dennisg@felix.UUCP (Dennis Griesser) (06/29/88)
Those interested in the X-10 system for remote control of home lights and appliances should take a look at the May/June issue of "Circuit Cellar Ink". page 14 - advertisement for X-10's PL513 power line interface module This is a new product from X-10. The PL513 is the size and shape of an ordinary lamp module. It contains a 120 Khz oscillator, a zero-crossing detector, power-line interface, and optically isolated computer interface. The idea is that your computer listens for the zero crossing and sends enable pulses to the oscillator at the right moments. This can be done in hardware or software. This allows complete flexibility to modify or extend the X-10 protocol. The ad promises a 2-way version "later this year". page 4 - article "Power-Line-Based Computer Control" This article blows the lid off the PL513 module. It gives the schematic of the device, recommends hardware interfaces for three common machines, and gives software. A section on X-10 theory, as well as a protocol description, is included.
munck@linus.UUCP (Robert Munck) (07/02/88)
In article <44803@felix.UUCP> dennisg@felix.UUCP (Dennis Griesser) writes: >Those interested in the X-10 system for remote control of home lights >and appliances should take a look at the May/June issue of "Circuit >Cellar Ink". > >page 14 - advertisement for X-10's PL513 power line interface module > This is a new product from X-10. The PL513 is the size and shape of > an ordinary lamp module. It contains a 120 Khz oscillator, a > zero-crossing detector, power-line interface, and optically isolated > computer interface. The idea is that your computer listens for the > zero crossing and sends enable pulses to the oscillator at the right > moments. This can be done in hardware or software. Ha! That's exactly what the OLD Radio Shack Plug&Power module did. (The grey one that was plugged into the cassette port.) I've had a 16K CoCo I driving one of those for about eight years. Have the BSR fans out there noticed a recent upsurge in popularity of the system? Stanley has integrated their garage-door openers with it and at least one other new company is doing national TV ads. A problem: I've just had a weekend visit from my family, assorted relatives aged [2..65], and they were all driven crazy by my BSR set-up. Most of the consoles around the house aren't labeled or have obsolete labels on the keys, the CoCo requires BASIC commands, and the GE/RS HomeMinder requires about ten button-pushes to turn a single light on. Add that to the complexity of my stereo/video system, and they couldn't get ANYTHING to work. Everyone but the 2-year-old brought to my attention an article in TIME on user interfaces. So how DO we set these systems up so that people with no computer or electronics orientation can use them? The HomeMinder interface certainly isn't it; that's probably why GE gave them to RS. -- Bob Munck
daves@hpcilzb.HP.COM (Dave Scroggins) (07/06/88)
> >So how DO we set these systems up so that people with no computer or >electronics orientation can use them? The HomeMinder interface >certainly isn't it; that's probably why GE gave them to RS. > -- Bob Munck >---------- Bob, I had the same problem with non-techo types (the wife) not being able or willing to use the X-10 things. The situation has gotten MUCH better since I got the X-10 wireless remote. (actually two with three controllers) They are easy to use. One key stroke on/off two key stroke on dim/bright. They are portable, so you can leave several controllers around the house. My only complaint - they DO tend to eat batteries pretty quickly. (weak batteries => poor control response) Give one of these a try. (get several transmitters even if you only get one receiver) Dave S.
richard@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu (Richard Foulk) (07/06/88)
} So how DO we set these systems up so that people with no computer or } electronics orientation can use them? The HomeMinder interface } certainly isn't it; that's probably why GE gave them to RS. One solution would be to provide traditional switches too, (interfaced to the X-10 stuff) so that normal people wouldn't have to figure things out just to turn a light on or off. I think some slightly more elaborate modules are in order. Some with a switch on a cord, to place in a convenient place, and perhaps some with some sort of capacitance pickup or something. It probably wouldn't be too difficult to modify existing modules to do this. Richard