Re: Insteon compatibility

[nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Dave Houston)]

Neil,

I saw much higher Insteon signal levels with my ESM1 which probably
indicates that you have more signal suckers than do I. Aside from PLC
transmitters I only have one major signal sucker and it's behind a filter.

The fact that you get workable Insteon signal levels speaks well for their
repeater philosophy.

It would be interesting to know the ESM1 X-10 signal strength in your
computer room and garage.

FWIW, my ESM1 shows a peak response at about 131kHz which is closer to the
Insteon carrier than to the X-10 carrier.

Neil Cherry <njc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>A bit more info on actual Insteon use:
>
>I have an old ELK ESM1 and it can measure the Insteon signal's
>strenght (or least I think it can). It doesn't show valid packets
>because the ESM1 is made for X10 but I'm seeing pulse of about 1V.
>With the SignalLincs I also see a 1V signal in my garage which is the
>weakest portion of my house (from an X10 prospective). Here's the
>setup:
>
>    [Insteon PLC] [SignalLinc]
>Comp. Rm |             |  Phase A         [Breakers]
>+--------+-------------+---------------\   +-----+
>                  [SignalLinc]          \--| # # |
>Study                  |  Phase B          | # # |
>+----------------------+-------------------| # # |
>      [ESM 1]                              | # # |
>Garage   |                Phase B       /--| # # |
>+--------+-------------+---------------/   +-----+
>
>First I connected the ESM1 to the same circuit as the PLC. Measures
>about 1V (+/- 1 bar at times, visual average is 1v). I then put the
>ESM1 on the garage circuit and I see the same signal strength ~1V.
>
>While this is not a scientific test it does bode well for Insteon in
>my home. I do have some signal suckers such as TV's and stereo's that
>currently kill my X10. In fact my computer room has gotten so bad that
>my X10 thermostat no longer receives an X10 signal but I don't know if
>it's damaged or it due to signal strength. The thermostat is on it's
>own circuit (AC baseboard heating). The reason for signal strength
>issuse is that I have 8 PLCs and several PC's all on the same circuit
>(no where near overloading the 15 amp circuit).