RE: Gremlins stole my WAF

["Kevin Hawkins" <lists@xxxxxxx>]

Hi Anthony

There are a number of things that could cause this - and just
pausing for a second to think what changed when the problem first arose can
be a great time saver.  There are some external things that might come into
play like someone elses (neighbours) X10 on the same housecode but more
likely is something changed in Autom8it or was plugged onto the mains. This
may be an X10 module but could also be a new applicance that is proving
electrically noisy.

If nothing springs to mind my first thought would be a CM12 computer
interface - do you have one ? - as these are really prone to getting their
knickers in a twist. I would discourge any use of the inbuilt macro
capability in these and I would unplug one if you have it and remove the
batteries - leave a few minutes and then plug in again. I don't use
Autom8it
so I don't know how it interfaces to X10 - does it use a CM12 ??  If you
continue to get the problem after resetting the CM12 I would remove
whatever
interface is the connection point to Autom8it totally and see if that fixes
it.  If it does then you need to look either still to the interface or to
your Autom8it setup. Leave the interface connected but don't run Autom8it
&
see what happens.

I am sure Autom8it must have some facility to log all X10 activity -
perusing this log will tell you if there are rogue X10 commands appearing
on
your network - also if they are accurately timed in the log then you may be
able to pinpoint an incoming 'event' that triggers an outgoing response -
perhaps you have some form of loop here ??  Disabling as much automated
control as possible will help narrow things down, is Autom8it the only
control system for X10 ??  Do you have any light sensors ?? Not by any
chance one that turns a light on in the same room as the sensor ;-) I note
you have dawn/dusk switching via Autom8it - is this on calculated
sunrise/set times or some other way that could be creating a loop somehow.

Mostly your problem can be isolated by focussing on any X10 module
that can transmit. The receive only devices rarely cause problem except
within their own device. Of particular note are devices that intelligently
retransmit data if they see a collision - The RF transceivers and the
external PIR do this - possibly the CM12 does too. This can cause issues if
your 'macro' responds quickly and hence collides with the trigger. I had
this with the external PIR that went into a loop with a HV macro.
Applications connected via a TW7223 (the non too intelligent hardware
interface) can also be problematic in this regard. Here for example you can
get total X10 network saturation caused by two devices trying to send data
coincidentally and constant retries and corruptions. BTW when I say
problematic I mean that you need to do it right or problems can start, not
that the devices fall short in the way they work. Often delays in macros
can
fix these sort of issues   This of course assumes you have rogue X10
transmissions and not just interference that is occasionally triggering
devices.

The fact that you have changed housecodes and the problem still
exists helps to eliminate the possibility of interference from a
neighbouring system or indeed from a programmed 'ALL LIGHTS ON' type
message
as these are implemented on a per housecode basis. Are appliance modules
affected ?? (There is no X10 'ALL UNITS ON' so if this was happening then
interference becomes more likley).

Maybe something will help here - but the first comment is always
worth thinking over - what changed just before the problem started ?

Kevin


> -----Original Message-----
> From: anthony.kirrane
> Sent: 02 February 2004 11:43

> Subject: [ukha_d] Gremlins stole my WAF
>
> Hi all
>
> I have been happily using Autom8it for the last six
> months.  I have about 10 X10 light switches and about 3
> X10 Appliance switches.  Nothing too fancy.  I downloaded
> the Autom8it scheduler plugin about 4 months ago and
> set-up a sunset/sunrise routine.  This turns on the garden
> lights at dusk and off again in the morning.  Everything
> was working as expected.
>
> Out of the blue last week the lights started switching on
> and off outside of any scheduled times.

> So after the initial ear bashing and my attempts to
> salvage some WAF I decided to investigate.  After a week
> of investigating I haven't got the foggiest as to why this
> could be happening.  My best guess is a faulty switch or
> some third party device issuing an All Lights On and All
> Lights Off command.
>
> Has anyone experienced anything similar and or has anyone
> got any good diagnosis strategies.
>
> Kind regards
>



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