Echo dot placement

d31b0y

Hey, so I'm not happy with the placement of my echo dot. It's too close to a wall / window and I think that might be causing interference with the far field mic. I also want to move it to somewhere more central in the room.

I have a spare lighting connection in the ceiling, pretty much exactly where I was thinking would be central to the room, where a strip light used to be.
Can I use the cabling from that to power my echo dot?
What do I need to look out for, with regards to earth (does lighting have an earth normally in Ireland?).
What about the light switch itself? If I want it always on, is there a way I can wire it behind the switch so it does nothing? Possibly removing the switch altogether.
I don't want to do anything fully permanent in case I decide to reuse the point for something else in the future but it obviously needs to be safe.

seamus

Do not run it through the lighting circuit. The lighting circuit is for lights only.

You can wire the light switch "always on", though it depends on the circuit configuration. Then just stick a blank plate where the light switches were.

d31b0y

Thanks for the response
No point in wiring the switch to be always on if I can't wire it up to the dot. I guess I am better off leaving that as is and wiring one of those dual plug and usb jobies from the existing electrical circuit. It's a bungalow with easy attic access so don't see it being a massive job.
I think I'll get my sparkie to give me a hand. I don't think messing with the mains is a good idea if I'm not 100% sure.
(in fairness, messing with the light circuit probably isn't a great idea either)

seamus

Adding a spur to an existing ring circuit doesn't require you to get a electrician in to do it, but if you're looking to run a decent length of cable (i.e. into the attic), then I'd definitely be inclined to get a sparks to do it.

I'm actually not sure how well the Dot would cope on the ceiling. There are no mounting points on the unit, which implies that it's been designed to be placed face-up on a flat surface. Will the mics work correctly if it's inverted and attached to the ceiling?

Might be worth googling to see if anyone else has done it first?

mossym

plenty of 3rd party mounts out there, many of them lads with 3d printers making up simple mounts in their spare time

bit surprised you need to do this so, the whole point of the mic array, which works perfectly with the 3 i have, is to remove any issues with locating close to a wall

Nelbert

mossym wrote: »

plenty of 3rd party mounts out there, many of them lads with 3d printers making up simple mounts in their spare time

bit surprised you need to do this so, the whole point of the mic array, which works perfectly with the 3 i have, is to remove any issues with locating close to a wall

The manual with the dot (all 3-4 tiny pages or whatever) suggests minimum 8 inches from a wall from memory.

d31b0y

Yep, exactly. 8 inches from any wall or window for best results.
In reality, I more just think it'd be cool :pac: