RE: (long reply from Phil) RE: Manual control of LD10/11 was RE: Conventions...

["Phil Harris" <phillip.harris1@xxxxxxx>]

> Hi Phil,
>
> I take your point about reverting the house back to normal, and in
that
> case, using the circuit I posted all you would need to do is remove
> HomeVision. Once the system fail relays were released the buttons
would be
> directly controlling the LD10's (via a small relay) It would mean that
all
> the switches were low voltage rather than mains. If you were away and
it
all
> went pear shaped then Jo or Edward could regain control of the house
by
> turning off "The PANIC switch" in Node 0 to kill the beast
that had taken
> control (or lost control) of the house.

The circuit you posted is great and certainly does the job but would leave
me with a large number of relays to source, mount and wire plus lots of
additional control wiring to run back to node zero (which I don't have and
don't want to have to find space for). For my requirements it's not worth
going to these lengths and the simple "switch control" of DIN
modules is not
just "acceptable" but is actually the desirable state.

> As to X10 being easily available, apart from a few dedicated
suppliers,
> there arent many places to buy them. True - they are growing in
popularity
> amongst the dedicated band of Automators here, but if someone launched
a
> system that was modular, low cost ( same or less than X10), had
feedback,
> replaced a standard switch and was as close to 100% reliable as it is
> possible to make any piece of electronic kit - how many of use would
add
any
> more X10. Once the existing band of users changed to a newer more
robust
> system the existing X10 marked would die.

True - however I'm banking on X10 modules *WITH* status being available
eventually, any new system would have to overcome any market inertia that
X10 has already accumulated anyway and a possible threat to X10's sole
occupancy of the "cheap" home control sector might push them into
extending
their own product lineup a bit quicker. As far as reliability goes I'm
quite
happy with the current system ... I don't seem to have problems now that
I've positioned my TW7223 away from my PC's and once I have the numbers of
machines trimmed back then even the PC PSUs soaking up X10 won't be an
issue. Most electricians I've spoken with (not many I admit but probably 8
or 9) know of the existence of X10 and would be able to identify an X10
module even if they didn't know what it did, however I'm assuming that when
I move out of here I will want to return the house to "normal"
and take my
X10 modules and other kit with me.

> Its a difficult choice that must be based on many factors, how long
you
are
> going to live there, how much work you want to do to put the house
back to
> normal when/if you sell, what features you want, what features you can
live
> without to satisfy the first few factors.

Correct ... this is my first house and much as I do like it I don't want to
be here for more than about five years before we move to what will
hopefully
be a detached place.

> At the end of the day, its your call but you know you can always get
help
> here.

This is - in effect - the crux of the "problem" (if it is a
problem) ... on
the newsgroup here there are so many people willing to help that even
newbies (as I was a year ago) learn an immense amount quickly. What used to
seem impossible is suddenly comparitively easy *HOWEVER* every now and
again
you do need to touch base with the rest of the world to see how far away
from the accepted norm you're getting.

Remember ... the route to this HA heaven started with me asking one
question
on the UK Home Cinema newsgroup which was "How can I control the
lights in
my AV room?" - Mark McCall answered by pointing me to his web site and
this
group and - just like taking the red pill in The Matrix - my life can never
go back to the way it was!

Phil


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