Re: Insteon Test Report

[nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Dave Houston)]

I'm not familiar with the Leviton Signal Generator. Is it sending
continuously? If so, I think Insteon noise immunity lives up to its rep.

You must have a serious signal sink in or near that bathroom.

I agree 100% about the controller. It's too big, has too few features and is
just plain ugly. I don't think it is nearly as well thought out or will be
as well thought of as the basic Insteon technology.

As for the RF link failure, I suspect you just did their burn-in.

"BruceR" <br@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>Of course, I was so frustrated by the other stuff that I forgot to do
>that test.  Here are the results:
> I plugged one Insteon Appliance Module, one Insteon Tabletop
>Controller, one Leviton X10 Signal Generator and one ELK ESM1 into a
>basic powerstrip.  The Insteon module responded flawlessly to every on
>and off command sent from the controller and the ESM1 did indeed report
>it as noise by turning off the green light about 2 seconds after the
>Insteon signal was sent.  I then plugged the controller into various
>outlets around the house and it worked fine (except ,of course, from the
>infamous bathroom).
> One thing nice about the controller is that it reports on whether the
>signal got through. If it doesn't get a confirmation back from the
>module within a few seconds the LED on the controller flashes rapidly.
>The controller is a big (to me) bulky thing that only controls 5 Insteon
>modules or module groups, however; if you flip up the faceplate, the
>same buttons can control all 256 X10 codes!  I hope thay make a
>controller that will handle more Insteon devices.
>
>
>From:Dave Houston
>nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>> You can still run the noise test I suggested. You don't need to
>> bridge the phases. Just put the tabletop controller and an Insteon
>> lamp module on the same phase and see if they can communicate while
>> the line is flooded with X-10.
>>
>> "BruceR" <br@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>>> Yes, the bathroom has GFI outlets but so do other rooms with no
>>> problems.  Signals sent withIN the bathroom are strong but it's
>>> almost like there's a signal blocker between the bathroom and the
>>> rest of the house.
>>> I figured I might solve the problem by moving one of the Insteon RF
>>> lincs to the bathroom thereby bridging the bath to the rest of the
>>> house via RF.  However, I was foiled in my attempt to test that
>>> because one of the RF lincs is now dead after about 2 hours of use.
>>> Smarthome is advance shipping another pair which will take another
>>> week to get here. So, until the new RF linc arrives, all tests are
>>> off.
>>> After blocking out the day to test this stuff I am, needless to say,
>>> EXTREMELY frustrated.
>>> I may spend the rest of the day doing some UPB testing instead.
>>>
>>> From:Dave Houston
>>> nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>
>>>> Bruce,
>>>>
>>>> Any X-10 meter (e.g. ESM1) should report the Insteon signal as
>>>> noise. You can use it as a measure of signal strength.
>>>>
>>>> Is the bathroom outlet GFI?
>>>>
>>>> "BruceR" <br@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I've run my first test with an Insteon ICON switch and controller
>>>>> with disappointing results.  I installed the repeaters per the
>>>>> instructions and one ICON In Wall On/Off (2876S) switch that
>>>>> controls a porch light. I linked that switch to an Insteon Tabletop
>>>>> Controller and verified that it works from several outlets. The
>>>>> real test was to see if it worked from my bathroom where I could
>>>>> never control the X10 switch that was in place prior to the
>>>>> Insteon.  I plugged the controller in, pressed the button and...
>>>>> No Joy.
>>>>>
>>>>> Next step is to call them and discuss the result to see if they
>>>>> have any suggestions. Stay tuned.
>