Re: Simple home automation setup

["AZ Woody" <Reply@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Be a bit careful if you try Active Home Pro (I'm not sure the original
Active Home is still available)

See http://www.x10.com/news/msgb/index.cgi?board=ahp-general

and the bug reports section.  There seems to be many folks that have had a
lot of problems with AHP

You can also checkout http://www.smarthome.com/1132cu.html
Smarthome has a similar  controller, but is said to be more reliable.

Be forewarned...  Whatever approach you choose, you may need a phase coupler
and/or noise filters too...

What the phase couple does, is (if you have 220 v power in the house) is
transfer the x10 signals between the two 110v legs.  If you have the modules
and the controller on both legs (different circuits), without a coupler, a
module might not see the X10 command.

The noise filter(s) are for devices that may reduce or obscure  the x10
signal.  I good example is a PC with a cheap power supply



"BruceR" <brNOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:wcGwe.4009$3o4.3509@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> It's hard to beat X10's prices when you consider the free shipping they
> offer. If all you want to do is operate the one porch light switch you
> need nothing more than what I posted earlier. If you want to get into
> some more advanced control, the ActiveHome controller package is a good
> start. You'll still need the switch and either a Sundowner or another
> light sensing unit.
>
> From:Andy Simms
> sim@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> > In article <MsednUaXUqKUYF_fRVn-rg@xxxxxxxxxxx>,
> > brett@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx says...
> >> They also make a pc interface with a free Activehome software.  It
> >> can calulate sunrise and sunset on a daily basis.  You can write a
> >> program to turn the lights on and off based on sunset and 1am.
> >
> > Hi,
> >
> > This is kind of what I was thinking of.  I've browsed through the
> > X10.com website, but it's not that easy to figure out what components
> > work with the software, and what items are needed to get things to
> > work.  Is there a FAQ somewhere for X10 products?  Also, is X10.com
> > the cheapest/most reliable source for these products, or are there
> > resellers?  I've checked eBay, and it seems that there are a lot of
> > X10 products there for much less than the X10 website.
> >
> > Andy Simms
>
>
>