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[budney]

Hello,

It appears that my CM15A locks up whenever an X10 signal collision occurs. I can reproduce it reliably by sending P1-ON followed immediately by P1-OFF from my mini timer. The CM15A becomes unresponsive until I unplug it briefly. That seems like a serious problem, because collisions can easily happen naturally--for example, if multiple motion sensors trigger at the same time. I'd rather not be forced to plug the CM15A into an appliance module and power-cycle it manually, for example.

I'm running my CM15A from a Mac Mini running Indigo2 under Leopard.

--Len.

[budney]

Has anyone else seen something like this?

--Len.

[Dan Lawrence]

Where is the signal collision coming from?   AHP is not usually affected by a TM751 transceiver, which is "impolite" and will send X10 signals when it gets the RF. The RR501 is the polite transiver, it waits until the power line is clear before sending (usually a second or two).

[budney]

Where is the signal collision coming from?

In this case, the collision comes from the mini timer, when I press, e.g, "P1 OFF" followed immediately by "P2 ON." The mini timer is plugged in, not wireless.

AHP is not usually affected by a TM751 transceiver, which is "impolite" and will send X10 signals when it gets the RF. The RR501 is the polite transiver, it waits until the power line is clear before sending (usually a second or two).

Not sure what those acronyms/model numbers refer to.

--Len.

[JMac]

Why are you using the "P" House Codes?  I thought that was an HC to avoid.  Or are you just experimenting?
By the way, I just tried P1 On & Off with my ControLinc console, and other than the red square on P1 and yellow square on all other P units under "Find Other Computers" and "X10 Code Usage - Historical", nothing happened.

[steven r]

Why are you using the "P" House Codes?  I thought that was an HC to avoid....

Other than P16 I see no reason to avoid HC P.

[Dan Lawrence]

Where is the signal collision coming from?

In this case, the collision comes from the mini timer, when I press, e.g, "P1 OFF" followed immediately by "P2 ON." The mini timer is plugged in, not wireless.

AHP is not usually affected by a TM751 transceiver, which is "impolite" and will send X10 signals when it gets the RF. The RR501 is the polite transiver, it waits until the power line is clear before sending (usually a second or two).

Not sure what those acronyms/model numbers refer to.

--Len.

Those are the model numbers for the two times of plug-in transceivers.

[Brian H]

Are there any X10 Repeaters in the installation? Some have been known to send X10 signal in a firestorm when a CM15A is the controller.

[budney]

Are there any X10 Repeaters in the installation? Some have been known to send X10 signal in a firestorm when a CM15A is the controller.

You may be on to something: I have a Leviton active phase coupler installed at the panel. How can I see whether that's the problem, and if so how do I address it?

Thanks,
Len.

[Tuicemen]

Are there any X10 Repeaters in the installation? Some have been known to send X10 signal in a firestorm when a CM15A is the controller.

You may be on to something: I have a Leviton active phase coupler installed at the panel. How can I see whether that's the problem, and if so how do I address it?

Thanks,
Len.

How to test:
Turn Off your  Leviton active phase coupler and send P1-ON followed immediately by P1-OFF from your mini timer since this always causes it to lock up!

[budney]

How to test:
Turn Off your  Leviton active phase coupler and send P1-ON followed immediately by P1-OFF from your mini timer since this always causes it to lock up!

Since it's hard-wired to the service panel, and has no switch, can you suggest a way to do that without getting electrocuted? For that matter, can you clarify how that's going to help, since an active phase coupler is necessary in my house and isn't ever going away?

I was thinking more along the lines of figuring out whether the CM15A is failing to play nice, and what to replace it with if it isn't.

--Len.

[Tuicemen]

Not protected with a fuse/breaker? 
It should be!
Any I've seen are wired into the pannel via a breaker, this switch should have nothing else on it so flipping it /removing the fuse will do the trick!

[Brian H]

It should be on its own set of breakers or at least sharing a set with another circuit. I know you can't leave it off other than for a test; but the Leviton HCA02  and Smarthome Dryer Outlet devices have been known to cause signal storms. Just turn it off as a test and then the results will give us clues to fixes.