I bought a 3 pack of socket rockets and wireless motion detectors (MS16a) . It came with one mini transceiver (TM751). I wanted to control 3 lights via a separate motion detectors (none affecting any of the others) and it seemed like this kit would do it. After reading the directions and setting up the first one, it seems like I can't do that. Since the transceiver only has 1 code, it looks like I can only turn ALL 3 lights on if ANY of the motion sensors is triggered. Is that correct?
You *can* set each socket rocket to a separate unit code and each motion detector to match. Use either all even numbered unit codes or all odd numbered ones. The motion detectors also control the next numbered unit which results in bizarre interactions if they are in view of each other.
Set socket rocket 1 to housecode B and unit code 1 Set socket rocket 2 to housecode B and unit code 3 Set socket rocket 3 to housecode B and unit code 5
Set thet motion detectors the same way.
Here are the details from the X-10 website for setting the MS16a unit codes:
Setting The Unit Code
Press and hold the UNIT/OFF button (located in the battery compartment).
The red LED flashes.
A few seconds later, the ActiveEye will report its current Unit code setting. The total number of blinks equals the unit number.
When the ActiveEye starts to report its current setting, release the button.
If you do not wish to change the current setting, take no further action at this point. A few seconds later, the ActiveEye will timeout. The ActiveEye will indicate this to you by displaying a sustained blink (slightly longer than the report blinks).
Once the ActiveEye has finished reporting its current setting, press the button the number of times equal to the Unit code you wish to set and hold the button down on the last press. Determine the code you wish to use before starting the programming procedure because the ActiveEye will only wait a few seconds after it has finished reporting its current setting for you to begin entering the new code.
A few seconds later, the red LED will blink the new setting.
If the programming fails, the red LED will display a sustained blink (slightly longer than the report blinks). This can occur if you wait too long to start your programming, you press the button more than 16 times, or you press the HOUSE/ON button. If the programming procedure fails, you must start the procedure over.
Plug the lamp (with the socket rocket installed) into the same outlet as the transceiver. Does this mean plug it into the outlet ON the transceiver or in the same electrical box as the transceiver?
It then says to (within 30 seconds) press the ON button 3 times, about
1 second intervals. There is a comment that each press corresponds to the unit code. So for code 3, do I press 9 times (pausing after each 3 presses)? It says it will turn the lamp on to confirm, but isn't doing that and it isn't turning on via motion detected (and I verifeid that is set to code 3). Everything is set to the same house code.
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The same *wall outlet.* Use a table lamp plugged in to the upper upper socket and the TM751 in the lower one.
Nope - you're doing this the wrong way. First, you program the motion detectors to whatever housecode you're using and unit codes 1, 3 and 5 using the instructions from my previous message.
Once the motion detectors are programmed to distinct unit codes you use each one of them in turn to program the corresponding socket rocket. Once the motion detectors are programmed, plug the transceiver (TM751) into a outlet that's on the same circuit as the socket rocket. Then, press the ON button on the *motion detector* three times in a row. I suspect you are pressing the button on the TM751 three times but that's the wrong button. Then the socket rocket should flash once to indicate that it has learned the same code that you programmed into the motion detector. Do the same thing with the other two socket rockets and motion detectors.
On 26 Jan 2006 11:36:27 -0800, "Mike C" used recycled pixels to say:
*SOCKET ROCKET:* Remove the socket rocket from the lamp for a few minutes and return it back to the lamp.
Turn the lamp on and then press the button on the controller that you wish to have control that socket rocket.
So if I wanted it to respond to B5, then I would turn on the lamp and press B5 on my controller 3 times or until the light turns on.
Once it on, turn it off via the controller to confirm that it is set and responding to B5 correctly. Hope this helps?
*MOTION DETECTOR* For the motion detector - assuming it's a Hawkeye, keep in mind that the motion sensor will send out two codes, one for motion and the other for the actual code you want to use. So if you wish the motion detector to turn on a lamp B4. Then when motion is sensed, both B4 and B5 will get an "On" signal! So careful!
*PROGRAMMING THE MOTION DETECTOR* (pain SOMEtimes...) Now programming the Hawkeye, remove the batteries to reset and then reinstall the batteries.
Now if I want to set it to the B code, press and hold the HOUSE/ON code until you get a blink. One blink means it is set to "A". Once you see the blink, press the HOUSE/ON button twice and hold on the 2nd press, until you get 3 blinks back. Your house code is set.
For the Unit #. Say you want to set it to 3, press and hold the UNIT/OFF button until you get a blink back. Press the UNIT/OFF button 3 times and hold it on the 3rd time until the unit flashes back to you 3 times. Let go.
Test it out. Once you understand how to program the Hawkeye (assuming that's what it is, then you can get fancy with the Motion for day and off times on the Hawkeye.... it's getting to understand how to program the sucker that is the most difficult to understand. Timex Watches are simpler!!! Good luck! ;)
Tag Line: Politically Correct: Means Always Having To Say You're Sorry.
I don't think he has a controller other than the TM751. That means he has to program the motion detectors to discrete unit codes first so that he can use them to send the programming commands to the socket rocket from the TM751.
I've never used X10 before and wasn't sure how these parts all interacted. I am a computer programmer and have installed a whole house audio system so I am not exactly a technical novice but these directions that the products come with aren't very clear on how the products interact with each other. The socket rocket directions make no mention of any of the other pieces in my bundle. Likewise, the motion sensor tells how to set the unit code, but not how to link it to a device. A high level overview of how their products interact would be nice if it were included.
If you weren't more technically inclined than average, you would still be trying! I figured you were making the very easy to make error about which button to push. It's not obvious that you need to either have a Maxicontroller (a device that allows you to send unit codes 1-16 on any housecode via a twist wheel) or some other method of "teaching" the socket rocket.
I am surprised they are selling that bundle. You have to master the fine art of motion detector push button programming before you can figure out the even odder "press three times" programming interface of the socket rockets. Every see the old Twilight Zone about what happens when you push the elevator button three times when you are already in the basement?
The further they got from the codewheels, the harder things got for the average non-technical user. There was a tradeoff, though. No wheels meant much smaller devices. Reprogramming the suckers after a battery change was such a bitch that I built a little two-AA battery pack with sewing needles I use to change Hawkeye batteries without disturbing their settings. Did I mention I *really* hate the push button conga? You'll find that the dawn dusk settings and the time delay settings may give you some heartache. The +1 feature just drove non-programmers crazy. Who would think a device set to unitcode 16 would effect unit code 1?
Anyway, glad you got it sorted out. You might also want to make sure that none of the Hawkeyes can see each other. By this I mean you'll get strange reactions if two Hawkeyes can be triggered simultaneously or if one can see the light controlled by the other. Especially for devices that are +1 of the Hawkeye in question. I'd say front porch, bathroom, basement are OK but bedroom, hallway and bathroom might be more problematic.
Still, as much as X-10 needs better docs, it's an awfully cheap way to control a set of lights - and much, much more if you want. I would think carefully before investing any more money in X-10. It may be on the verge of extinction. Or it could last another 30 years. It's hard to say. Welcome to the wonderful world of home automation! Pick a protocol and pray.
Sorry. You get only a C for effort because your instructions were incorrect:
Now if I want to set it to the B code, press and hold the HOUSE/ON code until you get a blink. One blink means it is set to "A". Once you see the blink, press the HOUSE/ON button twice and hold on the 2nd press, until you get 3 blinks back. Your house code is set.
You won't get three blinks back from setting the unit to housecode B, you'll only get two. So, you lose one letter grade for not nailing down the correct answer and another letter grade for the incorrect answer being wrong in the details.
You also got these details wrong:
For the motion detector - assuming it's a Hawkeye, keep in mind that the motion sensor will send out two codes, one for motion and the other for the actual code you want to use. So if you wish the motion detector to turn on a lamp B4. Then when motion is sensed, both B4 and B5 will get an "On" signal! So careful
Both units will NOT turn on as you describe. The +1 code would turn on B5 at dusk and off again at dawn. In fact, it's likely that if the two units see each other, if B5 was on and you turned on B4, B5 would do the exact opposite of what you've written. It would think dawn had arrived and thus get an OFF signal from the Hawkeye that's set to B4. Still think you should get a "A"? :-)
Aside from those two errors, there's even the more egregious posting off-topic political stuff into a technically-oriented newsgroup. That earns you an F in netiquette. Your GPA is now 1.0. Don't plan on attending any Ivy League colleges. :-)
You *have* raised your grade a bit by apologizing to the group for sowing the seeds of an off-topic flame war. Now you can raise it a bit more by moving the religio-socio-political stuff to where it belongs if you really must indulge yourself. I've suggested: news:alt.outer-polk.salad.annie I'll be happy to join you there and debate why religion is the greatest fomenter of hatred that mankind has ever seen.
Well, that's one of the first things I learned posting here. My memory wasn't to be trusted. I got (and still get!) a number of things wrong but I always try to Google before I post. Most of the times, you can reference or cut and paste the right answer from the source, so it really pays off.
I took a couple of public beatings for posting wrong info but that's just fine with me. I'd rather bad info gets shot down quick. It's much better in the long run than have people handing out wrong answers and no one correcting them because it might hurt their feelings or because they just don't know any better.
This is actually a pretty good newsgroup that has a very deep and diverse knowledgebase. BTW, most respected posters use some sort of an actual first name, real or not, just for convention's sake even if they have a fictitious or non-existent email address. I think that puts you at a certain disadvantage, "Bin Dare." Once people get the joke it gets very tired
*very* quickly. Funny names are often the choice of trolls or sock puppets, too, so factor that into the equation.
I've probably got Lafayette Radio Electronics gear that's older than you are, OF!
Ah yes, Lafayette. They had a store in the town I grew up in - one of my favorite places. For my 10th birthday I asked my father to buy me their
5 tube shortwave radio kit ($23) which is what I learned to solder on. I was so happy when it actually worked and I picked up WWV, VOA, BBC and Radio Moscow. My father put a long wire antenna on the roof and my radio mentor, Captain Kasanov (AF ret.) at the radio club helped me modify the antenna circuit to improve it a bit.
From:Robert Green ROBERT snipped-for-privacy@YAH00.COM
There's the difference between us! I spent $40 worth of lawn mowing money on a used (but already *soldered*) Hallicrafters at Lafayette. I think I was twelve. Even more fun was a trip to the electronic shops along Canal St. in NYC. Dad was into fixing the old Dumont TV himself and even got his own tube tester eventually. Back then, fixing a TV was mostly about looking for the dark or discolored tubes. Brings back memories. There's nothing that smells quite like the inside of a big tube TV from the '50s.
I thought these folks just revived the name and that the original chain had gone bankrupt some time in the 70's. I know that all the local stores closed because I took a Bearcat 101 scanner back for repair and the place was shuttered up.
The founding stores were in Jamaica (Queens) & Syosset, NY. This new group seems to be just trading on the old company's name. Maybe there's some connection between the current owner and the old company though. I sent them an email & asked. I'll post their reply.
Wiki calls it pretty close to the way I remember it:
"Formerly a national chain, the remaining Lafayette stores in the state of New York closed by the end of 1979.
Some local Lafayette stores remained open until 1981. For example, the Long Branch, New Jersey store finally closed in the Fall of 1981. Unsold inventory was literally shovelled into dumpsters overnight to vacate the store."
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