Re: Insteon compatibility

[Neil Cherry <njc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, 14 Sep 2005 12:55:56 GMT, Dave Houston wrote:
> Neil,

> You obviously have some serious signal suckers.

Well all the devices mentioned are in one room. At least not all my
computers are plugged in. :-)

> You obviously have some serious signal suckers. That the Insteon nodules
> work where X-10 madules do not is evidence that Insteon certainly addresses
> signal level issues but your rather low Insteon signal level is also
> evidence that signal suckers will continue to be a problem.

My conclusion is along the same lines. I thinks it's the fact that my
SignalLincs are boosting the signal the the Insteon is working
better. A amplifier for X10 across the phases might help but I'm not
buying any more X10 (I've got enough appliance modules for holiday
lights).

Here's an odd one for you, the CM15A couldn't turn on or off the AM14
(A1) but all the other devices (all the controllers listed) could see
the signal (just < 2.5v) at the AM14. I could turn on & off a RS
appliance module (C1 and right next to it). To make things more
interesting the TW523 couldn't control A1 but the Insteon & CM11A were
able to control A1 (and C1). I have no explaination for this.

> It's looking more and more like Insteon is the real thing - reliable
> powerline communications at a reasonable price but I would feel better if we
> weren't still seeing reports of SwitchLincs & LampLincs losing their address
> when there are power glitches.

I agree seems to work pretty well (at least on paper and my flimsy
testing).

On the issue of the *Lincs and losing their address I'm guessing that
won't be so much of a problem as the addressing is hard coded. But I
am wondering when I send new paramters and/or code the the various
*Linc V2 modules (those are Insteon) will those be retained. So far
I'm not that far along but my home should be a good test bed we are
having lots of power problems lately (excess building and the
increased load on this section of the local grid). Eventually I will
have to bring my old UPS back on line. I just need to purchase 2 new
batteries.

One thing about the Insteon protocol, it's not as simple as X10 to
use. You need to enroll the modules with the controller(s) otherwise
the commands are ignored by the devices. This is both good and bad. I
wouldn't call it security as you can poke the devices address into the
controller. But the Insteon controller won't tell you the full address
of the device that's not enrolled.

--
Linux Home Automation         Neil Cherry       ncherry@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://home.comcast.net/~ncherry/               (Text only)
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