Re: Switching audio via an Ocelot and SECU's

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"Jeff Volp" <JeffVolp@xxxxxxx> wrote

> Comparing X-10 and Z-Wave is like comparing a PC with a Mac.  They both do
> the same thing, but there's not much compatibility.  Even today, stay
within
> X10 (or Leviton DHC), and everything works fine.  It's perhaps even more
> compatible than the PC because those old brown BSR X10 modules still work
> today.  They come into service every year at Christmas candle time.  There
> aren't many parts left over from my XT that are useful today.  Anybody
want
> an ATI Wonder card?

An All in Wonder card?  I'll take it!  :-)  The point you raise is
interesting.  X-10 didn't modify the underlying technology of its PLC
protocol - but they did do an awful lot in both in the RF arena and with the
CM11A as an automation controller that didn't need a PC.  The CM11A was a
technological extension of the CP290 - IIRC they hit a design wall in their
design that make it unworkable on Win95 systems.  BTW, I find my CP290 far
more reliable than the CM11A! So there's been steady progress on the X-10
front, even though it may not seem that way.  If there's no pressing need to
update the standard, it lingers until there is a reason to change or until
it's no longer needed.

Floppy drive cables haven't changed in 20 years - nor have floppy ports or
parallel printer ports or keyboard ports or mouse ports.  Sure there are
more options today with USB, but those ports are still there, relatively
unchanged because there was no pressing need to change them.

I think Insteon and other have arrived on the scene at this moment for a
reason:  The proliferation of CFL's and other signal suckers has finally
rendered the X-10 protocol more likely to fail than to succeed in a first
time deployment by a new enthusiast.  We see evidence of that here in CHA
all the time.  The technological issue of a polluted power line finally
triggered the burst of new protocols.  The same "we've hit a wall and must
redesign" process occurs in the PC world, but about every 5 years, not every
30 as in home automation.

--
Bobby G.