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[nabril15]

good morning all
I know you have all moved on from my issues, but I come to you with closure. I did nothing whatsoever, but the remote works fine, MT13a worked fine, all works fine. I got home with my troubleshooting hat and ideas from you all, but everything worked fine. I have a flickering socket rocket that I had to unscrew, but everything else is behaving properly.

Whichever of you did it remotely.....THANK YOU

[Noam]

good morning all
I know you have all moved on from my issues, but I come to you with closure. I did nothing whatsoever, but the remote works fine, MT13a worked fine, all works fine. I got home with my troubleshooting hat and ideas from you all, but everything worked fine. I have a flickering socket rocket that I had to unscrew, but everything else is behaving properly.

Whichever of you did it remotely.....THANK YOU

Actually YOU did it, and I'll tell you the secret of how:
You THREATENED to find and fix the problem. That's it. Tech devices have become really smart over the years, and they sometimes decide to "misbehave," just to watch your reaction (perhaps it is an attention-getting tactic).
Once they found out that you were planning on finding and fixing the problem, it was no longer fun for them. So, they gave up.
That's my theory, at least. 

[Brian H]

If you screw the flaky Socket Rocket back in. Does the problem come back?

[dhouston]

What type bulb in the flickering socket rocket?

A bad CFL could explain blocking the MT13 which sends only to the powerline and it would also block powerline commands sent from the TM751 (TM751 does not receive from the powerline) but does not explain blocking the relay in the TM751 which is operated by RF only.

How close physically are the flickering socket rocket and TM751? Does it have an FCC ID?

[Noam]

good morning all
I know you have all moved on from my issues, but I come to you with closure. I did nothing whatsoever, but the remote works fine, MT13a worked fine, all works fine. I got home with my troubleshooting hat and ideas from you all, but everything worked fine. I have a flickering socket rocket that I had to unscrew, but everything else is behaving properly.

Whichever of you did it remotely.....THANK YOU

Actually YOU did it, and I'll tell you the secret of how:
You THREATENED to find and fix the problem. That's it. Tech devices have become really smart over the years, and they sometimes decide to "misbehave," just to watch your reaction (perhaps it is an attention-getting tactic).
Once they found out that you were planning on finding and fixing the problem, it was no longer fun for them. So, they gave up.
That's my theory, at least. 

Is it possible that a "noisy" CFL was off when you came home, that would have been on during your initial testing (like an outside light at night, or even an inside one)?

[nabril15]

the flickering bulb in the socket rocket is a yellow buglight CFL from nvision (i believe). It has flickered since installation, and more than likely the culprit for my "solar flare". It is outside but about 6 feet from the outlet where the 751 is. I will check to see if it has an FCC id tonight.

even though this seems to have fixed itself (probably by unscrewing that flickering buglight), I truly appreciate your help.

[Brian H]

You probably will not find an FCC ID number on the TM751.
It does not have a transmitter in it so an ID may not have been issued. My Date Code 10E19 TM751 only says on it "Tested to Comply with FCC Standards"

Though many here use Socket Rockets with loads that are not incandescent as it is made for. Sometimes the Socket Rockets electronics and the loads electronics don't play nice with each other. I have a CFL that generated all kinds of power line noise but was quiet when powered directly in a table lamp.

[Noam]

You probably will not find an FCC ID number on the TM751.
It does not have a transmitter in it so an ID may not have been issued. My Date Code 10E19 TM751 only says on it "Tested to Comply with FCC Standards"

Though many here use Socket Rockets with loads that are not incandescent as it is made for. Sometimes the Socket Rockets electronics and the loads electronics don't play nice with each other. I have a CFL that generated all kinds of power line noise but was quiet when powered directly in a table lamp.

I had one of those CFL bug bulbs (I think it was whatever brand Home Depot carried before the nVision ones which look exactly the same), which did go bad on me after a short while. It lit up just fine, but there was an audible "buzzing" noise coming from it, and it put out enough noise to disrupt my entire X10 system.
I had a similar experience with a different brand of "normal" CFL, which was making noise and disrupting my system. The catch that time was that the bulb was on my neighbor's front porch (across the street). The noise level was incredibly high, and the distance from his house to mine didn't attenuate it enough. I bought him a pair of new bug bulbs.

[dhouston]

You probably will not find an FCC ID number on the TM751.
It does not have a transmitter in it so an ID may not have been issued. My Date Code 10E19 TM751 only says on it "Tested to Comply with FCC Standards"

Those with super-regenerative receivers required an FCC ID. Newer ones, with the same super-heterodyne receiver as the CM15A, have the "Tested to comply..." label.

If the CFL is generating RF EMI, 6 feet may be close enough for it to jostle a super-regenerative receiver into oscillation - I've seen some that needed 8 feet or more separation even from other SR receivers. I would not expect a superhet to be bothered.

[dhouston]

even though this seems to have fixed itself (probably by unscrewing that flickering buglight), I truly appreciate your help.

I'm merely trying to add to the knowledge base. The buglight probably caused the problems with X10 signals on the powerline (sent by the MT13 or TM751 to other modules) but that does not explain why your remote would not operate the relay in the TM751 which is RF only. The label on the TM751 indicates the type of RF receiver inside - one is very sensitive to RF interference - one is fairly insensitive to same.

[pomonabill221]

good morning all
I know you have all moved on from my issues, but I come to you with closure. I did nothing whatsoever, but the remote works fine, MT13a worked fine, all works fine. I got home with my troubleshooting hat and ideas from you all, but everything worked fine. I have a flickering socket rocket that I had to unscrew, but everything else is behaving properly.

Whichever of you did it remotely.....THANK YOU

Actually YOU did it, and I'll tell you the secret of how:
You THREATENED to find and fix the problem. That's it. Tech devices have become really smart over the years, and they sometimes decide to "misbehave," just to watch your reaction (perhaps it is an attention-getting tactic).
Once they found out that you were planning on finding and fixing the problem, it was no longer fun for them. So, they gave up.
That's my theory, at least. 

I agree!!! these new fangled eelektronix are smart! and can read our minds!!!  SCARY!!!!

[nabril15]

Funny replies.

For the record, the 751 does have an FCC id.

[Brian H]

As we know X10 is always changing things. All of my newer ones have no FCC ID on them.
I did find an old one with an FCC ID on it.

If X10 has farmed out production to a new manufacturing plant as they have closed their factory in China.
The new manufacturer may have gotten one.
So don't be shy.
Give is the FCC ID number. So I can look it up.
Should start with B4S if it was from X10. As B4S is their prefix.
If it is a different prefix then someone is now making the TM751 for X10.
Also the Date Code on the small white sticker usually on the back of the TM751 would help.

[Noam]

As we know X10 is always changing things. All of mine have no FCC ID on them.
If X10 has farmed out production to a new manufacturing plant as they have closed their factory in China.
The new manufacturer may have gotten one.
So don't be shy.
Give is the FCC ID number. So I can look it up.
Should start with B4S if it was from X10. As B4S is their prefix.
If it is a different prefix then someone is now making the TM751 for X10.

If I'm not mistaken, the "new" TM751's don't have the controlled outlet on them (the hole where the button should be is covered up with a sticker).
It sounds like this one is the older design, with the controlled outlet. (Unless X10 changed the design twice in recent years).

[Brian H]

I found a real old TM751 and it did have a FCC ID number on it. My Date Code 08D14 has no FCC ID but has the relay in it. Also has the small receiver board in it like the CM15A.
Now to confuse things even more.
The independent X10 dealers {don't know about X10 proper}. Now have a TM751-C that is advertised to have a relay in it again.