Someone in the ADI forum asked if there was a way for the Ocelot to read X-10 security RF codes as in those transmitted by the DS10A. While this device:
-- Bobby G.
The only device I know of that could receive and act on RF codes from the X10 security devices was Dave Houston's BX24-AHT (all house codes transceiver).
This was a DIY project and preceeded the WGL - and was 100x more powerful.
You might Google on BX24-AHT, or perhaps Dave will chime in here.
Good Luck
Some circuit boards for the BX24-AHT will soon be available again along with the firmware for the BX-24 and the Windows interface software. I've given the inventory of boards, the firmware, software and docs to someone who plans to make them available.
I am going to try to port the firmware to the ZX-24 which will improve it significantly since the ZX-24 has full duplex software UARTs, more speed (10x) and a more efficient compiler (more EEPROM available for user data). I will try to release the ZX-24 source code as an App Note on the ZBasic website. The ZX-24 eliminates most of the "gotchas" I ran into with the BX-24.
Rosetta, which is the universal translator device I'm working on, will be able to receive standard X-10 RF using an MR26 and both receive from and send to anything that currently uses a TW523, a CM11A, 2414S, UPB PIM, CPU-XA, Ocelot, Leopard, or any 9600 bps or less serial device which uses ASCII. Rosetta will also have an optional Ethernet interface and hardware RTC. I developed a replacement PIC for the MR26 which allows it to also handle security RF a couple of years ago - I'll try to find a way to make this available again as well for use with Rosetta. Rosetta will also use a ZX-24. See the "translator question" thread for more on Rosetta.
Thanks for the info, JMJ. I'll relay it to the Adicon forum. As you predicted, Dave did indeed add his comments:
Great. Is the BX24-AHT going to be able to perform tricks such as using ALL OFF for an escape code or will the more powerful Rosetta be required to do that? The WGL transceiver looked attractive until I discovered that the Ocelot can't do anything with the serial output of the device. As JMJ noted, it's really not in the same league as your device(s) - it doesn't seem to offer much in the way of configurability.
What were some of the limitations of the older unit? It sounds like the ZX is faster, more capable and has more memory.
Nice name choice!
Once again, pardon my utter stupidity, but I just read a post by Guy Lavoie in the ADI forum that said: "The serial bobcat can only transmit data. Currently, there is no ADI module capable of receiving and matching an arbitrary format ASCII string or binary data." How will Rosetta tell the Ocelot about what RF it is seeing?
OK. Ethernet would be nice to have. How much extra cost do you think it will add to the project?
-- Bobby G.
At this point I'm not planning any big changes to the basic BX24-AHT firmware so it will not handle escape codes. Once I can port it to the ZX-24 it will have more free EEPROM for user data and will have full-duplex serial ports for those who want to build it using the ZX-24. As of now, only the existing BasicX firmware is available. Once I finish Rosetta I'll look at improving the BX24-AHT version by adding a piggyback daughterboard with additional EEPROM for user data. But that may prove too ambitious for the state of my health.
The ZX-24 uses a later Atmel processor which has more features and it also does more with it, leaving more EEPROM free. It also has more external interrupt pins but that's not a factor here since I only used one for the AHT and won't use any for Rosetta.
Rosetta will allow you to use an escape code with MR26 codes. You can select any NEC format code. Rosetta will also understand the ADI ASCII commands for sending X-10. You will need to connect the Ocelot to one of Rosetta's serial ports but you will be able to tell Rosetta to route data to/from the PC port (or xPort) and to/from the Ocelot.
Using the MR26 eliminates FCC issues but it will still be DIY because the major costs are the ZX-24 and xPort. Letting the end user buy them keeps the total cost down. This might prove optimistic but I think it will cost about $150 including xPort and a Polycase enclosure.
The circuit board will have a space for a Lantronix xPort. Buy it from Mouser (~$50), solder it to the board (10 points), and set three jumpers. I considered the Digi Me and Digi Wi Me but cannot find a retailer for them.
As for the name, I've always been a Ray Charles fan.
"Robert Green" wrote:
Perhaps Jeff's new device will help me with that issue.
I think you're right to pursue the translator first. It's a device that's most likely to serve the largest HA audience, particularly with the onslaught of all the new protocols.
That's good. ADI's RF capabilities are just about nil from what I can see.
That's not bad considering all that it does. How difficult do you think it will be to assemble?
:-)
-- Bobby G.
It will probably be available as a bare board for those who want to save a bit and are not daunted by 805 size SMT components (if a spastic, disabled geezer can do it, anybody can) and also partially assembled with all of the components and connectors needed for the basic unit including a socket for the ZX-24 and DS1302 (RTC) but no ZX-24 or DS1302 chips or +5V *regulated* power supply. The partially assembled unit will require you to plug in the ZX-24 chip, plug in +5V *regulated* power, download the firmware, and start telling Rosetta what you want done. If the supercapacitor for the DS1302 doesn't cost too much it will be preinstalled. That way the partially preassembled units will need no soldering.
I doubt there will ever be a fully assembled unit as the marg>> $150 including xPort and a Polycase enclosure.
The W800RF32A doesn't send ASCII. For the DS10A and HR12A at least, it sends groups of four 8-bit binary bytes to the serial port (normally repeated multiple times depending on the transmitter). I have no idea whether or not the Ocelot can deal with this.
Regards, Charles Sullivan
You're right. After I posted the above note I found the detailed protocol at:
-- Bobby G.
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