Re: XTB - the Future of X10 has arrived!

["BruceR" <br@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Well, I got my XTBs (1 built and one kit) on Monday and they are very
powerful devices.

First, about the kit:
 Jeff's online instructions and detailed photos took any guesswork out
of assembly.  I used a 20 watt soldering iron with thin guage 60/40
Kester solder. All the parts were packaged logically and assembly was
straightforward.  The board is tightly packed but not so much that it
presents any difficulty in assembly.

I took my time and double-checked everything as I did it and the entire
process took about an hour. My care paid off as it worked first time I
plugged it in with the output of the kit matching or exceeding the
assembled version's output.  If you have good soldering skills and a
little patience you can tackle this project with confidence. I'd rate it
as an "intermediate level" build.

Second, about the performance:
 I now have about 50 X10 signal sucking Insteon devices installed -
quite a challenge for any X10 transmitter! With those, X10 signal
strength from the TW523 is virtually worthless except to a few close
modules. With the XTB installed I can reach about 95% of the Insteon
units that have been programmed with an X10 address. So, with the
translator on line as well, pretty much everything can be controlled
even during macro execution.  I be doing more tests and schedule
tweaking over the next day or two.

 I'll also be bringing one of the XTB's to my home in Texas - a "pure"
X10 environment that works fairly well with a Smarthome plug-in
repeater.  I'll test to see if the repeater can be replaced with the XTB
and a coupler and report back over the weekend.


> I have one so I'll give it a try. I'm hoping the package arrived
> today.
>> Thanks Dave,
>>
>> That Powerlink has a transformer-coupled input.  While not the same
>> as the one in the TW523, it looks like it should work fine with the
>> XTB.
>>
>> Jeff
>>
>> "Dave Houston" <nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:448a9aed.373071671@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>> Jeff,
>>>
>>> John Galvin published a schematic of the original 1132B. You can
>>> find a link to it in this thread.
>>>
>>>
>> http://groups.google.com/group/comp.home.automation/browse_frm/thread/de6c29de3c6b3420/b5c6b361a0f7b9fe?lnk=st&q=galvin+powerlinc+schematic+group%3Acomp.home.automation&rnum=2&hl=en#b5c6b361a0f7b9fe