Jeff Layman wrote:
I have a 2-gang Quinetic switch in the lounge. One side is for the
ceiling light, the other for the wall lights.

One evening about 6 months ago - and 3 months after it was fitted - the
ceiling light side wouldn't work, but the wall light side was ok. The
next morning both sides worked without problem. Last night about 9 pm
the ceiling light again wouldn't come on, but the wall lights were fine.
This morning everything was back to normal again.

I assume there is a very intermittent interfering signal for the ceiling
light side. If so, it must be very specific as it doesn't affect the
wall lights side at the same time. Anyone else seen this, and does
anyone know exactly what radio system Quinetic switches use?


https://www.quinetic.co.uk/products/rf-receiver/

Communication FSK (under 1000 MHz) === the beat of the tribal drum

Life Time 200,000 times on/off === magic smoke ??? on the *receiver* ???

https://www.quinetic.co.uk/products/wireless-switch/

Communication FSK (under 1000 MHz)

Mechanical Life 60 years

Control Method Pairing with either RF or
Wifi Quinetic Wireless Controller

https://www.electriciansforums.net/t...f-them.141990/

"...manufacturers claims ... indoors (they claim 30M).

This is 400MHz so it's well attenuated by building materials."

"Only issues i have heard of happening is when the switch is too close
to something such as a radio or old tv. for some reason the radiowaves
can block the signals from getting through well.
"

"Very occasionally a "wave" gets blocked, causing the switch to work
in reverse. Easy to fix, just switch off the power and re-pair." === Arrgh!

I would think 400MHz (or whatever you use for garage door openers there),
should propagate through a lot of building material. A proper Faraday
cage could stop it.

The video here mentions 433MHz and 2.4GHz for the Wifi option
(whatever that is).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbGA0hoSSCA

OK, here's the tech providing the energy.

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8052509

"... A prototype BWS IC fabricated with high-voltage 250-nm CMOS
technology was shown to be capable of harvesting a total energy
of 246 μJ from a single button-pressing of a 300-mm
2 lead magnesium niobate-lead titanate PE disc. More than
200 μJ was delivered to the load, sufficient to transmit a
4-B-long message via a 2.4-GHz wireless USB channel over a 10-m distance."

The output stage on yours is different. The message is still
going to be pretty short.

It could also be that the unit is defective, and the energy harvester
isn't working right.

OK, so now we need the most like culprit, in a house chock-full of RF.

Time for that RF sniffer ?

Why can't they design the Receiver, so it tells you
the ambient noise level is high ?

Or maybe it's time for a return to The Clapper :-)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clapper

I can't even flush my toilet now, without being
an RF engineer...

OK, so what frequency does that PLC you're using
on the wiring use ? Would that be the culprit, local
area flooded by PLC RF ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power-line_communication ?

For Google searches, "Ener-j" as a brand is more effective
than "Quinetic" as a keyword.

Paul