I wanted report on two firmware updates and a pending third one.
A couple of folks who purchased the XTB-232 and XTB-523 reported problems receiving incoming X10 commands. These units have about the same sensitivity as other X10 devices in a low-noise environment. Because these units incorporate AGC to raise their detection thresholds above the background noise level, I thought the lower sensitivity was due to powerline noise.
Recently one of those folks reported the problem occurred when his XPCR repeater was in service, which gave me the clue I needed to simulate what was going on. The AGC sample point is 1.6mS after each zero crossing to ignore the normal 1mS signal bursts. I discovered the XPCR and similar Leviton repeaters actually output much longer signal bursts that extended into the AGC sample region, and were being sampled as noise. The firmware for both of these units has been changed to ignore the longer signal bursts.
A free firmware update is available for anyone who is using the XTB-232 or XTB-523 along with the XPCR or Leviton repeater. Just contact me directly. Note that this only affects incoming commands from remote transmitters.
A similar issue exists with XTBM in that it may report noise during X10 transmissions when using one of those repeaters. A forthcoming firmware update will correct that as well, and will also incorporate a couple of other changes being ported over from the Pro. (This one may be a few months away.)
Jeff
Author
Topic: XTB-232 and XTB-523 Firmware Updates (Read 5809 times)