I recently added a SignaLinc Repeater 3-Wire Dryer which has greatly improved X10 reliability in my home. But, none of the dims that I have programmed in Active Home Pro ever activate. For example, a simple C1 dim to 50% (or any other %) just turns the lamp on. Before adding the bridge/repeater the dims would perform properly. Note that I also tried setting the AH to repeat the command, no help.
That's real interesting. I have an
1132CU controlling my house. It doesn't work for any of the dims. If you set it to dim to 50%, it just goes on, full. I don't have a real signal repeater, just a phase coupler. I asked Santa Claus for an X10 test unit, however, all I got was a Kill-a-Watt, which BTW, I did want also. I do have some macros in the 1132CU that do repeating such as "if N3 Off is received, send an N3 Off. I do this because some senders can't seem to get to N3, but they can get to the 1132CU, which then resends the N3 Off. I am now wondering if, somehow, the 1132 is messing itself up. I'll have to do some experimenting.| I recently added a SignaLinc Repeater 3-Wire Dryer which has greatly | improved X10 reliability in my home. But, none of the dims that I have | programmed in Active Home Pro ever activate. For example, a simple C1 | dim to 50% (or any other %) just turns the lamp on. Before adding the | bridge/repeater the dims would perform properly. Note that I also | tried setting the AH to repeat the command, no help.
(previously you wrote:)
|After 15yrs of X10 signal problems, and adding numerous different |boosters, couplers and repeaters (none of which helped), my problems |have been solved with a SignaLinc Repeater 3-Wire Dryer |amplifier/coupler/repeater
Well, that was a short honeymoon. :)
Which repeaters had you tried before the SignalLinc? In particular, did you try any of ACT's offerings?
Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com
Hi Dan, I have been working too much (60-80hr weeks, ugh) to respond to your other question, I wasn't intentionally ignoring you (well, actually I was :) ... anyway, no I don't think I tried any ACT products. I must say though that even though the dims are not coming through when sent with AH via my PC otherwise having high reliability of at least on/off is tremendous. Note that I can dim using any of the remotes, it's just AH that won't dim, very odd, but I'm no X10 guru (but definitely a veteran, one of my 1st X10 systems was based around an X10 board (with ultrasonic sender, i think) in an Apple II circa 1980, ha).
| > | I recently added a SignaLinc Repeater 3-Wire Dryer which has | > greatly | > | improved X10 reliability in my home. But, none of the dims that I | > have | > | programmed in Active Home Pro ever activate. For example, a simple | > C1 | > | dim to 50% (or any other %) just turns the lamp on. Before adding | > the | > | bridge/repeater the dims would perform properly. Note that I also | > | tried setting the AH to repeat the command, no help. | >
| > (previously you wrote:) | >
| > |After 15yrs of X10 signal problems, and adding numerous different | > |boosters, couplers and repeaters (none of which helped), my | > problems | > |have been solved with a SignaLinc Repeater 3-Wire Dryer | > |amplifier/coupler/repeater
| > Well, that was a short honeymoon. :) | >
| > Which repeaters had you tried before the SignalLinc? In particular, | > did you try any of ACT's offerings? | | Hi Dan, I have been working too much (60-80hr weeks, ugh) to respond | to your other question, I wasn't intentionally ignoring you (well, | actually I was :) ... anyway, no I don't think I tried any ACT | products. I must say though that even though the dims are not coming | through when sent with AH via my PC otherwise having high reliability | of at least on/off is tremendous. Note that I can dim using any of | the remotes, it's just AH that won't dim, very odd, but I'm no X10 | guru (but definitely a veteran, one of my 1st X10 systems was based | around an X10 board (with ultrasonic sender, i think) in an Apple II | circa 1980, ha).
The *Linc products have a history of (shall we say) disagreements with Active Home over the correct interpretation of the X10 protocol. I see no reason that this has not extended to Active Home Pro. Unfortunately, while the last area of disagreement was fairly easy to understand I don't see off hand how they could argue about DIM/BRI sequences since pretty much everybody agrees that they are sent back-to-back. On the other hand, they are really creative with their screw-ups...
As always, I would recommend trying an ACT repeater. They seem to have the functionality down, though there are (were?) some construction issues. If you like you can try my spare/repaired CR230.
Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com
So Dan, things like the 1132CU have these similar problems? The do call it "PowerLinc" Controller. BTW, Smarthome did say that they were looking at a the DST problem on the 1132, however, I am still limping along with a homebrewed workaround, i.e. picking a timezone west of me and setting it out for no DST. If I could do that, SM should be able to fix the problem, but I'm still waiting.
Most of the Smarthome lamp modules respond to preset dims. The few that I've tested interpret microsteps as preset steps of ~3%.
The original 1132B sent "standard" dim/bright. I have no idea whether newer versions of the 1132 do likewise but there's no reason to expect that they do not.
The particular coupler/repeater/amplifier used by the OP is "Insteon friendly". Earlier Smarthome coupler/repeater/amplifiers were not "Insteon friendly". I do not know what the differences are but it may well be that whatever they've done to make them "Insteon friendly" has made them inhospitable to lengthy dim/bright sequences.
The proliferati>So Dan, things like the 1132CU have
| So Dan, things like the 1132CU have | these similar problems?
The 1132 is itself a controller so you probably wouldn't be using it with Active Home [Pro]. The last generation of problem involved some SwitchLincs not responding to CM11a (Active Home) macros because of (it seemed) a disagreement on the minimum gap between codes. As I said, I'm having difficulty imagining what they could consider wrong with a particular string of DIM/BRI commands since there aren't a whole lot of choices in how to structure such. Also, from the original poster's description it isn't a matter of merely failing to repeat the sequence since the DIM/BRI works without the repeater. They must be actively stepping on the signal. I wonder if they could be colliding with every other DIM/BRI, turning the sequence into a (perhaps invisible) number of microDIMs? The light does turn on so something is getting through.
Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com
I thought it was Leviton rather than Smarthome who was unhappy with X-10's flexi-gap. IIRC it was their explanation for their HCA02/10E woes.
Collisions are a plausible explanation and were my first thought, too, but this is one of those repeaters that amplifies in realtime so it's hard to imagine how it gets out of sync every other 22 half cycles.
An ESM1 might be useful.
In article , snipped-for-privacy@whocares.com (Dave Houston) writes: | ddl@danlan.*com (Dan Lanciani) wrote: | | >In article , snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com (Art Todesco) writes: | >
| >| So Dan, things like the 1132CU have | >| these similar problems? | >
| >The 1132 is itself a controller so you probably wouldn't be using it | >with Active Home [Pro]. The last generation of problem involved some | >SwitchLincs not responding to CM11a (Active Home) macros because of | >(it seemed) a disagreement on the minimum gap between codes. As I | >said, I'm having difficulty imagining what they could consider wrong | >with a particular string of DIM/BRI commands since there aren't a whole | >lot of choices in how to structure such. Also, from the original | >poster's description it isn't a matter of merely failing to repeat the | >sequence since the DIM/BRI works without the repeater. They must be | >actively stepping on the signal. I wonder if they could be colliding | >with every other DIM/BRI, turning the sequence into a (perhaps invisible) | >number of microDIMs? The light does turn on so something is getting through. | | I thought it was Leviton rather than Smarthome who was unhappy with X-10's | flexi-gap. IIRC it was their explanation for their HCA02/10E woes.
There was speculation here along those lines, but nothing official from Leviton beyond telling complaining customers that their repeater was compatible only with DHC components. SmartHome was the one with the specific compatibility statement on their site claiming that the CM11a violated the X10 protocol and that that was why one version of the SwitchLinc ignored its macros:
``Note to Activehome and IBM Home Director users: We have found that ON, OFF, Bright& Dim commands sent by these units during timer and macro events employ signals which are not defined by the X10 protocol. The Switchlinc Lite was programmed to strictly follow the published spec. The result is that the Switchlinc Lite will ignore the commands from these two interfaces. Users of these systems are encouraged to use the original Switchlinc 2-way dimmer for your automation system.''
| Collisions are a plausible explanation and were my first thought, too, but | this is one of those repeaters that amplifies in realtime so it's hard to | imagine how it gets out of sync every other 22 half cycles.
I'm sure the answer (if we ever hear it) will be fascinating. :)
Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com
I was remembering this thread...
The >| I thought it was Leviton rather than Smarthome who was unhappy with X-10's
In article , snipped-for-privacy@whocares.com (Dave Houston) writes: | I was remembering this thread... | |
Ah yes, the old SwitchLinc/repeater problem (short form: SwitchLinc doesn't usually benefit at all from a conventional repeater). Not to be confused with the SwitchLinc/CM11a problem or the CM11a/HCA02 problem. There's getting to be altogether too many of these...
Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com
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