Does the house wiring, like in the ceiling of the train room, pick up the TMCC signal and "rebroadcast" it to the layout?
In other words, can the house wiring have any impact on the TMCC signal?
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house wiring is part of the envelope of the command/legacy system but only the ground wire. if you have a very old house that does not have a separate ground wire then you would have to add one when plugging in you command base.
I do not think the wiring itself has any influence on the signal (beyond the ground), but I had to remove a CFL near the layout that "blocked" the TMCC remote signal quite well. Whenever the CFL was on, the range of the remote was about a foot.
A compact flourscent light blocked the TMCC signal?
Now that is a new one on me for sure!
Originally Posted by Überstationmeister:
I do not think the wiring itself has any influence on the signal (beyond the ground), but I had to remove a CFL near the layout that "blocked" the TMCC remote signal quite well. Whenever the CFL was on, the range of the remote was about a foot.
There must have been a bad ballast in that CFL. I've heard that the ballast in some isolated fluorescent tube fixtures can cause radio interference, too. My own basement layout is 100% lit by CFL's with 100 of them in the main room and 7 more in the staging room. TMCC works flawlessly.
Assuming your house wiring is 3-conductor (black, white and bare wires with 3-hole outlets) then the house wiring is providing the "other half" of the TMCC signal. The first half is broadcast over the outside rails of the layout. In my basement, there are several wire bundles run through the floor joists above one side of the layout. On the other side, the only electrical wire in the ceiling is for the track light fixtures I installed. TMCC initially worked great on the side with all the wires above and not as well on the clean ceiling side.
Any object that conducts electricity will change radio frequency signals. To calculate the change is near impossible.
The closest objects will normally have the largest effect. Most of the time the change is insignificant but the closer the conducting object is the more likely it will change the RF field pattern.
The bottom line is: Just do it and if there is a problem then look for a cure it. Don
The CFL was a chinese "off brand" from a discount store. It definitely prevented the remote signal i.e. the signal from the remote to the base, not the TMCC track signal, which was fine (but I had to be within a foot of the base). It was fantastic, turn on the light, no range, turn it off, normal range.
The house does not have ground wires outside of the basement outlets (where the layout is). No lighting fixtures are grounded. Wiring is knob and tube originating in the attic, no wires traverse the open joists above the layout.
Originally Posted by Kerrigan:
A compact flourscent light blocked the TMCC signal?
Now that is a new one on me for sure!
Originally Posted by Überstationmeister:
I do not think the wiring itself has any influence on the signal (beyond the ground), but I had to remove a CFL near the layout that "blocked" the TMCC remote signal quite well. Whenever the CFL was on, the range of the remote was about a foot.
Knob & Tube wiring? I'm surprised you're brave enough to turn on the lights! 
An AM radio may tell you if a lamp is radiating noise that will interfere with signals.
I have a cheap charger for my IPod that completely wipes out my AM radio reception throughout the house - gives me just a buzzy noise. I have a few fluorescent lamps with electronic ballasts that raise the background noise by various amounts.
The house safety ground wire is directly connected to the Command Base's ground leg of the TMCC track signal, and the wiring does indeed deliberately radiate that signal.
I'm still trying to figure out if putting a "ground plane wire or foil strip" under the roadbed and not hooking it up (waiting until the track is down and a problem develops to hook it to a ground) will screw up the TMCC signal.
I just don't want to lay all that track and then find out I have a problem, have to rip it up to put in the wire, etc.
Some folks indicate "yup, it will cause a problem" while others say "not a problem if it's not hooked up", and so on ....
Why do folks think Mike Regan's video on the problem is wrong? Didn't Lionel "invent" the TMCC system? If it's an outside product to Lionel I could understand the difference in opinions, but if it's their invention shouldn't they understand it better than others?
Originally Posted by Dale Manquen:
An AM radio may tell you if a lamp is radiating noise that will interfere with signals.
I have a cheap charger for my IPod that completely wipes out my AM radio reception throughout the house - gives me just a buzzy noise. I have a few fluorescent lamps with electronic ballasts that raise the background noise by various amounts.
The house safety ground wire is directly connected to the Command Base's ground leg of the TMCC track signal, and the wiring does indeed deliberately radiate that signal.
My TMCC module is connected directly to the common rail of the layout.
Is it wired internally to also send that signal back up the ground leg of the power cord and thus into the house wiring?
Should I then be able to pick up that TMCC signal anywhere in the house because it's radiating via the ground leg?
Originally Posted by Dale Manquen:
An AM radio may tell you if a lamp is radiating noise that will interfere with signals.
I have a cheap charger for my IPod that completely wipes out my AM radio reception throughout the house - gives me just a buzzy noise. I have a few fluorescent lamps with electronic ballasts that raise the background noise by various amounts.
The house safety ground wire is directly connected to the Command Base's ground leg of the TMCC track signal, and the wiring does indeed deliberately radiate that signal.
Half of the TMCC signal is all around, but the part that is on the outer rails is just on the outer rails and anything directly connected to the outer rail.
So, the answer to the question is no. 
Originally Posted by Kerrigan:
Why do folks think Mike Regan's video on the problem is wrong? Didn't Lionel "invent" the TMCC system? If it's an outside product to Lionel I could understand the difference in opinions, but if it's their invention shouldn't they understand it better than others?
Lionel _did not_ invent the TMCC system. It WAS an outside product developed by Neil Young's design team. Apparently Mike R. hasn't "gotten the memo" of how the system really works. Mike is a great train technician, but he (and most of the rest of us) is/are not an RF design engineer.
Your TMCC Command Base is connected to both the track through one wire to the "Track" thumbscrew, and to the safety ground house wiring through the Base's power supply cord and 3-prong plug - two connections, not one.
You get best reception where your receiver (locomotive) is placed between the Track and earth ground signal radiators. If you move far away from the track, the effective strength of the received signal dies off quickly.
