Re: Newbie Advice needed

["Jeff" <Jeffvolp@xxxxxxx>]

Sorry to jump in late here - getting caught up on the newsgroups.

The ACT repeater is supposed to be the best of the batch.  There were
reports that the Leviton HCA-02 had some bugs.  Maybe they are fixed
now.  However, the older Leviton 6201 is a good choice, and is
frequently available for around $50 on eBay.  I used the 6201 myself in
our previous house to solve a signal strength problem.  I brought it
and a spare with us to this house, but haven't needed it because this
one was wired to be X-10 friendly.  All circuits needing X-10
transmission are on the same phase.

As others have said, avoid the cheap X-10 switches.  Also, the low end
(6291, 6293) Leviton switches are just re-branded X-10 switches with
the same rubbery push-on push-off control under that nice Decora
paddle.  I went with the Leviton "red line" switches for this
house, and haven't had a single failure in almost 2 dozen switches
over the last 2 years.

A comment was made about X-10 not having 5 9's reliability.  Maybe
not, but with over 100 X-10 transmissions a day, including water
circulation and sprinkler system, it is extremely rare that we notice
any missed transmission.  And when that happens, it can generally be
traced to human error, not the X-10 controller itself (an Ocelot).  Our
main X-10 failure mode seems to be the cat walking across the remote.
Yes, she changes channels too.  ;-)

To obtain high reliability, you will need one of the X-10 signal
strength meters.  Mine cost about $50, and it works pretty well.  Also,
be prepared to put X-10 filters behind A/V equipment, computers, etc.

Good luck with your X-10 system!