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[JeffVolp]

An article on the XTB and XTB-II has been published in the April/May issue of  the on-line HomeToys eMagazine.  The author was one of the beta testers for the XTB, and has been a great help in this project since the beginning.

http://www.hometoys.com/ezine/08.04/green/xtb.htm

Jeff

[Puck]

Congratulations Jeff, good article.

[steven r]

Great article!

For newbies... Jeff is one of our experts here. His products have improved the signal strength for many of us here.

[Brian H]

Jeff; Congratulations on the article.
Your contributions and knowledge is very valuable for both newbies and long time users.

[Tuicemen]

Jeff, A nice article,very informative.
I'm sure it will increase sales

[Oldtimer]

Jeff:

Nice, clear article.  Well deserved praise for you and your product!

[-Bill- (of wgjohns.com)]

Congrats!

You're finally getting the recognition you deserve!

Got any plans for out-sourcing assembly when this article pushes you into the "big time"?


Very nice!   

[JeffVolp]

Got any plans for out-sourcing assembly when this article pushes you into the "big time"?

The max I can do myself is maybe half a dozen units a week.  I did look into an assembly service, but that cost almost $100 per XTB-II.  That would push the price way up.  I'm reluctant to out-source assembly to just anyone because assembly quality might effect the reliability of the unit.  And, troubleshooting any assembly errors can be time consuming.  Production in China would get the cost down, but that is beyond my means.

I would like to transition the production over to an established home automation manufacturer.  I'd be willing to provide support for UL testing, and even re-do the boards for surface mount components where practical to make robotic assembly feasible.

Unfortunately, it looks like I will be doing it myself for the foreseeable future.

Jeff

[steven r]

...it looks like I will be doing it myself for the foreseeable future....

Three step program to make millions by selling XTB. 

• Introduce everyone to X10 and get them addicted to home automation.
• Sell them more and more electrical items for their house till the X10 stuff they've grown to love starts having signal problems.
• Explain they can have their cake and eat it too by buying an XTB to boost their signal to compensate for all their "toys".

Thanks again for helping me to "keep all my toys." 

[DeltaNu1142]

I had no idea this device existed until this post--but I don't spend as much time playing with my X10 stuff as I'd like.  I'm more of a "set it & forget it" user.  Unfortunately, the last time I "set it" I still had lots of issues I'd probably attribute to signal loss.  Hopefully after my upcoming move I'll remember to get in touch about one of these...!  They sound like the holy grail of X10 integrity...

[steven r]

I had no idea this device existed until this post...
...They sound like the holy grail of X10 integrity...

Sometimes they can be. 

Jeff doesn't hard sell his stuff here but a lot of us here do use XTB. He has a lot of information about improving the X10 signal at his site.

Jeff: While I know you have links at other places for the searching, will you post a link at this topic for those just discovering XTB?

[JeffVolp]

Jeff doesn't hard sell his stuff here but a lot of us here do use XTB. He has a lot of information about improving the X10 signal at his site.

Jeff: While I know you have links at other places for the searching, will you post a link at this topic for those just discovering XTB?

While I believe the XTB-IIR is the answer for those with signal level problems, I am comfortable assembling 3 to 5 a week.  More than that becomes almost a full-time job when you consider the time spent ordering parts, kitting, assembling, and testing.

Here is a link to the XTB page:

http://jvde.us/xtb_index.htm

Be sure to check out the troubleshooting info linked at the bottom of the page.

Thank you all for the feedback.  And I owe a special thanks to Bobby Green, who was the author of the article.

Jeff