Re: XTB - the Future of X10 has arrived!

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"Dave Houston" <nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:447d27d0.313423765@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> One reason X-10 didn't do it may be that many regulatory agencies around
the
> world limit PLC amplitude to 5Vpp. Most X-10 transmitters output about
10Vpp
> but all those introduced for the past 7-8 years are 5Vpp to comply with
CE.

That's interesting because I have a CM11A with a date code of "4A7" (which I
believe means 1984 but could be 1994) whose output appears to be greater
than much more recent TM751's.  At least that's what I thnk I am seeing
based on attenuation extrapolation since both my meters peg out at under 5
volts.   The CM11A's got a revision code of PG0281M in case that's any help
in figuring out whether it's 84 or 94.  I seem to recall buying it at
Egghead just before I changed jobs, which would have made it around 1985.

When testing the XTB I plugged in various transmitters to a power strip in
my PC room.  Then, for each one in turn, I read the output at the far end of
the house.  To my surprise, while the TM751 was outputting from .42 to 48
millivolts the CM11A clocked in at .58 to .62 millivolts.  Now I realize
that there could be a number of factors that attenuate each transceiver's
output differently but it really surprised me to see since I recall having
measured it before and seeing an output that was half that of the RR501's
that I been using.  I am certain I've seen lots of tables that indicate the
CM11A's relatively anemic output yet that's not what I am seeing in the real
world.

I also realize it could be just a fluke of the Monterey's measuring
circuitry as well.  The numbers are too small to make sense of with the
ESM1.  When the new XTB's arrive, I'm going to try to do as formal a
comparison as I can without an o'scope and may finally come 'round to buying
the USB o'scope you had suggested a while back.  I've regained interest in a
lot of X-10 gear that I had to abandon because the signals just wouldn't
reach everywhere no matter how much filtering I did.

Do you think the CE limits are safety based or are they just in place to
limit interference to nearby buildings?  I'm assuming interference is more
important in Europe than the US because European population density is so
much higher.

--
Bobby G.