Re: X10 RF Wall Switches

["K. C. Li" <li@xxxxxxx>]

On Tue, 13 May 2003, Stephen wrote:

> Both the tm13 and the older tm12 are for sale. What is the difference
> between these two units?

The TM13 is a replacement for the TM12. As far as RF is concerned, they
are both similar with the older TM12 having a slightly longer receiving
range due to its metal telescopic aerial. There are differences between
the two. The TM12 is bigger, has a 13A latching relay like an AM12U (and
as noisy) whereas the TM13 is the same size as an AM12U, has a
non-latching quiet relay that can only handles 5A.

> You mention UK RF is at 433 and 418 MHz. Does this mean that some
> people have houses with two receivers: one for their old modules and
> one for their new modules? That seems strange!

Yes. The 418MHz radio frequency was the only legal frequency a few years
back when the rest of Europe have standardised on 433MHz. The DTI has
since relented and allowed 433MHz, with the 418MHz being withdrawn and
reused for another service in the future. 418MHz X-10 equipment is getting
pretty rare nowadays.

> I wanted some rf wall switches as it seems to be the only way to do
> two-way switching of stair lights. I like some of the US switches at
> laser. Can I buy a US receiver from laser to use with them? I notice

Yes. Please note that the TM751 or RR501 have the original 2-pin U.S.
sockets and they are not CE approved products. They are fine if used as an
RF to X-10 gateway only.

> the US receivers come supplied with a UK plug. Don't you need to a
> transformer to drop the voltage from 240v to 110v also?

No, most X-10 products use capacitive power supply circuits that can be
made to work on 230V AC by changing a few critical components.

> Apart from voltage and frequency are the US receivers identical to the
> tm13 in features?

The TM13 and RR501 are similar except that the X-10 unit address of the
built-in appliance module on the RR501 can be set to 1 or 9 whereas on the
TM13, it is fixed to unit 1.

Regards,

Kwong Li
li@xxxxxxx
Laser Business Systems Ltd.
http://www.laser.com