steel wall stud construction

[jimw]

As I consider construction of my long-awaited train room, I would like to know whether using steel wall studs would create problems for the Railpro system (as well as cell phone and wi-fi).  Metal framing is a lot lighter (it's going up to the third floor attic, and it's going to be a big room), but it surely would be frustrating if it ruined the room's primary purpose.

Any experience or knowledgeable replies would be appreciated.

JimW

[Alan]

Steel studs for benchwork or steel studs for partitions within the room?

[jimw]

Sorry for the ambiguous title: Steel studs for wall construction.

JimW

[Alan]

RP is 2.4GHz like many routers and we know routers don't like large metal objects. So, there is a slight concern if you have a lot of studs in the line-of-sight between HC and LM -or- the HC or LM just happen to be right up next to a stud. I assume you will place them on 16" centers so probably no worries however there could be tiny randomly occurring dead zones here and there.

How many walls do you plan to build? Or are you using them as backdrop walls for the railroad?

[jimw]

Alan:

Thank you for your kind reply. 

In short, there will be a lot of steel.  More specifics:

My attic is a huge unobstructed space with a peak 16 ft above the third-story attic floor.  The train room will be built as an insulated room-within-a-room approximately 25x35 ft, with 8ft walls, at least 5 1/2" thick. I will have to use an exterior crane or lift to bring in material (especially sheet rock, plywood, and engineered ceiling trusses.)  It's a bit daunting: I had tried to work up a good solution for a basement (dungeon) layout room, but there were too many expensive obstacles, especially in a 130 year old structure.  This option will allow for a dry climate-controlled space with few obstructions.  I had thought to lighten the load with steel wall studs (vs. 2x6 wood studs), but the prospect of signal interference makes me leery.  I have seen a number of modelers use steel construction for benchwork and for suspended ceilings, but I don't recall any mentions of more extensive use of metal such as I contemplate.

JimW

[Alan]

If I understand you correctly, there will be four "exterior" walls to the room within which you, your trains, and RP will reside?

If that is the case then the steel studs should be no issue as they will never be in the RP line-of-sight.

[jimw]

You are correct.  I expect I will need to add another wi-fi node inside the room (so my wife can find me).

I appreciate your reassurance.

JimW

[William Brillinger]

If you find you have dead zones, you can add up to 4 PWR-56's to act as repeaters.

[jimw]

Bill:  That is good to know.  I may need them anyway, given the size of the layout and potential to run a lot of controlled locomotives.

JimW