Using a different outlet often puts
the two devices on different circuits, and can weaken the amount of RF
received at the interfered-with device.

Nobody bothered to rewrite this language (or write a new discussion)
for IR-related interference (as opposed to RFI).

Another issue, though: the PowerMid RF-to-IR repeater receivers are
notorious for having *lousy* RF front ends... an RF engineer I know
described them as "evil". They are very non-selective. They're quite
prone to pick up RF noise (including RFI generated by other household
components) and start flashing it out of their IR transmitters towards
the TV. This random IR noise can "jam" the TV's IR receiver pretty
badly... both "desired" signals through the PowerMid, and
locally-generated IR remote signals can be jammed.

In this case, moving the PowerMid receiver away from the CFL, or
plugging it into another outlet, can reduce the amount of RF noise
that the PowerMid picks up, and thus reduce the IR jamming problem.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Friends of Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
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