Re: X10 lamp modules

[Raymond <Reb.barnett@xxxxxxx>]

Mark,

>That's 90 quid for 3 circuits though.  In my case (new build) I was
able to get the >VAT back so my modules were just over 20 quid each (and
that was last year before
>the recent price drops).  Where else can you get such an expandable,
flexible system >for 20 quid a circuit??

You're probably right. It's quite a scary number though when you start
adding up how much all the X10 modules add up to in even a small house
(like mine). It makes me start thinking how many Prontos I could have
bought instead...

> Clunky X10 light switches don't fall into that category.
>Clunky?

None of the UK X10 stuff I've seen so far is particularly aesthetically
pleasing, nor compact. The radio remote does the job, but it's not
attractive.

>Nor mine.  Why on earth would anyone put a module like this that you
need access to >under floorboards?  This is hardly an X10 problem.

Because the X10 documention doesn't point out how frequently they can
blow. No other fuses blow in my house - they are there to protect
against wiring faults and overloaded circuits. Keith explained there is
a good electronics reason for wanting the fuse to blow, but I'm
surprised X10 aren't able to engineer some way of protecting the
circuitry without relying on a sacrificial fuse. The fast blow fuses
aren't commonly avaiable on the high street, so it doesn't help make X10
any more accessible to the 'average' consumer. I'm lucky and can quite
happy skim the Maplin catalogue and order what I need. I'm not so sure
about my mother-in-law though...

>Hmmmmmmm....no alternative offered then.
My alternative was to stick with the existing light switches. It's a
crap solution if you want automation, but cost wise, I can leave my
lights on for a long time before X10's going to save me money. I concede
I am having a whinge about X10 and know there is no real alternative. It
REALLY annoys me though that a product like Comfort sticks out
functionality updates and improvements at a faster rate than I can
handle, whereas X10 appears not to have progressed in the past 10 years.
It's not my expertise, but I'm guessing that the behaviour of an X10
module is controlled by a PIC controller or other programmable device.
How hard can it be to change the code on that so the lamp powers up
softly rather than banging on to 100%?

>Why are your lounge lights on at 11am? :-)  Why do you have to
"persuade" them to
>switch off?

A typo on my part: 11pm. I've had to persuade them to switch off for
various reasons - X10 modules crashing (senders and receivers) requiring
a power cycle to fix them. Some of them aren't terrible easy to get to,
which is why I used X10 in the first place - to save me having to pop
out to the garage to switch the garden lights on or off. The Y2K bug
crashing my CM12U and jamming the powerline with noise didn't impress me
either. I want plug and play without the power cycling...

Please don't get me too wrong. I like what I can do with X10, and I am
having a bit of a whinge. It's just that sometimes X10 seems to be a bit
unhelpful.

Ray.

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