Homeowner Forum / Home Automation / September 2007

I've got a wired sensor that's been coming on all night. So I cut back the
usual suspects (trees), but still no joy. I thought it might be a spider, so
I evicted one tonight. But it seems to be doing it again.
Assuming the spider is back, any human safe home remedies for keeping

As I live I Europe, how developed is home automation here/there. I see lots
of hardwired products and every manufacture has its own solution and what
personally I don't like is no possibility to combine products from different
manufactures (not sure if this is true). And this is ...

I currently have a Napco Gemini P816 panel serving as my alarm panel.
I also have a GEM-X10 module (which I haven't installed yet) and an
always-on PC providing home automation functions. The PC will
communicate X10 and Insteon (light fixtures) using a PLC right now,

Why do so many here still cling to X10 when there are more dependable
mesh networks available like zwave, insteon, etc.?  Reading through
the past posts there are so many war stories with X10, at what point
are these headaches no longer worth it?  I waited 3 years to install

I recently built an inground/outdoor covered pool which I intend to
operate year-round in a fairly cold climate (Pennsylvania).  The pool
has both an electric heat pump and a natural gas heater.
I would like to automate the operation of the pool's heating system so

Hi - I'm looking for some advice about CM12U clock accuracy.
Here's the situation. I've downloaded a simple sequence of timed events to
the CM12U using Activehome. The computer is then disconnected from the
interface. To begin with the events work ok but very quickly (a couple of

Excerpts from a thread that began in January . . .
<zPudne5nm62gBjPYnZ2dnUVZ_vein...@rcn.net>, ROBERT_GREEN1...@YAH00.COM
(Robert Green) writes:

Things started going haywire at my Houston home last week with lights coming
on randomly and no control to some areas even with an XTB at the main
controller and a Smartlinc plug-in Repeater.  I quckly found the culprit:  A
light weight electeronic cellphone charger from a ...

I recently bought an MMIR X-10 Macro IR module from SmarthomeUSA (Item #
MMIR)  for $89.95.  I got it mainly to extend the power of my X-10 8-in-1
UR24 remote control.  One of the limitations of the X-10 remote is that
unless you're a custom PICmaster like Dan L., or an Ocelot ...

I'm planning to buy a Panasonic KXTEA308E telephone system for home
use (I work from home).
I also intend to buy a KX-T30865e door phone. The Panasonic
proprietary part looks too modern (my building is old) so I intend to

I have an old CM17A Firecracker that I would like to use for a very simple
application.  The current Firecracker software available on the X10 site is
for the cm19a and it does not work with my old CM17a.  Anyone know where I
can get the original software and drivers?

Since I added 2 more DD bots to the stable, I decided I would get the
Self-Charging Home Base and the IR remote.  Naturally, since they all share
the same IR commands you have to be selective about the aiming to get the
right bot, but with a little practice you can do a straighten ...

I'm attempting to get a server to recognise when an alarm system has
been triggered. The system is running CentOS Linux.
Basically what I am looking for is an interface that will connect via
RS232 to the server, and take an input from an alarm panel (detect a

Some of you know I have been working on an enhanced repeater version of the
XTB-II.  I was derailed in this effort while taking advantage of the
beautiful early spring weather here in the Southwest.  Now that temperatures
are pushing 100, I'm back to coding.  I am aware of some ...