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Author Topic: X10 Signal Meter  (Read 108837 times)

dave w

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Re: X10 Signal Meter
« Reply #60 on: October 04, 2009, 11:17:56 AM »

Knight,

We are all getting older otherwise we would assume a body temperature of the room.  rofl

I used my 2X visor AND my magnifier lamp AND an Ohm meter and I still got it wrong (more  rofl ). My mistakes were not because kit is difficult to assemble, but because I just don't see well.

BTW,  90 minutes? You are good! I know some electronics manufactures who would be gleeful to hire you (bunches more  rofl ). Again, my slowness was because of eyesight...guess I am going to have to quit postponing that cataract operation.

But the XTBM is one really neat machine! I love it. Jeff should package a " X10 Universal Home Automation Problem Solving Kit" (XUHAPSK ?) made up of a XTBIIR and a XTBM.
« Last Edit: October 04, 2009, 04:35:43 PM by dave w »
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Knightrider

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Re: X10 Signal Meter
« Reply #61 on: October 04, 2009, 11:24:12 AM »

OK,
got to admit that my multi-tester was by my side on the resistors.  I used to be able to whip through a Heath or Velleman kit while watching Jeopardy.  Been building kits since before I got into X10 at the ripe old age of 13. 
I needed a diesel horn for my train, had to etch the board myself (not anywhere near as good looking as the XTBM [should have used a straight edge])

BTW, Jeff alerted me to all you guys' that were ahead of me mistakes!
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JeffVolp

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Re: X10 Signal Meter
« Reply #62 on: October 04, 2009, 11:42:31 AM »

What's an acceptable noise level on that thing?  My home indicates a level of 01 most of the time.  Just for grins, I plugged a Chinese cell phone charger in next to it and got a level of 19-20 under no load, and somewhere near 40 under a load.

On another note, my Sears controller has an output signal of 5 to 7.2 when next to the XTBM, (which I assume is VERY good) while my CM15A give a reading of .17 across the house. 

.01 for noise is very good.  Here I read .01 to .02 most of the time.  At .05 a nearby appliance module can begin missing commands.  However, it really depends on the character of the noise.  .05 (50mVpp) sitting right at 120KHz would be worse that 20 (200mVpp) far enough outside the X10 band to be pretty much rejected by the module filter.  The XTBM does have peak sensitivity at 120KHz, so noise at that frequency will produce the highest reading.

I would suggest that any time the noise reads over .05, it is worth spending some time to identify the cause and isolate it with an appropriate filter.

I have found that X10 devices work reliably down to 100mVpp (.10 on the display).  Below that things become marginal.  FYI, my Maxi Controllers (OLD boxy Sears unit and a newer Leviton unit) also read around 7Vpp when sampled directly at the same power strip.

90 minutes is a very good assembly time.

Thank you all for the feedback.

Jeff
« Last Edit: October 04, 2009, 11:44:05 AM by JeffVolp »
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X-10 automation since the BSR days
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