basic x-10 setup

by **regnad** on Fri Mar 23, 2007 7:05 pm

im concidering x-10 in my theater. what devices would i need to get going with x-10? i think i'll be using a usb device to the pc, but im unsure after that. i will have several recessed lights that i will want to dim by groups. are there any xlobby setup guids out there for x-10.

by **regnad** on Mon Mar 26, 2007 12:49 am

no one knows anything about x-10??

by **Colby** on Mon Mar 26, 2007 2:38 am

nope.

by **sharp_1** on Mon Mar 26, 2007 2:46 am

Steven built some very limited x10 support into xl some time ago but I don't think it really took off.

You can read about some other command line (.bat file) solutions here:
http://www.xlobby.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... hlight=x10
http://www.xlobby.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... hlight=x10
http://www.xlobby.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... hlight=x10
http://www.xlobby.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... hlight=x10
http://www.xlobby.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... hlight=x10
http://www.xlobby.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... hlight=x10

I have the CM15A from x10 and have been having problems with it since day one and the support over at x10 doesn't seem to know why...I am on my 3 unit now.

I was going to try Insteon next since it's a two way x10 system.
http://www.insteon.net/

by **regnad** on Mon Mar 26, 2007 2:53 am

thx sharp

by **samgreco** on Mon Mar 26, 2007 3:34 am

Since XLobby doesn't directly support any lighting stuff anyway, I really recommend looking at another PLC protocol if you don't have any automation yet. X10 is really unreliable. And slow.

There are 3 newer protocols worth looking at. UPB, Insteon (which is backward compatible with X10 as Sharp_1 mentioned above) and Z-Wave. I use UPB, and while I like it's response time and the price on the switches that Fry's has been carrying (HAI brand), they seem to have the least support from the software side. Insteon seems to be on top of that list, followed by Z-Wave, then UPB.

Although Homeseer and HAL both support UPB and there is an XLobby plugin for Homeseer.

by **cmhardwick** on Mon Mar 26, 2007 12:54 pm

Homeseer, I believe, also supports Insteon and Girder now supports Insteon, so if you already are familiar with that, you should be able to add this functionality easily and integrate fairly completely

I use Insteon and PowerHome. Thanks to Manny, I can get basic control via XLobby. It's not perfect and take a good while to setup, especially if you have many devices. I've got 25 and it took long enough

. I currently can "turn on" or "turn off" devices. I don't have anything setup to dim, brighten, etc. Powerhome also updates the status of the devices as they change, either by physically turning them off/on or if the change as a result of a macro or timer.
You can see my screen shot of my "automation" page here http://www.xlobby.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4733

Enjoy!

by **regnad** on Tue Mar 27, 2007 1:55 am

so, what is the issue with the x-10? is it the reliability of the hardware or the programing of xlobby to control it?

by **samgreco** on Tue Mar 27, 2007 2:12 am

It's not hardware reliability, it's signal reliability. X10 has real issues with inconsistent operation. There isn't anything truly wrong with the hardware, it's just a very old technology (20ish years?) and the signal strength is not great. Plus the protocol is limited in the kind of data it transmit and receives.

Not all of it is two-way either. Meaning you can't get back status from the devices.

What this all means is that if you have a button in XLobby that turns a light on or off, it may or may not actually work.

As for XLobby's X10 capabilities, it's very limited. Steven never took it that far. But there are alot of plugins around here that folks have done that picked up that slack.