RFX Range FWIW

[Fraser]

Decided to have a loaded twice-baked and NY Strip the other weeknight. I wanted to run the potato to 205F and the steak to 125F on the GrillGrates. Stuck one RFX in the tater, one in the Strip and slapped the Gateway on the patio door.

From the Strip to the Gateway goes thru 10ga Yoder, some 65 feet across the backyard to the patio door. From the tater to the Gateway goes thru the indoor oven, across the kitchen, thru kitchen wall, thru living room and thru the patio door, some 36’.

Ok, I’m not pushing their advertised distances, but that’s real-world, real smoker, walls, interference, etc in other words, my house. I’d be impressed, but I’m accustomed to such performance by TW.

Oh btw, both cooked perfectly. Sorry, no pics but that’s not really the point.

 

[millerbuilds]

Good to know, thank you for sharing. I have been looking at the RFX, looks like the gateway is worth the additional $80?

- Jason

 

[Fraser]

Good to know, thank you for sharing. I have been looking at the RFX, looks like the gateway is worth the additional $80?

- Jason

Jason, as you might know a Gateway is required for RFX probes; We bought the ‘starter’ kit (1 RFX probe, 1 Gateway) and added an additional RFX probe on sale.
If you are new to the RFX landscape, I’d definitely recommend the Gateway+2 probe kit. You can add as many more probes as needed.
The app is pretty bad right now, but I have every confidence they will soon provide a ‘Signals’-like display for the RFX interface.

 

[millerbuilds]

Jason, as you might know a Gateway is required for RFX probes; We bought the ‘starter’ kit (1 RFX probe, 1 Gateway) and added an additional RFX probe on sale.
If you are new to the RFX landscape, I’d definitely recommend the Gateway+2 probe kit. You can add as many more probes as needed.
The app is pretty bad right now, but I have every confidence they will soon provide a ‘Signals’-like display for the RFX interface.

Thank you!

 

[kilowhiskey23]

Mine has been amazing so far. It gets through the 3/8 inch steel of my smoker, my insulated garage door, my interior wall, - total distance about 75 feet, no problem. Highly recommended.

 

[whistlepig]

Good to hear! I have a RFX coming tomorrow.

 

[kilowhiskey23]

A few pieces of advice/thoughts for those with the RFX

1. The meat probe chargers are sensitive to the probes themselves being dirty and not getting good contact, therefore not fully charging or charging at all. I used to hand wash them but now just put them in the dishwasher - as is safe per Thermo. That seems to work like a charm.

2. Make sure the meat probes are correctly inserted to the proper depth of the meat, use the laser marks.

3. The ambient temp probe is great, but it is wired to the RFX transmitter, not wireless, and there is only one slot for a single ambient temp probe. This is where my signals comes in if I want to have ambient temps in more than one area of my cook chamber.

 

[whistlepig]

RFX came today. Both probes now stuck in a pork loin, covered with sauerkraut, in a covered cast iron dutch oven with a cast iron lid. Excellent signal strength. Drove down to our mailbox (800 feet) and app works great. I like it!

 

[SmokeisGoodness]

A few pieces of advice/thoughts for those with the RFX

1. The meat probe chargers are sensitive to the probes themselves being dirty and not getting good contact, therefore not fully charging or charging at all. I used to hand wash them but now just put them in the dishwasher - as is safe per Thermo. That seems to work like a charm.

2. Make sure the meat probes are correctly inserted to the proper depth of the meat, use the laser marks.

3. The ambient temp probe is great, but it is wired to the RFX transmitter, not wireless, and there is only one slot for a single ambient temp probe. This is where my signals comes in if I want to have ambient temps in more than one area of my cook chamber.

Tip #1 was a good catch. I ran into that this past week smoking 2 Snake River Farm corned beefs (which were excellent btw) to make pastrami. One probe alerted to low battery about an hour in so I let it go because I had both probes in use, and also a Combustion Inc probe in just for kicks (the combustion never fails to fail on a long cook. dropped offline...). ANYWAY, after the cook, I took the dead RFX probe, washed it and put it back in the cradle. Blinked for a while, but when I checked, it still had low bat signal. I looked at the tip - not shiny clean. So, I rubbed the tip across a piece of scrap leather a couple times to shine it up and retried. Works great again.

The only time the RFX has lost the signal was when I wrapped some ribs with the probe inserted, about 2 hours into cooking and put the wrapped rack back in the smoker. Probably something to do with the end being in contact with foil? I don't know. I think the biggest challenge so far was to insert a probe into one of those smoked corned beefs - and steamed it inside a dutch oven, in the oven. Worked great.

 

[normanaj]

The only time the RFX has lost the signal was when I wrapped some ribs with the probe inserted, about 2 hours into cooking and put the wrapped rack back in the smoker. Probably something to do with the end being in contact with foil? I don't know.

You would be correct.Read here.

RFX Probes. Losing signal and losing love

We are on about week 3 of using these RFX probes. They have done great with grilling chicken and steaks. Have cooked a couple turkeys and they handled those perfectly as well. But we had our first failure last night. The way I do briskets and pork shoulders is to smoke to about 165 degrees...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[whistlepig]

Last week I smoked (2) pork shoulders and/or butts @ 10# each using a RFX prone in each shoulder. When the internal temp reached 165 I foiled these in an aluminum pan, moved them to an oven with the probes still inserted, and finished them to 205 degrees. There was no loss of signal.

 

[normanaj]

Last week I smoked (2) pork shoulders and/or butts @ 10# each using a RFX prone in each shoulder. When the internal temp reached 165 I foiled these in an aluminum pan, moved them to an oven with the probes still inserted, and finished them to 205 degrees. There was no loss of signal.

That absolutely surprises me. Anything that sends/receives an RF signal shouldn't work if encased in foil.

Just for $#@!s and giggles I just wrapped both my Tempspike probes in foil,one in regular and the other in heavy-duty and no signal for either even within inches of the receiver.

 

[whistlepig]

It's not a big deal to me if the RFX works through the foil or not. I just happened to give it a try on these two butts. Had I lost the signal I would have pulled the probes, re-foiled, and stuck the probes through the foil. I wouldn't think they were designed to work wrapped in foil rather than stuck in meat.