Re: Bye Bye Standby kit experiences / comments?

[Geoff H <yahoo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Now that's a useful bit of info and explains a problem I had with one
socket. It was a bit flakey and you had to literally be right on top of
it for it to receive the signal. I merely replaced it with another one
which works ok. There are three of these things almost next to each other.

I shall have to dig the "duff" one out of the drawer and give it
another
try.

Geoff

Rob Iles wrote:
> EDIT - As of Firmware 2.7, it's NOW end user upgradable.
>
> Extra Info: If "smart sockets" are placed to close together,
they are less
> responsive to control signals. best ensure sockets are at least
1-metre
> apart to guarantee maximum range.
>
>
> 2009/2/17 Rob Iles <rob.iles@xxxxxxx>
>
>
>> Hi Lee,
>>
>> 1st - I'm slightly biased - as I work with the BBS Team; have been
involved
>> with the "PC-Interface" (online controller), wrote the
Online Site
>> (live.domia.eu), wrote the Harmony-BBS Component (To link it to
Harmony
>> 2007). I also share an office with the BBS Team - whilst working
on
>> Harmony/DomiaLifestyle!
>>
>> With that said - I don't gain anything from "positive
reviews", I'm not on
>> comission, don't receive a salary from BBS. I *do* get heavily
involved in
>> support - particularly on the BBS Forums.
>>
>> BBS + Domia Lite are the same thing (different plastics). Domia
Lite is, I
>> believe, being phased out. (bargains to be had??)
>>
>> So, my experience:
>>
>> Range: Generally "as advertised", 20-30M not a problem.
>>
>> Reliability: Excellent - as long as you stick to the rated wattage
(Hint -
>> no, you can't plug your washing machine, tumble drier and
dishwasher into a
>> 4A/1KW socket! :s )
>>
>> Inteference(1): The appliance/dimmer modules, used with the remote
>> controls, do no seem to suffer at all with radio inteference.
>>
>> Inteference(2): The "Online Controller" *IS* suceptible
to RF noise - if
>> located to close to a wireless router, laptop, microwave etc - it
won't send
>> a signal. (It waits for "quiet" before sending).  I've
yet to come across a
>> scenario where relocating the controller (using a longer cat5
cable) didn't
>> solve this issue.
>>
>> Controller - early firmware versions had issues with non
rfc-compliant DHCP
>> Servers/Routers. All is well in 2.9 (current release). Also, pre
firmware
>> 2.7, firmware update was a return to factory effort - it's no end
user
>> upgradable (only relevant if you somehow buy an old one!)
>>
>> HA Integration: Harmony has a dedicated component for it. :)
>>
>> "roll your own" is easy enough - either UDP / TCP Socket
based - see the
>> BBS Forums for documentation. A number of users have written their
own - -
>> there's even a fledgling hardware hacking scene.
>>
>> Biggest gripe (from HA point of view) - the Dimmers.  Not HA
friendly,
>> IMHO.  They turn on (soft start) as expected. They turn off as
expected.
>> when turned on, they turn on to last level. All OK.  To dim them,
you turn
>> them on, hit on again (to start them ramping up/down*) then press
on for a
>> 3rd time to stop at desired level.  (*) whether they go up / down
depends
>> where in the up/down cycle they stopped last time, as far as I can
tell.
>> Thus, keeping track of dim level in software is nigh on impossible
(I've not
>> even attempted it!). As none of the devices report their status,
remote
>> control of dimmers is, IMHO, best avoided. (You could work around
by always
>> sending an off before an on, if you want them on, but this is
messy. If the
>> dimmer was already on, any you switch it on again, you end up with
rising
>> and falling lights - amusing once or twice - - zero-WAF long
term).
>>
>> So, dimmers aside - very good replacement for X10.
>>
>> I've requested "pre-set dim" be included in future
versions of the dimmer
>> hardware, but can not say for sure if / when this will happen.
>>
>> You can see the Controller in action at online.domia.eu/demo/
>>
>> Hope this is of some help,
>>
>> Rob
>>
>>
>> 2009/2/17 Vargster <vargster@xxxxxxx>
>>
>>   Chaps,
>>
>>> I'm thinking of replacing all my X10 kit with BBSB kit, due to
recent
>>> issues
>>> with X10.
>>> It's been working fine for years, really fine, but lately
there have been
>>> just too many glitches and the WAF is starting to slide.
>>> Given that all I use is the PC interface, three remotes, four
lamp modules
>>> and a dozen applience modules (none of the weirder kit), it
could easily
>>> be
>>> swapped for a BBSB controller, several starter kits and a few
lamp
>>> modules.
>>>
>>> The $64,000 question is - Is this a wise move? And what's the
real world
>>> range of the remotes and the controller? Does it cause/suffer
from radio
>>> interference? Is it reliable in operation? Is the hardware
reliable? Etc?
>>>
>>> Lastly, am I right in thinking the BBSB kit and the Domia Lite
kit are
>>> compatible?
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>> Lee
>>>
>>> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> --
>> Rob Iles
>>
>> Harmony - www.domialifestyle.com
>> Software Development - www.rob-iles.co.uk/rmidevelopment
>>
>> Twitter: http://twitter.com/Rob_Iles
>> Skype: rob_iles
>> 12seconds: http://12seconds.tv/channel/rmi
>>
>>
>
>
>
>


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