William Chops Westfield wrote:
> On Dec 1, 2005, at 8:09 AM, Neil Cherry wrote:
> 
>> And one day I will gather up all the debugging tips I can find and
>> put them in one online page.
>>
> 
> I have a wall switch in an outlying building.  After being pleasanyly
> surprised that it worked at all, it seems to have falling into a mode
> where the X10 controllers have trouble turning it on, but can reliably
> turn it OFF.  Got any suggestions or explanations?

What switch do you have? Here is a list to check out:

Bad switch:
If it's an cheap X10 wall switch (one with a small square push button)
I might recommend giving up on it (no really). These switches are
terrible. The one I have is susceptible to dirty house and unit code
contacts. The may need to be cleaned. Easy way to find out, set it
to M13 and give it a try (M13 is all 0's, like having no contacts).

Weak signal:
If you have the ESM1 bring that out to the building and check
signal strength. If not try this ...

If you have a spare X10 lamp or appliance module put it out in the
same building and set it to the same settings. You'll need an
appliance, a lamp is good, to see if you can turn that on and off
reliably. If not them I'm guessing it's a weak signal. Some
vendors of X10 compatible equipment build their equipment to
be more sensitive to signals.

Other possible fixes:
One fix would be a cheap wireless transceiver in the building but
then you have the problem of the weak wireless (unless you want
to build an antenna for the transmitting device).

Another solution is to move the X10 transceiver closer to that
circuit.

Yet another solution get the Smarthome signal booster. This will
repeat a weak signal. You put it in the building on the same
circuit as the wall switch. If your switch is on one phase and
the transceiver on another try a amplifying repeater instead of
a phase coupler.

If it's not a good switch upgrade. If you have any black holes
in you home, fix them. Oh noise is possible, is there a dimmer
nearby or on the same circuit? Noise is not the usual culprit.

That's about all I can come up with. BTW, if you become serious
about using X10 or other PLC technology get the ESM1. I think
it's the cheapest tool. I have one and I modified a TW523 with
a PIC chip to read the 1s & 0s. I can see every bit sent but
I haven't added a level checker.

I hope that helps, may be a little more info if none of the
above works.

-- 
Linux Home Automation         Neil Cherry       ncherry@linuxha.com
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