Re: plea from poor X10 user

[Nigel Orr <nigel.orr@xxxxxxx>]

At 16:39 26/07/99 +0100, you wrote:
>Once things are in the digital domain that's not really a problem. 
Look=
how
>many GSM handsets there are in this country!  DECT is another good
example.

Not entirely.  GSM is more 'centrally managed', with cells _very_ carefully
placed so they don't interfere with adjoining cells.  DECT _is_ a good
example, but just because it's digital does not make the problems easier to
solve.  DECT can work fine for a limited number of transmitters in a given
area, but isn't magically expandable much further. =20

If you are all using the same frequency band, and the band isn't managed
from a single central point, then there is the capacity for jamming or
confusion.  As spread spectrum becomes more widespread, and cheaper (why I
said 10 years), it has the potential to solve a lot of these problems, but
until then, it won't be easy to have a whole street with wireless home
control without interference causing nuisance.

>> There's not really a good technica reason why X10 couldn't be a
good
>usable system
>
>As I said, it's far from perfect (sure it could be improved
immeasurably)
>but with millions of installations world wide you can't say it's not a
>"usable" system.

OK, maybe I'm too hard on it.  All credit to them, when it was developed it
was amazing, and it has been well marketed, but it's a bit of a technical
dinosaur... and the aesthetics are a bit clunky... but as an add-on system,
which is cheap enough to run till something better becomes affordable,
it'll do.

>that offered the affordability, availability and interoperation that
X10
>affords.

That is absolutely true, which is why I will probably have some X-10 units
in the house for starters, at least until the house decorating etc is
complete and I get some time for development of an alternative... which
could be a _long_ time... and will probably be overtaken by a good
commercial alternative (of which CEBus or CAN looks promising, but it's
impossible to tell which will win through...)

>Touch=E9

Ithankyou ;-)

Nigel

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