Re: Recording X-10 PLC sequences

[nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Dave Houston)]

"Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>I'm certainly interested in several.  Will it run from a wall wart or have a
>built-in PS like the Monterey?

It's all passive components so there's no PS. It uses the power inlet on the
right in this (non-PDF) link...

     http://www.qualtekusa.com/catalog/ac_recept/power_inlets.html

>I'm assuming that there will be lots of interesting stuff that can be done
>to analyze the signals once they've been captured to disk.

You assume too much. Even the best soundcards can only sample at 96ksps
which is too low for an accurate picture of the 120kHz waveform. The
demodulated output will look like the ESM1 screenshots but, as it has no
active components, will show all phases. The soundcard input must be limited
to about 2Vpp or its built-in limiters will clip the signal so you'll have
to adjust the maximum soundcard input signal level down to this level. You
can later amplify it in the wave editor so you'll be able to make relative
judgements of signal levels but cannot measure the absolute level. The major
benefit will just be that you can record lengthy sequences to see what's
actually on the powerline. X-10 interfaces only report valid codes - this
gives a picture of collisions, middle-of-the-night mystery signals, etc.
It's not likely to be a big seller - it probably won't even pay back the
development costs.

I'll provide some screenshots in a few days.