Once again, an X-10 "broadcast storm" detector would have been a very useful device to have. I was sitting in my office, surfing and I began hearing random appliance modules going on and off. Every ControlLinc Maxi I checked showed monitor LEDs flashing but this was something different than the typical stuck button lockup. The LEDs were not on constantly as they are when there's a stuck button. Also, legit wireless and PLC command
*occasionally* managed to get through.I got the Monterey analyzer and it showed something incredibly weird. The rogue transmitter was issuing about a command each second, and it was incrementing both the house code and the unit code a time. I'd see a general pattern of A's, then B's then C's. Stuck buttons generally appear on the Monterey as a string of "BSC" messages and fill the unit's memory of
190 commands within seconds. This data stream was much slower than that, and was the first time I had seen such a huge variation of house/unit codes in the PLC data stream. In addition, unlike the stuck button case, nearly all of the commands were legit X-10.Unfortunately, the XTB's powerful signal means I can no longer guess the general distance from the outlet-under-test to the transmitter by the voltage reading. The Monterey just reports 4+ volts for nearly every transmission. The ESM-1 could be modified to cope, but the LED bars aren't precise enough to estimate transmitter-to-meter distances with any accuracy.
This time, though, my memory was good enough to recall that I had been working in the PC room and had disconnected the CM11A's serial cable from the PC and left it hanging. What I don't understand is why it took nearly
12 hours for the CM11A (which got wicked hot!) to begin its bizarre broadcast?-- Bobby G.