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[Dougmeister]

I was given some free X10 equipment. Not sure what all of them do.

I'd like to put together a simple, beginner's home security system. Will these work or do I need to add anything?

1 - Mini transceiver (TM751)
1 - USB Video adapter (VA11A)
1 - 8 Unit ScanCam Remote (CR12A)
1 - R.F. PC Transceiver (CM19A)
2 - Ninja Pan 'n Tilt Kit (VK74A)
2 - XCam2 WideEye Color Camera (XX17A)
1 - Video Receiver (no sound) (VR36A)

[Brian H]

Did you get the addressable power supplies for the XX17A cameras?

While waiting for some added feedback there is some good information in the X10Wiki on things like the cameras. How you switch between them etc.
http://kbase.x10.com/wiki/Main_Page

Wireless camera section
http://kbase.x10.com/wiki/Wireless_Cameras

[Dougmeister]

Hey Brian. Thanks for the reply.

The XX17A's both have an AC adapter in their respective boxes. They say "Remote controlled power supply, Model XM13A" on them. Is that the same thing as an "addressable" power supply?

[Brian H]

Yes that is what I was referring to.
Only one wireless camera can be On at a time or they interfere with each other.
The power supply has a House Code and Unit Code dial on it. They work groups of four. Same House Code for all of them. Unit Codes 1-4,5-8,9-12 and 13-16. Turn On on the other three in the same Unit Code Group go off.

The CR12A camera remote can send RF commands through the TM751 to the power line and switch the cameras.
The CM19A running on a computer with one of the X10 camera programs. Can also send RF commands the TM751 can pass on.

The VA11A is the older model that does not work with any Windows above XP.
http://kbase.x10.com/wiki/VA11A

If the VK74A kit have the remotes with them you maybe able to pan and tilt cameras mounted to them.

[Brian H]

You may also want to look at Jeff's X10 Troubleshooting tutorials. To see some common X10 problems. Like phase coupling, power line noise makers and signal suckers.
http://jvde.us/x10_troubleshooting.htm

[Dougmeister]

The VK74A's do have remotes with them.

What software do I need on my computer (Windows 7)?

This?  http://www.x10.com/activehome.html

[Brian H]

I believe all the software was lost when X10WTI went bankrupt and the servers got moved or the software worked through the X10 servers.
I am not an AHP expert. So I can't say if anything in AHP will do cameras. As the plug ins for cameras maybe on the lost on server issues list.

I know there are third party software solutions and I hope some of the user may post solutions.

The VK11A will not work with Windows 7. It was used to take the video output of the receiver and show it on the computer. Through some of the software.

If you want to do some tests and have a TV with a composite video input. You can connect the video output of the VR36A to the TV and have a camera send video to the receiver.

The link to the X10 wiki wireless camera section in my previous post. Give many details on how to connect things.

[Tuicemen]

I believe all the software was lost when X10WTI went bankrupt and the servers got moved or the software worked through the X10 servers.
I am not an AHP expert. So I can't say if anything in AHP will do cameras. As the plug ins for cameras maybe on the lost on server issues list.

I know there are third party software solutions and I hope some of the user may post solutions.

The VK11A will not work with Windows 7. It was used to take the video output of the receiver and show it on the computer. Through some of the software.

Some of the AHP software was lost as the code was spread over several servers (not sure why that was done)
I however was able to create a AHP installer from my files (available on the X10 site) this still asks for registration.
Using AHP Lifejacket you can remove the registration nag and AHP will appear registered to me.
This also will register Smartmacros and Iwatchout the video (camera plugin) and OnAlert (the security plugin) using the default files.

AHP with the Iwatchout plugin will display camera feeds however as Brian pointed out the VA11A will not work with anything newer then XP.
The good news is other video capture cards that work with the newer OS will work with AHP.
The Va11 issue is not a AHP thing but a windows thing.

There also are several thirdparty softwares that will display video from the old X10 cameras.
Ispy is one free camera software with many options.
I did add X10 camera support to PC Companion several years back but with out a video capture card that works on the newer 64 bit OSs I started using IP cameras and added support for them as well.

[Dougmeister]

Brian/Tuicemen:

Thank you both so much for your help. I hope to download the software and play with it this weekend or early next week.

If I decide to sell them, what would be a fair price for the whole lot?