X10 still around?

"Marc F Hult" wrote

The FAA, FWIW, says no. There was a crash of an airline in South America because two independent sensor systems shared the same faulty sensor. They issue a mandatory redesign of the system.

I'd say if you defined your system as "should *never* fail" then you shouldn't share sensors. It would be handy if that premise also came with a magical elf that could install all the duplicate sensors and pay for them, too!

I've designed my CCTV and alarm systems with substantial overlap in sensor and camera coverage. More cost and more wire to run and sensors to install, but more peace of mind in the long run. More protection from sensor and camera failure, too. Not 100% overlap, but the critical areas all are double and even triple-covered.

-- Bobby G.

Reply to
Robert Green
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I'm very sensitive to the 'challenge' issue. For example, the IP address used by our HA system has never, ever been used for public purposes like email, usenet, web hosting. I wonder what safeguards other folks take to protect their IP's and gateways. Important issue in my opinion.

And, Ok. It was not nice of me to write what I wrote.

We don't _have_ a garage ...

(Too much car habitat in this country already.)

Jist checking ... You pass.;-)

... Marc Marc_F_Hult

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Reply to
Marc F Hult

I've done the X-10 based HA successfully, to the point where it worked without a lot of tinkering. (HAI rocks), However, its not the right answer for the long term. The right answer is clearly hard wired ala CentralLite or equivalent. All the smarts in one place, minimal power dissipation. Cost are up front, not recurring. The issue there is long term parts supply. Vendors go out of business, parts go obsolete, etc. However, all in all we think it is the superior approach.

The house will be located in the high desert so solar power is very desirable. Looking at a mix of low voltage and AC or even all low voltage with Solar/battery as primary with AC backup. Have a year or two to figure it out, but clearly HA and low voltage is going to be a hard fit. Passive solar for water heating is still be looked at for economic viability. Anyone have any ideas for low voltage HA and where to get it. Any recommendations for solar water heating would be welcome too.

Reply to
Solo Rider

Posted to: comp.home.automation & alt.solar.photovoltaic

I tend to agree. I sadly forsee the RF spectrum becoming as problematic as the 110VAC wiring has become for X-10. Just too many other devices with the potential to interfere with HA communications. I keep reading stories about places where keyless car entry systems fail to function because of RF interference and it makes me nervous about what lies ahead for RF HA control. I have already had interference issues with microwave ovens, cordless phones, video senders and wireless PC networking all living side-by-side

Sometimes, you have to bite the bullet and stock your own spares, even if it's a $1,000 HA console. I just bought a 16 camera MUX on E-bay (thanks to Marc H! in CHA) and realized it was such a complex controller, I had to buy a second as a spare. Since it's going to be connecting cameras all over the house, I fear it will be more susceptible to near-miss lightning strikes. I nearly bought a third!

Yes - it sounds like you've got near perfect conditions for solar although the time I spent in Phoenix convinced me not to try to live where you can die without a constant supply of serious power. If there is a global heat wave coming, Canada's more the place I want to be!

Not if Zigbee (battery powered) lives up to all the hype. They can do all they need to do without AC power, for the most part.

I've decided to just do it and forget about the payback. There's a positive social benefit to my using less power generated by dirty coal plants.

There's an active solar energy newsgroup that has tons of information. I've cross-posted this message there.

-- Bobby G.

Reply to
Robert Green

Maybe one should focus on bus electrical & protocol specifications primarly? Given the cost of mcu, it's not that hard to adapt them.

Reply to
pbdelete

In my opinion, ability to overcome obsolescence is one of the *advantages* of hard-wired lightingwith a central, home-runned design. The wires themselves are the expensive part and are not made obsolete with time unlike proprietary RF and powerline systems in which the _entire_ investment may be lost.

The main active component(s) is the dimmer panel. The one shown here

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in homebrew, but is effectively the same as commercial ones with the addition of dimming controls. So it is unlikely to be obsolete anythime soon -- although it has already been supplemented/replaced ;-) More about this on my site later.

These parts of my system shown here

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are decidedly _different_ from anything available for purchase, and -- not surprisingly -- I think are _better_ than anything available for purchase.

I explain various fail-back modes that make even a homebrew hard-wired system resistant to obsolescence here:

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Hope This Helps ... Marc Marc_F_Hult
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Reply to
Marc F Hult

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