Looking at how to use the DS10A with other devices

I would like to use the DS10A door/window sensors to monitor with. Apparently, it only works with the security console.

Are they any other receiver devices how I get get it to read or is there a modification for the DS10A that would make where I can use it on other X10 receivers?

Thanks, JT

Thanks for the information. I'm going to go and purchase the W800RF32A. Looks like exactly what I need.

JT

Greetings.

I just bought 3 DS10A's and a W800RF32A myself.

My first project is to monitor the mailbox. I was thinking of replacing the magnetic contact switch/magnet pair with a tilt switch... maybe not.

I have a problem, and a potential solution...

My new plastic mailbox has access doors on both sides: the street AND the sidewalk.

I want the DS10A to signal when the street-side door is opened. Hopefully the mailman is making a delivery.

I can either seal the sidewalk-side door, or maybe add another DS10A to signal when this door is opened, etc.

When I cut the sidewalk, before I pour the cement, I plan to tunnel underneath, and provide a way to hardwire this in the future. Anyway...

Mister House is awesome software! It not only supports the W800RF32A, but it also supports the extended codes. Written in Perl, for both Windoze and Linux... Open source, and free.

The DS10A has a slide switch for "min" and "max". No matter which way it is set, when triggered a signal is sent right away. Mister House shows the 4 possible codes:

W800 key: alertmin W800 key: normalmin W800 key: alertmax W800 key: normalmax

So...

I'm thinking I can make the 1 DS10A do two jobs. If I somehow make the min/max switch part of the trigger switch circuit.

I'm thinking to wire both doors to the regular switch, and the min/max switch would be in "min" when the street-door is triggered and in "max" when the sidewalk-side door is opened. Probably a second switch on 1 door only. I have to think about how to pull this off...

Mister House can, among many other things, play a sound whenever a certain trigger is received. I'm going to use the famous AOL "You've Got Mail" when the street-side is opened (during the day), and something like "Warning: Identity theft!" for the sidewalk-side at all times, and the street-side at night, etc.

Time to mod a DS10A...

Good luck with your project!

Jack :)

jt wrote:

Hi Jt As Charles has mentioned the ds10a switches can be monitored by

the WGL W800RF32A.........There is an xPL service for the W800 ....xPL is

Free

HTH Frank

BTW, the DS10A automatically reports its current status every 60-70 minutes, so unless you look for changes in status you may think there's a prowler poking around your mailbox.

Thanks Chuck, but no worries.

While it will report in, it will say NormalMin or NormalMax depending upon the little slide switch.

Only when I get an AlertMin or AlertMax will I DO anything.

If I was worried about it I would set a timer, and make sure it HAS checked in within the allowed time. They call that Supervised. Should be easy enough with Mister House.

This will alert me to failing batteries, etc.

Maybe they'll steal the DS10A, or the whole box! If supervised I would know within a couple hours!!

Thanks again,

Jack :)

Or how about a light sensor? The box ought to be dark enough when closed to make one useful. A light sensor won't have any physical alignment issues like a mechanical swtich might. Or you could use a magnetic reed switch with the magnet glued to the door of the box; even using two to cover the opening of either side. Just wire 'em up in parallel.

I've tunneled underneath sidewalks, it's easy. Just dig a hole on each side and then use a stiff piece of something like 3/4" outdoor PVC conduit attached to a garden hose. I found the threads on a garden hose fit reasonably well into the PVC. I also purchased a male brass hose repair fitting and screwed it into the 'business' end of the PVC. It helped increase the boring pressure of the flow. It was a messy job, what with boring through dirt with a pressurized water flow, but went right under a 4' walk in about 10 minutes. The trick is in making sure your holes are deep enough to go under the gravel base of the walk. That and that the pushing end is wide enough to allow pushing the conduit. I was lucky that the lawn sloped down along that side but I still had to 'bend' the conduit a little bit to keep it carving a level channel.

To each his own, I found Homeseer well worth the price. Their new 2.0 version is having some 'rev dot oh' growing pains but looks like it'll settle down soon. Meanwhile I have v1.7 chugging right along.

Resistance? Does it base the min/max on an analog value? If so a resistor in series with each switch would work.

Hmmm...

Great minds think alike!

I was pondering the battery situation when I drove to Radio Shack for the battery holder(s). Toying with the idea of putting 2 pairs in parallel - to extend the service life, etc.

Especially when the unit's ID changes whenever the batteries are changed.

Making it necessary to reprogram the software listening for the DS10A's messages.

No, as far as I know Mister House discards the battery info.

I'm now a Mister House nut. I got the thing to, for now, play the AOL .wav "You've Got Mail" whenever the switch is opened. Here is the code:

# Window/Door sensor items

if ($state = state_now $Mailbox_sensor) { $state = "open" if ($state =~ /^alert/i); $state = "closed" if ($state =~ /^normal/i); print_log "Mailbox's door is now $state";

if ($state eq "open"){play(`file` => "GOTMAIL.wav")} }

And my items.mht file:

Format = A # # See mh/lib/read_table_A.pl for definition of Format=A items #

# # Type Address Name Groups Other Info

X10I, M8, Office_light, Office, CM11, LM465

X10A, E8, Halogen_light, Bedroom, CM11 X10MS, M8, Office_Motion, Office, MS13A RF, 8C, Mailbox_sensor, Sensors, Security

The .wav file is in the normal sounds directory.

Hope this helps...

As for passing the battery info within Mister House...

It's something that, now that we know it's missing, will hopefully get added by somebody... eventually.

Jack :)

Charles Sullivan wrote:

When devices do this I try to rearrange things so it just uses the default anyway. Not always workable. At the same time I try to make sure nothing else uses the default codes. That way should the device forget it's address I can trap the sudden appearance of a default code and know to start doing battery checks.

I just started doing the same thing with the X-10 Rex units. I decided rather than keeping them crammed with 8 "C" cells I would assign them each their own house code since that part of their setup is done with a standard code wheel. It did take a long time of resetting the damn things before I realized I could take advantage of the default tendency in a positive way.

-- Bobby G.

IIRC the DS10A has no default ID. It will pick a random ID when the batteries are changed. It might even pick one already in use by another security module since there are only 256 possibilities.

"Dave Houston" wrote in

Good point. I did not know that "feature" of the DS10A.

I have the Rexes running with Hawkeyes, now, not the DS10. I know I have a DS10A somewhere - I think it's in the X-10 security system package I never opened that my uncle left. Picking an "in use" code at battery change time is something I can live without. No wonder it's still in the box. At one time I thought the dialer might be useful but something I read in the newsgroup led me to believe otherwise. Thanks for the update on how the DS10A works - or sort of works. In the box it stays!

-- Bobby G.

Bobby,

It's not a big deal, really!

You put in the new batteries, and press the TEST button.

The Mister House log will have an error stating an unrecognized blah blah blah... Within the message is a code, the transmitter's new code.

Now you edit the items.mht file, and put the new code in place of the old... Restart MH...

In a year, when the batteries go dead again... repeat!

I know you can handle THAT!!

Right?

;-)

Jack :)

Robert Green wrote:

You miss the important point that this randomly selected code might already be in use by some OTHER device you possess. Not a good thing.

Not necessarily. If you change the batteries when they're just "Low" and not too far gone to keep the unit operating, the DS10A will retain the same ID for some indefinite period of time - certainly long enough for you to exchange the old batteries for new ones. (If you press the "Test" button with the batteries removed, the old ID will be immediately erased.)

Too bad Misterhouse doesn't report the 'Low Battery' condition. If you want to try hacking the source code, this condition is indicated by bit 1 set in the status byte (where bit 8 is the Closed/Opened status and bit 3 is the Min/Max status).

Regards, Charles Sullivan

Every time you fuss with it, you bring it one step closer to failure. That's just the nature of gizmos, especially cheap X-10 gizmos. You're new to them, it seems, so you may need to discover this fact of life indpendently.

If you like to futz with stuff for no particular reason, or, as it's been pointed out, end up with two devices possibly sharing the same code, design it so that it requires frequent maintenance. It's just a shame that you could design it correctly, so that it just keeps working. Lithium batteries, at this point, would be all it takes.

I can think of some interesting scenarios where a delivery guy or an express mailman who doesn't know you sees you fiddling with wires in your mailbox and calls in an alert. There are just so *many* reasons to do it the right way and make it as maintenance free as possible. That means long life batteries that won't fail in the cold.

Simple.

-- Bobby G.