X10 Community Forum

🖥️ActiveHome Pro => ActiveHome Pro General => Topic started by: SteveRF on October 14, 2005, 05:11:59 PM

Title: Total Home Automation Failure caused by Video Input Card !
Post by: SteveRF on October 14, 2005, 05:11:59 PM
A FYI
I had a total failure of my home automation
devices.  RF was being received, timers sent
commands, macros fired yet nothing was working.
I traced the problem to a newly installed
video input card that has coax, s-vid,rca
vid, audio,fm radio and even a remote.  Input
from the X10 cams was much better than the
USB VA11A.... BUT it messed up my home
automation.  I traced the problem to the PC
video board coax connection.  That "input"
was connected to my home cable wiring and
terminated in a cable amplifier system. I
could watch the TV news while looking at this
forum..yippee..  The video card was passing a
signal back through the amplifier and onto
the power line that prevented all X10
powerline commands from being clean enough to
be recognized by any of my X10 devices.  The
commands were clean enough to be picked up
and displayed in the activity monitor from a
second CM15A connected to the same PC housing
the Vid card.  Go Figure...   After
disconnecting the coax feed everything came
back to life and all is well.  BTW, Tiger
Direct is selling this card for $19.99 till
the end of the month.  It seems to work VERY
WELL with my X10 cams but wreaks havoc on X10
devices if the coax is connected to an AC
powered cable amplifier system.
Regards,
SteveRF
Title: Re: Total Home Automation Failure caused by Video Input Card !
Post by: Brian H on October 14, 2005, 06:30:34 PM
Thanks for that information. It may assist
others who havs such a device.