Re: Decora HCPRF WAS: Re: UPB, etc. WAS: Need some antenna advice...

[nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Dave Houston)]

"Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>I agree that it's unlikely a valid code would come from random noise burst.
>I suspect that in cases where oddball codes appear to come from nowhere
>people are actually seeing interactions between various modules. I have a
>couple of power strips that make the ESM1 meter light up ever so faintly
>when I plug them into or unplug them from a nearby power outlet.  It's one
>of the things I hope LynxTools will help me analyze.  I also note that the
>LM14A module makes the ESM1 show a strong signal when I first plug it into
>the wall.

Another point that should be made is that powerline collisions sometimes
result in valid codes that differ from either of the originals but can
affect other devices in the X-10 address space. In these cases there will be
valid signals of unknown origin in the logs. The original Ocelot firmware
would detect collisions but did not report them. I convinced ADI that, they
needed to report any that resulted in valid X-10 commands. I shudder to
think of the phantom event reports we'd be seeing if they had stayed with
the original firmware. ;)

It's also possible for power spikes and brownouts to directly affect X-10
modules and switches. In these case there will be no codes in the logs.

Finally, with SmartHome selling the two-way *Linc devices that send their
own Address and On/Off codes when the load is cycled, there will be codes
logged. As we've seen, these can apparently be fooled by things like motor
noise.

SmartHome also uses the old style preset dim codes which can mysteriously
affect modules in other housecodes.