Re: HA Issue

[nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Dave Houston)]

Just to add a bit of detail...

I have 3 of the 2000STW lamp modules. None would set the address, flashing
the LED randomly, if on the same circuit with the MultiSync XV15 but all
were OK in another circuit and all were OK if I plugged the monitor into two
filters. One filter was insufficient. I had one Leviton 5A filter and one
home-brew that consisted only of the choke from an X-10 lamp module.

Initially, I bought a single 2000STW just to test it. When this problem
appeared Smarthome replaced it plus they gave me two more modules. All three
act the same although there are minor differences in sensitivity (i.e. one
was OK with a single filter, one other seemed to be on the cusp with a
single filter and one always needed both filters).

According to the specifications, they are far more sensitive than any of the
X10 made gear. IIRC they claim 10mV sensitivity. (They claim even better
sensitivity for Insteon.) I think the increased sensitivity might be a
two-edged sword. Assuming they count cycles ala X10 to determine 1 or 0
(>=48 between ZC+250µS & ZC+900µS is a logic 1 for an X10 receiver - except
the CM15A), they might be counting low level noise pulses, getting into an
endless loop, seeing continuous pulses but also seeing everything as invalid
Manchester code.

The MultiSync XV15 monitor has since died and gone to the landfill so I'll
never know the details of what it was putting out but the modules might have
been seeing low-level, spikey type noise from the monitors PS or flyback. I
bought the monitor for half-price as a refurb (from NEC) and got about 12
years use so I can't complain.

A lot of people have posted favorably about SwitchLincs, LampLincs,
PowerLincs, etc. while others have seen what you saw. I suspect its the same
issue that I had which is tough to troubleshoot if you can't see any obvious
noise on a scope or with the ESM1. The fact that the LM14A was flawless w/o
filtering made it obvious that there was something that only affected the
LampLincs.

"Brad" <bsnedek@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>   yup, 1132B PowerLinc. And that was my exact issue with the
>SwitchLincs. They would just flash away, and never accept the assigned
>House and Unit I sent them.


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