lazear@GATEWAY.MITRE.ORG (07/31/87)
I need help with interfacing my 800 to an X-10 controller. I have bought the X-10 computer interface (from DAK for $20) that, like the older BSR, controls lamps and appliances by sending signals over household wiring. Once I got the cabling straight (add Pin 1 ground), I could receive characters from the interface, but they were not the correct ones (altho the quantity was right). The controller has the feature that when you press a button to turn on/off a lamp, the controller sends a message to the computer (to advise the computer what just happened manually). I am trying to read that message through my 850 interface (R1:). The message is supposed to start with 6 bytes of all-one-bits (i.e., 255), then 6 other bytes. What I read is a progression of 1,2,4,8,16,32,64,128 and a few more bytes that *could* be correct. Has anyone else connected the X-10 controller and had any luck communicating? I bought the IBM version cuz it had a generic RS232 interface. I have looked at the BASIC code that came with it and it seems straightforward and usable as a model for my code (also in BASIC). I have set the 850 to Concurrent-I/O, 600 baud (what the X-10 says it needs), no parity, no "light translation", 8-bits, 1 stop bit. I have tried varying the speed from 300 to 4800, resulting in a changed pattern (and byte count), but no recognizable data. The power of 2 progression in the leading bytes vs. the 1-bits I am expecting seems an odd coincidence and I am trying to figure out why that occurred. It seems to me that if I can resolve why that happens, I can fix the rest. If you're still reading, I'd appreciate any help. Walt Lazear PS - I have another problem trying to use GET to obtain a character, when ALL values (0-255) are legal input. I've seen the old trick of putting 255 into the input register and waiting till it changes. Any ideas?