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[TNP]

I bought a very basic system. Just the Powerhouse console, 2 door sensors, the remote, and the big red button. There are wheels on the console for house codes and unit codes, and in the manual it says to set the remote to the same house code as the console. But nowhere in the manual do I see anything that explains what house codes and unit codes are and what they should be set to.

Anyone know what house codes and unit codes are used for, and what I need to set them at?

[dave w]

They are digital addresses and you can set them to anything. Each of the 16 House Codes (A-P) can control 16 units (Unit Codes). So there is a total of 256 addresses. X10 defines them as House Codes and Unit Codes to make it easier to organize.

You might use the code B1 to B16, your neighbor might use the codes A1 to A16, etc. Certain battery operated X10 devices default to HCUC "A1" when their batteries get low, so is advisable to avoid that particular code. 

If you use Lamp Modules you would set them to the same House Code as the console and the console will control them.

[TNP]

Thanks, Dave. So if I just have the remote, big red button and a couple of door sensors, do I set them all to the same code, or do they all need separate codes?

What happens if my neighbor uses the same code? I have no way of knowing if they even have an X10. Will this interfere with mine?

[Dan Lawrence]

Since X10 is not mass marketed it is very rare to find a next door neighbor also using it.  I began with X10 in the middle 1980's and at that time Radio Shack sold X10 modules but nobody else on my street uses it today.

[TNP]

Thanks, Dan!

[dave w]

Thanks, Dave. So if I just have the remote, big red button and a couple of door sensors, do I set them all to the same code, or do they all need separate codes?

What happens if my neighbor uses the same code? I have no way of knowing if they even have an X10. Will this interfere with mine?

Setting aside your security console and describing a typical X10 remote control set up: In the world of X10, you have transmitters (Palm Pad, key chain remotes, the BRB, etc.) and you have receivers that turn something ON or OFF. So lets say you have two  Lamp Modules which you have plugged your two living room table lights in to. and two wall switches which each control a ceiling light fixture. Your wall switches you have set HCUC to "A2" and "A3", your two Lamp Modules controlling two table lamps in your livingroom are "A4" and "A5". I don't know which "remote" you have but pretend it is a Palm Pad and the Palm Pads RF signal is being received by a TM761 transceiver which then couples the command from the Palm Pad to the powerlines where ALL your receiver/controlling modules will receive. Your Palm Pad and the TM751 would be set to House code "A". The TM751 has a controlled outlet built in which is always #1 of what ever House Code it is set to. So buttons #2, 3, 4, and 5 on the Palm Pad will turn ON, OFF, and dim or brighten your correspondingly numbered lights. Palm Pad button #1 will switch ON or OFF the outlet in the TM751.

Can your neighbor control or interfere with your lights? Yes if they are connected to the same pole transformer as your house, OR if if they are so close that their Palm Pad (or any X10 RF transmitter) can be received by your TM751. And that is when one of you simple switches all your modules and controllers to House Code "B" or "C" or etc. etc. etc. But as Dan pointed out. X10 isn't all that popular. The odds are against your neighbor having X10.

[TNP]

Thanks so much for all the helpful info!