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737 Driver · 04-21-2018, 11:00 AM

After many weeks of troubleshooting I wanted to give an update just in case this should happen to anyone else. I believe I have finally found the culprit. The Roadmaster toad transmitter that tells me the road brakes have activated was the troublemaker. A quick recap of my issue. While attempting to use my Vegatouch to operate my main Girard awnings, they would only work about 50 percent of the time. Also, my key FOBs would hardly ever work. Well, I almost always have my tow vehicle with me and park it in front of the coach while camping. The Key FOB receiver(Tri Mark) and the awning controllers are located in the front of the coach so the toad brake transmitter would be very close and pushing out a strong RF signal that happens to be the same frequency as the awning and key FOBs, 433.92 MHZ.
Entegra CS was very helpful and I spent lots of time on the phone and emails. PJ included. Tri Mark was also very helpful. I also wanted to mention that the technician with Tri Mark had seen a similar issue like mine because of a bad tire pressure transmitter.
I am glad it is resolved and I learned a lot about how the Vegatouch system interacts with the awning system

Gidyupgo · 04-21-2018, 12:29 PM

Thanks for the update. RFI can give you fits. We were having trouble with the TPMS on one of our cars that was only a couple of years old. Dealer could not duplicate any of the numerous times we dropped it off. Last time when we picked it up I was putting my radar detector and dash cam back in and the service manager walked up and said I bet it is one of those. It turned out that RFI from the dash cam was causing the interference with the tire pressure monitor. Replaced it with a Garmin dash cam and the problem went away. Guess Garmin had better shielding.

Gary.Jones · 04-21-2018, 02:20 PM

Thanks you for the update. Very interesting and very helpful , and frankly, darn disturbing to find out. Up in the UHF spectrum, there is a massive amount of radio space, all at very high frequencies, but tons of space, and why two units with similar use profiles would be placed on the same exact frequency position is amazing to me. That should not happen! Who knows who was there first, the TPMS people, or the Girard remote people, but someone in their technical department needs to have a good "talkin to" about choosing/designing a system on the same frequency as another common motorcoach item.

Which TPMS system are you using and about what vintage?

I have about 18 Tire Minder sensors now that I will not be able to use with my new coach so it does not matter to me, but just for interest sake... I wonder which system you were using.

Oh, and consider going to your other thread that started your problem and putting a link there (either the link or the new thread title) so that people that might discover the other one now get the "rest of the story", or copy your response and put it there also.

Particularly appreciate the follow up so we all learn something !!!

Oh, and you still don't have a signature.... give some thought to adding it as it really helps understanding your situation (I'm full of suggestions today :-) )

Gary

737 Driver · 04-21-2018, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary.Jones

Thanks you for the update. Very interesting and very helpful , and frankly, darn disturbing to find out. Up in the UHF spectrum, there is a massive amount of radio space, all at very high frequencies, but tons of space, and why two units with similar use profiles would be placed on the same exact frequency position is amazing to me. That should not happen! Who knows who was there first, the TPMS people, or the Girard remote people, but someone in their technical department needs to have a good "talkin to" about choosing/designing a system on the same frequency as another common motorcoach item.

Which TPMS system are you using and about what vintage?

I have about 18 Tire Minder sensors now that I will not be able to use with my new coach so it does not matter to me, but just for interest sake... I wonder which system you were using.

Oh, and consider going to your other thread that started your problem and putting a link there (either the link or the new thread title) so that people that might discover the other one now get the "rest of the story", or copy your response and put it there also.

Particularly appreciate the follow up so we all learn something !!!

Oh, and you still don't have a signature.... give some thought to adding it as it really helps understanding your situation (I'm full of suggestions today :-) )

Gary

Gary,

I wouldn’t worry too much about your TPMS. Tri Mark said they had only seen one issue with a FAULTY sensor interfering with the key FOBs for the doors. My issue was the braking system for the tow vehicle creating RFI for both my awnings and the key FOBs. I am not sure but I believe most systems like the awnings, if they are controlled by RF like on the Entegra’s, have a pretty narrow frequency band that they are allowed to operate with by FCC. I do agree with you that two suppliers or Entegra for that matter should perhaps not install systems operating with the exact frequency but then again when would you operate the awnings and the key FOBs at the same time. My issue was that the brake controller was hard wired ON in my tow car and as such “transmitted” all the time. I am going to put a switch on the transmitter and will just turn it off while not towing. Also, just to add to the fun it is not just the awning remote that uses RF to operate but the entire awning system uses a RF interface between Vegatouch and the awning control boxes in the basement. That is why the Vegatouch way of operating my awnings AND the awning remote was intermittent every time my tow vehicle was anywhere close to the coach. I just didn’t realize that connection until recently. Inquiring minds......

Tor
2017 Anthem 44B

brobox · 04-22-2018, 07:05 AM

Tor, I found the same thing, with all the remote updates I installed on the Classic. Lots of nice features that interfere with each other, then trying to find the culprit can be challenging. Mine was the outside remote temperature sender in the wet bay for the inside thermometer. I have to take the temperature sender batteries out for the TPMS to work while traveling. Thanks for your report, it all helps, but some items I just as soon go back to analog unless they would all learn to play together.

Tom78418 · 04-22-2018, 09:34 PM

Thanks for the update. We have an early 17 that did not have the awning remote that was later added. I added it to the AIR list hoping it can be installed, but concerned when I read your post. Crossing my fingers as the iPad app sucks controlling the awnings in tight spaces.

737 Driver · 04-23-2018, 02:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom78418

Thanks for the update. We have an early 17 that did not have the awning remote that was later added. I added it to the AIR list hoping it can be installed, but concerned when I read your post. Crossing my fingers as the iPad app sucks controlling the awnings in tight spaces.

Tom,

The awning remote is great when it works as it should. After I got rid of the RFI issue, my remote works anywhere around the coach, great for tight spaces. Entegra will add and program the awning remote in about 5-10 mins or you can just call up Girard and order it yourself. It is very simple to program.

Tor
2017 Anthem 44B