[Sussex] I have a cunning plan...

[Iain Stevenson]

I may counsel a little caution on the reliability of X10 .... I have X10 
controlling lighting in the home and garden.

The X10 stuff is very much built down to a price - I have had two appliance 
modules and a computer interface expire this year alone.  It doesn't always 
switch on or off as intended due to interference on the mains - so don't 
control anything that MUST or MUST NOT work through X10.  I have a script 
that sends every X10 command 5 times over a random time interval to make 
sure the buggers work.

You will also probably need to invest in some filters - I have two.  Some 
devices (eg printers) and UPS slap a capacitor across the mains as a crude 
interference suppressor.  Unfortunately this clobbers the X10 signals 
completely.

  Iain




--On Wednesday, December 3, 2003 2:14 pm +0000 Matthew Macdonald-Wallace 
<matthew at truthisfreedom.org.uk> wrote:

> Mark,
>
> On Wed, 2003-12-03 at 14:03, Mark Harrison wrote:
>> Matthew,
> <snip />
>> Easiest way to boil the kettle from a PC would be to control the mains
>> using something like X-10. You would need two bits of hardware:
> <snip />
>
> This is part of my plan,  My idea is to send a txt to an email address
> which triggers a script to set up a number of things, including the
> kettle and possibly something like xmms tuned to the radio, hence the
> idea of procmail activating the xAP as well as various other tasks.
>
> Haven't got a clue if this is possible, and want to give it a go without
> caring if it is or not.  I like science proving me wrong, as I usually
> learn far more than if I'd have got it right! :D
>
> xAP is an OpenSource protocol for home automation info. Oh, and it's an
>> OpenSource project I'm heavily into.
>
> Does it have a website? I'd be very interested...
>
>> If you fancy a trip over to Maidenbower to see "the automated home in
>> action", let me know.... Alternatively, if you've got broadband, you can
>> see "The Mark Harrison Video" at
>> http://www.broadbandbritainchallenge.co.uk/videos_broadband_user_stories
>> .html
>
> I may well do, I'm only in Pound Hill, down by the Tavern, so I may pop
> up at some point...
>
> Cheers,
>
> Matt
> --
> +----------------------------------+
>| Matthew Macdonald-Wallace                  |
>| The Truth Will Set you Free              |
>| http://www.truthisfreedom.org.uk/  |
> +----------------------------------+
> "Drug therapies are replacing a lot of medicines as we used to know it."
> George W. Bush October 17, 2000 Comments from St. Louis, Missouri
> Presidential Debate.
>
>
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