Re: X10 to Insteon Translator is shipping!

[nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Dave Houston)]

Bruce,

Insteon uses BPSK modulation which is reputed to have good noise immunity.
Two phases (180° apart) are used to denote logical 1 and 0. The problem with
X-10 is that the receivers (especially the older designs) can be blocked by
low level noise as high as 200kHz.

One test I only thought of after I had returned the Insteon starter kit
would be to flood the line with X-10 (e.g. by holding down a button on an
HR12A) and sending an Insteon signal. Of course, that won't work with the
translator in the system.

131.65kHz is likely to be affected by the same signal sinks as X-10 so I
think filters will still be needed. Many problems blamed on "noise" are
really due to signal sinks. The Insteon receivers are more sensitive (10mV)
than most X-10 receivers which will help some.

"BruceR" <br@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>I placed my order for the X10 to Insteon Translator along with the
>Insteon starter kit and some other Insteon products and got confirmation
>that it shipped today. I was pleasantly surprised by this as the
>translator was not shown "in stock" yet on Smarthome's web site. I'll
>report on it after I play with it next week.  I plan to install the
>modules in some trouble spots around the house to give them a good
>workout.  I will be using a JDS Stargate to control them. Stay tuned!
>
>I'm really keeping my fingers crossed on this because Insteon seems, for
>now, to offer a broader line of products at more reasonable prices than
>the UPB stuff. I played with a UPB starter kit but didn't go far with it
>since it couldn't be readily controlled by Stargate. In reading the
>Insteon description it appears that it uses PLC at 131kHz, just 10kHz
>higher than X10 signals. While that would seem to intimate that it would
>be just as susceptible to "signal anomalies" I guess that the closed
>loop operation, RF capability and different signal protocol is supposed
>to get around that.
>
>P.S. Stargate is now offering a firmware upgrade to support UPB but it
>requires removal of the telephone/IVR board (thereby downgrading it to a
>Stargate Lite) to do that. I rely too much on the telephone board to
>remove it. Of course, there's the recently announced X10 to UPB
>translator option if the Insteon stuff is a bust.
>
>Happy Holidays to All!
>