N96GY Transmitter Light stays on.

[ian e]

Hi, The Red transmitter light on my N96GY is staying on indefinitely when I insert the Batteries, I have not seen this before and the transmitter and reciever are not communicating. Any help welcomed.
Ian

[AllyCat]

Hi Ian,

If this still happens with a new set of batteries then it sounds as if the transmitter unit is faulty. How long have you been using it, i.e. are we considering (Maplin) warranty, replacement or (possibly) repair?

Cheers, Alan.

[ian e]

Hi Alan, I changed the batteries from Tesco cheapys to most expensive duacells available and the system sort of works now. what I can not get to work is wind speed (0.0) and Humidity (This stays at 99%)but the direction and rain gauge part is working, the system did not arrive with a Battery cover for the outside unit and I wonder if this is why I have the battery Icon flashing on the reciever unit.


I bought the second system as I wanted a second display for the original weather station at home, and thought as I was going on Holiday I'd bring the second system with me, unforetunately today is the first time I've tried the system complete and it seems its not all happy.

If anyone else has seen this Battery icon flash between the Inside temp and humidity display, I would be glad to hear how you stopped it.

It didnt flash at home on my house transmitter.

Ian

PS they are£49.99 new in Maplin at this time July 30th, I don't know for how long...

[AllyCat]

Hi Ian,

That's quite a good price from Maplin (I see they are currently out of stock but accepting pre-orders) maybe it's considered "obsolete" now that the 3080 with additional solar data is available.

The low battery icon may be a red herring. The transmitter battery level only seems to be "read" when the receiver boots up - see my entry in this thread.

A potential problem with a "used" FO transmitter is that the battery holder does not appear to protect against batteries inserted incorrectly so the electronics could have been damaged. But since it appears to be partly working, it's worth doing all the usual checks on FO hardware such as for dry solder joints, badly fitting plugs, etc.. Some of the sensors can be easily tested with a multimeter, or even a battery and lamp or LED/resistor. For example see the sticky here.

Cheers, Alan.

[ian e]

Getting to think we're loosing the battle here The unit lost all communication over night with the indoor unit so I expect there is damage inside the sender, and that when the unit has been used for a while some thing warms up and the resistance gets too much and it stops working.

I connected the indoor unit to the computer through the USB and no data had been recieved, although it displayed the temperature on the unit.

The fact that the Battery light Icon appears straight away leads me to believe that the Batteries have been put in back to front and that has cause damage at an earlier stage.

Does any one know where I can get a relacement sender for next time I'm away?

For now I will use the indoor unit at home as a second display, and spares for the other unit.

Thanks
ian

[Tau Bootis]

Hi Ian
I have been having similar problems with lost sensor contact but the jury is still out on whether its battery or transmitter issue, you can get spares from here:
http://www.wsplc.com/acatalog/Weather_S ... ories.html
but I am wondering whether its' worth spending the extra £30 and getting the full system from Maplin.

[ian e]

Have ordered a new transmitter from the above web site, hopefully the right one will appear, made sure to point out it was to replace a N96GY unit, there appears to be two different frequencies 868mhz and 433mhz, my reciever says 433mhz on the rear.

Does any one understand why there are two different bands available ?

[AllyCat]

Hi,

Actually FO use three bands, also 915 MHz for the USA (which is not legal in Europe).

There are only a few "License Exempt" radio frequency bands (i.e. for which you are not required to buy a specific transmitting license) and these are not the same throughout the world.

In general (and this appears to be true for the FO units), the lower frequency bands use less battery power and may have greater range. But the 434MHz band is the "oldest" and can be quite congested, so you are more likely to suffer interference/blocking from other equipment than in the higher bands.

Cheers, Alan.

[ian e]

Recieved new Transmitter from Waters and Stanton this morning, unfortunately the frequenciy was different so will have to return it, I have spoke to them and no quibble they will take it back. So I have to say, I'm vry impressed with their service! ordered on Sunday night on Web and delivered in Norfolk today. Well done to that shop, will use again with no hestitation.

So one thing left to do now! does any one else know of another shop that can supply a spare transmitter for a N96GY weather station, 433Mhz...

[Conrad]

Hi Alan, I changed the batteries from Tesco cheapys to most expensive duacells available and the system sort of works now. what I can not get to work is wind speed (0.0) and Humidity (This stays at 99%)but the direction and rain gauge part is working, the system did not arrive with a Battery cover for the outside unit and I wonder if this is why I have the battery Icon flashing on the reciever unit.


I bought the system off ebay as I wanted a second display for the original weather station of similar make at home, and thought as I was going on Holiday I'd bring the second system with me, unforetunately today is the first time I've tried the system complete and it seems its not all happy.

If anyone else has seen this Battery icon flash between the Inside temp and humidity display, I would be glad to hear how you stopped it.

It didnt flash at home on my house transmitter.

Ian

PS they are£49.99 new in Maplin at this time July 30th, I don't know for how long...

Didn't last long back up to 129.99 ordered mine yesterday at 22.17 and it was still 49.99 and i had a £3 voucher aswell so 46.99 all in and its been dispatched