Re: 32 years using x-10

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"greenpjs" <greenpjs@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:n4em145q0hnsbj4tmedf03ho7hn9nut418@xxxxxxxxxx
> Bobby,
> From one Mr. Green to another, thanks for your reply.  I received a
> total of four replies (one via private email) and all of them
> recommended the XTB-IIR as the closest thing to a silver bullet there
> is.  I think I will order one.  (It will be fun building a kit again.
> Heathkit used to get a lot of business from me back in the day -
> stereo, TVs, ham radio.)

That's good.  It will save you a few bucks to build your own.  I think
you'll find Jeff's assembly instructions quite thorough and if you buy the
parts kit, that it's quite well-marked.

> Regarding a meter, I do have an ESM1, but it hasn't been very useful
> solving the latest round of problems.  I am wondering if there isn't
> some sort of issue with frequency rather than strength.  For example,

That already tells me something.  The ESM1's biggest weakness, compared to
something like the Monterey Powerline Signal Analyzer, is the noise readout
at low levels.  The LED bars just can't compare to the PLSA's digital
readout of the noise level in millivolts.  The PLSA also takes noise
readings at two different points on the AC cycle.  It's how I was able to
find the most recent noisemaker in my house, a shoplite whose bulbs were
just about burned out.  By moving the PLSA down each outlet in the circuit,
it was easy to determine whether I was moving toward or away from the noise
source.

The ESM1 display was not precise enough to perform that task.  It might give
you a good enough estimate to find the noise source, though.  Check a few
outlets with everything turned on to see if you can detect noise on the
line.  Even half a bar indicates a potential problem.  It's important to
have everything turned on at once because devices that are fine operating
alone can cause trouble when operating together on the same circuit.
Fluorescents are particularly problematic in this regard.  If you're
anywhere near the nation's capital, I'd be happy to drop by and scope things
out with the Monterey for you.  I've not yet found a problem it couldn't
solve or at least shed some light on.

> I have two different RF transceivers.  One is an older RR501.  The
> other is a TM751.   One works better than the other even though they
> provide similar signal strengths (according to the ESM1) when plugged
> in the same outlet.  Could one be a little off the 120 kHz frequency?
> Perhaps some receivers are more sensitive to that than others.  I wish
> I had an oscilloscope.

The RR has collision detection, but the TM doesn't.  If the RR starts
transmitting on a clear line, the TM751 can very easily begin transmitting
as well, and collisions result.  Collisions reveal themselves by working
*eventually* if you keep pressing the buttons long enough.  A noise or
signal sucker problem usually won't work at all, no matter how long you
press the buttons.  One other thing I did was to remove all transceivers
from the line except a single WGL all housecode unit:

http://www.wgldesigns.com/v572.html

That step removed so many demons from the X-10 RF side of things that I was
amazed.  With more than one transceiver, line collisions become a real
issue.  They could easily account for the intermittent problems you're
seeing.  Do your intermittent issues disappear if you use only one
transceiver or would removing one unit make it impossible to tell because of
range limitations?

I know you're on a budget, but if you depend on RF X-10 controllers, the WGL
unit is an important upgrade.  I assume that you are using two transceivers
because of the abysmal range of the X-10 stock units.  The WGL unit allows
me to control the X-10 lights from my driveway (about three time the range
of the TM751) even though the antenna is in the middle of the house.  It
also plugs directly into the XTB unit's digital input port.  I'm working on
a detailed article about their latest transceiver that should appear in the
next month or so.  Although some people operate multiple transceivers
without issue, I was not able to.  My PLSA used to show collisions for
nearly every RF transmission until I removed the TM751's and RR501's from
the mix.  Now the line is remarkably free of signs of signal collisions.  If
you indeed have filtered all the suckers and noisemakers, this is one place
I would look.

> Anyway, thanks to all who replied.  You have been very helpful.

Let us know how it all works out!

--
Bobby G.