Wireless doorbells? Any "better" brands or frequencies?

[larkim]

I've bought two wireless doorbells, one a B&Q cheapo and another a Byron SX=

15i cheapo from ebay. Both displayed the same problem - OK to set up, work= fine, and then start randomly ringing themselves within an hour of being s= et up.

Random rings are truly random - no regular time pattern present, long perio= ds of zero activity, etc etc. =20

In the absence of possession by the devil, and ruling out nearby other hous= es' bells (I have tried every one of the 16 different frequencies on offer)= , I can only presume there is "something" in my house (or a neighbours) tha= t is triggering the ring - perhaps the heating system, or just a switch or = something else generating the right sort of rf signal to cause a problem.

I really want to be able to use a wirefree device as there are limited opti= ons for wiring from the front door to a sensible location for a bell, and w= e've just decorated so I don't want bell wire all over the place.

Do any of the brands do a "better" type of RF transmission that might not b= e so subject to this sort of interference?

Matt

[charles]

years ago, we had a rather trendy (corded) phone which used to ring each evening at a fairly predictable time. I noticed that this coincided with a SAA Jumbo passing overhead somewhat lower than other planes from Heathrow.

Possibly your door bell is ringing for a similar reason

[stuart noble]

Or in the case of the Argos own brand, it works fine for a week or so, then suddenly fails to work until the batteries are taken out and put back again. An intermittent door bell is about as useless as it gets.

[Peter Johnson]

cheapo from ebay. Both displayed the same problem - OK to set up, work fine, and then start randomly ringing themselves within an hour of being set up.

of zero activity, etc etc.

I have Byron repeaters that ring occasionally for no obvious reason but they will go for weeks without doing it.

[Richard Russell]

I've no idea, but we've never had any problems with our Friedland Decor Symphony. It's been totally reliable for the last five years, apart from a battery change.

[RJH]

cheapo from ebay. Both displayed the same problem - OK to set up, work fine, and then start randomly ringing themselves within an hour of being set up.

of zero activity, etc etc.

bells (I have tried every one of the 16 different frequencies on offer), I can only presume there is "something" in my house (or a neighbours) that is triggering the ring - perhaps the heating system, or just a switch or something else generating the right sort of rf signal to cause a problem.

for wiring from the front door to a sensible location for a bell, and we've just decorated so I don't want bell wire all over the place.

so subject to this sort of interference?

I bought an Aldi £5 effort - seems to work fine. They have some 'digital' versions now, about £6.

Rob

[Brian Gaff]

What frequency do they operate on. could you not try to find a receiver that covers them and see what crud is there when it rings?

Brian

[Brian Gaff]

Well I'd send the duff one back. In a way the old ones were far better as they only rang when someone pressed a bell push, unfortunately it could be someone elses... Brian

[stuart noble]

The Argos one works fine in my house but not my son's place. Switched them and the same intermittent behaviour occurs at his place but not mine. That said, I have no other wireless things in the house and he has the usual array of gadgetry, any part of which could be interfering with the signal. I'd put a wired bell in if it didn't mean drilling through a pvc door frame

[tim.....]

They operate on the same frequency that car remotes use.

Perhaps he has a neighbour whose remote somehow manages to look like his bell push

tim

[Bill Wright]

If the door frame is set in a brick wall it should be easy to drill a

5mm hole in the mortar joint, alongside the frame. Put the push right next to the brickwork.

Bill

[Bill Wright]

What's one of them?

Bill

[Ian Wade G3NRW]

___Original Message_________________________________________ From: larkim Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2012 Time: 05:08:15

Weather stations, dear boy, weather stations.

We recently bought a wireless doorbell, and it too rang at random intervals, sometimes with a very strange ring. Eventually I guessed it might be one or both of our weather stations. I removed the batteries from both, and the phantom doorbell stopped.

Problem then was, we wanted to keep the weather stations *and* the doorbell. So I opened the doorbell controller, and discovered a couple of pots (variable resistors) inside. I reckoned one of these was an audio volume control, and the other was an RF sensitivity control. By a process of scientific investigation (aka knob twiddling) I was able to reduce the RF gain to a very low level, sufficient to receive the door bell but insufficient to receive the WX stations. Now everything works well without mutual interference.

Ian

[The Natural Philosopher]

what bollocks.

There is SUPPOSED to be a code in all 'shared spectrum' devices..

[Harry Bloomfield]

larkim expressed precisely :

Try to source a Friedland EVO range of wireless doorbell. They use a pairing system which means that they not only need to see a transmission from the bell, but a transmission with the correct code before they will sound. Not cheap, but very reliable and nuisance free.

[stuart noble]

Unfortunately it's a porch, so there's more dg next to the door frame. I could drill through the cover strip over the joint but that's slightly concave so the bell push would look a bit odd.

[Richard Russell]

The Evo range uses the same RF technology as the Decor range (e.g. the Decor Symphony that I referred to in my earlier reply).

The list price is high, but the Amazon link that I quoted for the Decor Symphony stated GBP 14.99 with free delivery!

Richard (G4BAU).

[Nick Odell]

cheapo from ebay. Both displayed the same problem - OK to set up, work fine, and then start randomly ringing themselves within an hour of being set up.

of zero activity, etc etc.

bells (I have tried every one of the 16 different frequencies on offer), I can only presume there is "something" in my house (or a neighbours) that is triggering the ring - perhaps the heating system, or just a switch or something else generating the right sort of rf signal to cause a problem.

for wiring from the front door to a sensible location for a bell, and we've just decorated so I don't want bell wire all over the place.

subject to this sort of interference?

I've been using cheapo Wilko wireless doorbells for the last few years and found them effective and reliable. I have to say that in the plural, not because they are unreliable, but because I'm unreliable and keep dropping the blooming receivers - sometimes through fatally long distances.

It's a very large building and I often take the receiver out of range of the transmitter but when I return, it is still locked on. I've had about two false alarms from it over about four years. On each occasion the receiver has played a chime different from the one set at the transmitter and I have no idea what caused it. I can live with that.

The Wilko unit costs about six quid so maybe it's worth buying one just to find out if it works for you.

Nick

[Jeremy Nicoll - news posts]

You could run the bellwire through oval conduit or even a narrower pvc 'pipe' and that could be glued straight on to the uPVC frame with the silicone sealant of your choice. If done carefully, you might soon not notice the conduit.

[newshound]

cheapo from ebay. Both displayed the same problem - OK to set up, work fine, and then start randomly ringing themselves within an hour of being set up.

of zero activity, etc etc.

bells (I have tried every one of the 16 different frequencies on offer), I can only presume there is "something" in my house (or a neighbours) that is triggering the ring - perhaps the heating system, or just a switch or something else generating the right sort of rf signal to cause a problem.

for wiring from the front door to a sensible location for a bell, and we've just decorated so I don't want bell wire all over the place.

so subject to this sort of interference?

Not had this problem, but my experience FWIW.

Byron seems to be one of the more solid makes, and have a handy "sender" which you can wire into an ordinary low voltage bell circuit to actuate one or more of their wireless ones. In fact it will also "drive" an Omega one, I now have wireless mains plug in sounders around the house, and one which can go into the shed or garden if necessary.

Readily available from eBay, a bit more expensive than the cheapest shed ones.