Re: Help with 7 Circuit Project?

[nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Dave Houston)]

"Brett Griffin" <brett@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>I would recommend you take a hard look at UPB.  It has proven a 99.99%
>reliability record for 5 years now.  Powerline used to mean X-10.  UPB took
>the X-10 ideology and made it work.  The two biggest problems with X-10 were
>signal strength and the frequency it was used at.

5 years? It was first announced about 2.5 years ago, first shown about a
year ago, and has been shipping for only 9 months or so.

>Signal Strength.  X-10 transmits 5 volts at the zero line crossing.  It is
>extremely easy to get 5 volts of noise on a powerline circuit, and the zero
>line crossing is where noise is most prevalent.  Once the voltage of the
>noise surpasses the voltage of the signal, you lost communications.  The
>second problem is X-10 transmits at 121 KHz.  At this frequency the signal
>attenuates, or loses its strength over a short distance.  Combine these
>factors together (low signal strength over a short distance, and a little
>bit of noise) and X-10 does not work.

You are full of it. The loss of signal strength is independent of distance.
There have been numerous studies that confirm this. It's the inductive and
capacitive loading that attenuates the signal.

Most X-10 transmitters actually transmit 10Vpp at 120kHz. Noise is lowest at
zero crossing.

>Other complaints of X-10 had to use a coupler/repeater and it is slow.  What
>do you think Radio Ra uses, basically every 30 feet you need a device to
>repeat the signal to get good coverage, and Radio Ra is as slow if not
>slower than X-10.  Now I am not bashing Radio RA, it is a great reliable
>technology, but it 3 times the cost of professional X-10 or UPB.  However if
>you want terracotta wall plates than you better call Lutron to get Radio RA.

When did they reduce the speed of light? What about gravity? Have they
changed that law, too?

>Now enter UPB.
>
>UPB transmits approximately 1/6th of a cycle before the sine wave at 40
>volts above the voltage of the sine wave.  It has a peak voltage around 60
>volts transmitting in the 4-40 kHz spectrum.  What this means, it works very
>well.  You will not have noise the masks the UPB signal.  If you do, you
>have a whole lot more to worry about than your lights, likely nothing in
>your home will operate properly.  Due to its frequency, I have had dealer
>tell me they have seen UPB transmit over 5 miles of electrical cabling.

Your description of a UPB "signal" sounds very much like noise pulses which
are quite common from triacs, motors, ballasts, etc. As I understand it, UPB
generates their pulse by rapidly discharging a capacitor. That sounds like a
noise pulse.

I suggest you learn a few fundamentals before trying to pass yourself off as
an expert. Spouting nonsense like this on topics you obviously do not
understand will get you an idiot label rather quickly.