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[burntcrispy]

I have mine in upside down, and I don't notice any difference than before (doesn't mean there isn't for sure, but if there is it is not big), I liked the unpolarized because some of my outlets are upside down.  Just my two cents worth. Just for kicks I might try it the other way again later.

OP:

Regular unit had a polarized plug, Diagnostic unit is NOT polarized, which brings up 2 points...

• /1/  There was a change in some components.  Though I am not sure if it was intentional or not, if one phyiscal component was changed maybe others were too.
• /2/  I believe for best performance X10 signals should be polarized.  Now due to the size / shape of unit, when plugged into a wall outlet, it would almost certainly be plugged in "correctly" - however my unit is in an extension cord, so I must now pay attention to how I plug it in...

[/size]

Re: Hardware Differences between Reg and Diag. Units [2 of 3]

Re: Hardware Differences between Reg and Diag. Units [3 of 3]



[TTA Edit #2: Experiment to determine whether or not DELETING the OP (*AFTER* copying it into Reply #1) in 'Highly-Viewed' / 'Highly-Replied' but currently INACTIVE threads from LONG, LONG AGO (I'm starting with ~2 years) will allow current ACTIVE threads to appear in the Top 10 Topics (by Views) section of the Statistics Center (aka More Stats) Page.]


[TTA Edit: Experiment to determine whether or not SPLITTING 'Highly-Viewed' / 'Highly-Replied' but currently INACTIVE threads from LONG, LONG AGO (I'm starting with ~2 years) into parts will allow current ACTIVE threads to appear in the Top 10 Topics (by Replies) section of the Statistics Center (aka More Stats) Page.

NOTE: I *WILL* address the <BR> problem...]

[roger1818]

Arf:  I checked the schematic for the CM15a
and the X10 signals travel through an
isolation transformer, so it shouldn’t
matter which way it is plugged in.  The
only circuitry that is connected directly
to the hot and neutral lines is the clock
detection circuit (it uses an opto-coupler
for isolation), and even that shouldn’t
care which way it is plugged in.

[andyd]

I have 2 diagnostic units.  The first one
has the unpolarized plug, the second one has
a polarized plug and some unspecified
hardware change.  The second one is my "in
service" controller, the other diagnostic
unit is my activity monitor.

The unpolarized plug is certainly more
convenient when connecting to extension
power strips.

Andy

[arf1410]

AndyD -

How do oyu know your second diag. unit has
some "unspecified hardware change"?

[anonymous]

ARF.. Because I was told so by the nice X10
person that sent it to me. (Obviously X10
knew what the hardware changes were but I
was not told).

Andy

[arf1410]

X10 Pro -

So are there "unspecified hardware changes",
or simply code changes to store and transmit
diagnostic info?

[X10 Pro]

I didn't know about the change of the
polarized plug on the factory until it was
reported here, but that's the only true
hardware change I'm aware of. We did have a
couple different versions of the diagnostic
firmware which we sent to people (most of
them forum users) before going with the final
one.

[roger1818]

X10 Pro:  Is it the plan to not use a
polarized plug on all CM15As?  I can’t see
any reason for it to have a polarized plug.

[joe]

X10pro:

I see that you mentioned that there were a
couple of versions of the firmware in the
diagnostic units you sent out. How can we
tell if we have the final version and if you
would, can you enlighten the group as to what
those variants did?

Joe (a diagnostic unit user)

[X10 Pro]

Roger H: I don't think there's any
significance to the change in the plug. That
kind of thing happens from time to time at
the factory.

Joe: The only versions that were different
were ones that had hand-written labels on the
back. We were adding more data to the
diagnostic output, and it took a couple
versions to get everything we wanted.

[carmine]

Fundamental design flaws still exist, no
amount of lemon aid will make the cm15a
reliable.

[arf1410]

Carmine -

What specific fundamental design flaws are
there?

[anonymous]

Based on X10 pro input on this thread it
seems that I may have been mislead that my
second diagnostic unit had a hardware change.

I was told "Thanks for your help. I do have
a test version of changed hardware that I
can send that may solve this problem. Should
I send you one?"

I think I should now assume that "hardware"
should have said "firmware" and that the
second unit had the enhanced diagnostic
support.

In any event, that second unit has always
worked ok whereas the first diagnostic unit
didn't.

Andy

[carmine]

It needs an independent Hardware Real time
Clock with a Lithium battery back up(the
clock will keep working with power off for
the shelf life of the battery, at least 10
years).
Else the chip used has only 255 byte of
memory with 24 used by the USB buffers, do
the math: how many macros and timer you can
possible have active at the same time
before having a memory overflow?
I feel sorry for the firmware programmer
and tech support, this product will never
be reliable. I have been designing
microprocessor based industrial controller
for over 20 years, I wish I had seen the
cm15 schematic before I purchased, to
late!, $49 down the drain.

[arf1410]

Carmine -
Not too late.  If it doesn't work, and they
can't fix it, they must give you your money
back regardless of the 30 day guarantee
(assuming you are still in the 1 year
warantee period).

However, while I am sure there is some truth
to your analysis, how can you explain that
some units appear to be working fine with
multiple and complex macros, and while
disconnected from PC?