Motion control for exterior lights

[Bob Babcock <wssddc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I want to add motion sensor and timer control to front porch and
driveway lights for convenience and to save power.  I have no x10 or
Insteon equipment right now.  I've been looking mostly at smarthome
stuff.

So I start my design with a couple of 4087 wireless motion sensors,
a 4005x RF base, a 2414U PowerLinc controller and some sort of
switches.  Then I run into problems:

The PowerLinc controller says it has on-board memory so timers and
macros can be downloaded without the need to have a computer
running.  But the mControl software they recommend says it doesn't
download to the controller so you need a PC running to execute timed
commands and triggered events.  I don't want to dedicate a PC to
this project; if nothing else, the power used by a PC running 24/7
would be comparable to what I would save by having the lights off
most of the time.  (Using a PC for setup, however, would be good.)

I can't find any documentation for what the PowerLinc controller can
actually do, or how to get programs into it.

The front porch circuit has 540 watts of lights on it.  All of the
switches seem to be rated 500 watts or less for incandescent loads.

Some of my computers put enough noise into our power lines to mess
up an old intercomm system (depending on which outlets the units are
plugged into).  How robust is X10 protocol?

Any comments or suggestions?