CFL's and X-10

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

The X-10/CFL problem has a lot of dimensions, and as far as I can tell, no
neat solutions.  In examing the schematic for the LM465, it became clear in
a way that I hadn't realized before that whatever plugs into that outlet
becomes an intimate part of the module's circuitry.  Instead of a resistive
load of fairly fixed properties like a tungsten bulb, we are now plugging in
items that interact with the modules in ways their designers probably could
never anticipate.

I'd like to see someone invent a quarter-sized insert (like those old bulb
life extenders that look like little casino-style poker chips) that would
limit CFL-induced noise and signal attenuation AND provide a path for
current to leak back to the module to power it and keep the local sense
circuit active.  Drop it in the socket, screw a CFL bulb in, and no more
X-10 noise, no more CFL flashing or relighting, no more X-10 signal
attenuation.

Even if it did just two of those things, it would be a boon to the greening
the households of X-10 users.  It seems to me that the connection between
the module and the bulb is the right place to fix the problems because a lot
of the CFL/X-10 issues come from the "bad fit" of CFL's into the circuit
designed orginally to accommodate tungsten bulbs.

--
Bobby G.