I thought the subject title might attract some attention. But anyway, I just installed another analog camera on the front of my garage. I used RG6 quad shield cable to connect the camera to my ZM box.
The problem is that since I installed this camera, I cannot open the garage door using my remote "clicker". If I power off the camera, the "clicker" works without any problem. But if I power up the camera, the "clicker" won't work. I'm using a BNC male to female adapter to connect the analog camera to the RG6 quad shield cable.
My guess is that that exposed metallic area of the BNC adapter is somehow causing my problem.
Has anybody else experienced this problem or similar problems? If so, what's your solution?
My garage door opener won't work!!!!!
Re: My garage door opener won't work!!!!!
A more astute RF man will post a better answer but first eliminate all sharp bends in the BNC cable. You want large lazy arcs with as many straight runs as possible. Of course repositioning the cable....
Re: My garage door opener won't work!!!!!
Well, I'm absolutely clueless when it comes to RF. I have one very lazy bend in the RG6 Quad shield cable going to the camera. It's approximately a 20 degree bend. Otherwise, the cable is a straight run to the ZM box.
I've thought about repositioning the cable but the camera is in a really ideal location for viewing my driveway. Repositioning the camera would not give me the complete view of the driveway that I need.
The exposed cable and metallic adapters are approximately seven feet away from the garage door opener antenna. There is RG6 Quad shield cable above the garage ceiling. It is separated from the garage door opener antenna by 3/4 inch dry wall and approximately 8 inches of insulation. Also, the RG6 cable has four layers of electromagnetic shielding.
My only other thought was to enclose the bare metallic connection in a plastic PVC conduit to possibly prevent the interference. Keep in mind as I stated above, I'm totally clueless when it comes to RF interference. So, my ideas may be a little bit "off the wall".
I've thought about repositioning the cable but the camera is in a really ideal location for viewing my driveway. Repositioning the camera would not give me the complete view of the driveway that I need.
The exposed cable and metallic adapters are approximately seven feet away from the garage door opener antenna. There is RG6 Quad shield cable above the garage ceiling. It is separated from the garage door opener antenna by 3/4 inch dry wall and approximately 8 inches of insulation. Also, the RG6 cable has four layers of electromagnetic shielding.
My only other thought was to enclose the bare metallic connection in a plastic PVC conduit to possibly prevent the interference. Keep in mind as I stated above, I'm totally clueless when it comes to RF interference. So, my ideas may be a little bit "off the wall".
Re: My garage door opener won't work!!!!!
Where's the camera power supply in relation to the opener antenna?
Re: My garage door opener won't work!!!!!
I should add pvc won't help much; plus I'm not convinced it's the bnc ends. Stuffing everything in to grounded emt now that's a different story but that's going extreme. Eliminate the easy stuff first. Power supply next.
Re: My garage door opener won't work!!!!!
The camera power supply source is located in basement electrical room which is about 60 feet away from door opener antenna in garage on 1st floor. I've used an available cat 3 cable from the electrical room to power the camera. This cat 3 cable is about a foot away from the RG6 quad shield cable until it reaches the camera. The cat 3 power cable is also about seven feet away from the garage door antenna at its closest point to the antenna.
Also, in my process of elimination phase, I left the camera powered up but disconnected the RG6 cable. In this state, the garage door operates without any problems. But as soon as I connect the RG6 cable and get a camera video feed, the garage door encounters issues.
One other observation. If I open up the remote "clicker" and remove the battery for a few minutes and then replace the battery, the clicker will operate the garage door opener without any problems for a minute or two. After that, it will not operate the garage door opener unless I place the "clicker" within 12 inches of the antenna.
Finally, I replaced the battery in the clicker, assuming that it was a weak battery issue. Battery replacement didn't resolve the problem.
Also, in my process of elimination phase, I left the camera powered up but disconnected the RG6 cable. In this state, the garage door operates without any problems. But as soon as I connect the RG6 cable and get a camera video feed, the garage door encounters issues.
One other observation. If I open up the remote "clicker" and remove the battery for a few minutes and then replace the battery, the clicker will operate the garage door opener without any problems for a minute or two. After that, it will not operate the garage door opener unless I place the "clicker" within 12 inches of the antenna.
Finally, I replaced the battery in the clicker, assuming that it was a weak battery issue. Battery replacement didn't resolve the problem.
Re: My garage door opener won't work!!!!!
FYI. My only solution to this problem was to replace the analog infrared camera with a non infrared analog bullet camera. Seems as though the infrared interferes with the remote "clicker".