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[dhouston]

Still no PCBs. HongKong Post says they were at a USPS sorting facility in Flushing, NY nearly a week ago and that if I need to track them further to contact the USPS. The USPS says they don't speak Chinese.

I'm ready to order the final version but there's no chance I'll get them before March due to the 2 week Chinese New Year celebration.

[JeffVolp]

I switched from Advanced Circuits here in the US to PCB Fabrication in China several years ago.  I usually receive the boards within a few days after they ship via FedEx.

http://www.pcbfabrication.com/

One PCB had been made by Advanced Circuits for several years, but then a batch came back where the holes were undersize on about half the boards, and the headers would not fit.  Advanced would not do anything about it.  They said it was due to their sloppy tolerance and I should have specified larger holes.  That same board with no changes to hole sizes has been made by PCB Fabrication since then with no more problems.  And even with FedEx shipping, that reduced the cost by about a third.

I chose PCB Fabrication because they had a representative here in the US to work with.

Jeff

[dhouston]

Jeff,

This was for 12 small bare prototype PCBs using ITEAD Studio's prototyping service. The boards shipped Air Mail as FedEx, DHL, etc. cost too much for initial proto boards. I've used them before without a problem.

https://www.itead.cc/open-pcb/pcb-prototyping/2layer-color-pcb-5cm-x-5cm-max.html

I used another source, CircuitMart, for a few years who were excellent but they had disappeared when I started this project. The prices and service were really good so I was sorry to lose them.

I'm awaiting quotes from Jaco who look good for both bare and assembled prototypes.

http://www.jacohk.com

[rjp]

Put me on the wish list please.

Thank you!

Sign me up.

[JeffVolp]

I'm awaiting quotes from Jaco who look good for both bare and assembled prototypes.

Wow, those companies are cheap for prototypes.  I had used Advance's prototyping service.  They were very fast, but cost about $100 for 3-5 bare PCBs.

Jeff

[dhouston]

I've used ITEAD a couple of times and got the boards within 10 days or so. 12 small boards + Air Mail cost $17.50 so it's hard to beat. The quality was excellent.

In the past I was able to track shipments from China to my door using track-trace but that's no longer true in all cases.
http://www.track-trace.com/

ITEAD provided a link to track the package but it stopped speaking to me after it reached a USPS sorting facility in Flushing, NY more than a week ago while the USPS tracking page says it has no knowledge of my package.

I've already decided on a few changes so it's no big deal but I could have used these to test most of my layout.

[dhouston]

I have the initial boards. I should be ready to order the production boards next week but they will
be delayed by the Chinese New Year.

[dhouston]

I'm awaiting quotes from Jaco who look good for both bare and assembled prototypes.
http://www.jacohk.com

25 bare 1.5"x1.16" PCBs for $20.40 + shipping (5-6 options, including Air Mail for ~$10).

I'll order these in a day or two. And, I'll likely order 25 assembled PCBs as soon as I can assemble/test the bare board.

Of course, the Chinese New Year will monkey with delivery.

[dhouston]

Some remodeling of my building delayed things a bit (workers traipsing in and out) but I've simplified the PCB (all components on the same side) so it should cost less to purchase assembled. I've ordered a dozen bare boards. I'll assemble and test a couple and, if all is as planned, will assemble the rest and send some out to those who asked to be included.

For those reluctant to perform brain surgery on their CM15A, I plan to resurrect another design (using the TDA5051A powerline modem chip) that will do PLC I/O and have options for RF I/O, WiFi, Bluetooth & battery-backed RTC and will have separate (universal) powerline interface(s). It will be a few more months down the road and will cost more, of course. The controller will come assembled (options will plug in), the powerline interface(s) will have all SMD components preinstalled but users will need to install the through-hole components. It will use the same brainwashed/re-educated Arduino Pro Mini processor so the firmware/software will be the much the same.

While waiting for the PCBs, I'll work on revised PDF documentation for the CM15A2Zv2b brain transplant as well as documentation for the controller plus powerline interface(s) and upload them to my webpage (online courtesy of Laser Systems).

[bkenobi]

With word that the Wi-Fi unit may still be in the works, I thought it was about time to determine which is a better option for a backup.  My backup CM15A will take this mod, so I was hoping that it will do everything that the Wi-Fi one could do but better.   

[dhouston]

...I was hoping that it will do everything that the Wi-Fi one could do but better.  

It will do more (better RF range, RF/PLC IO, Bluetooth as an option, USB-TTL link, much bigger EEPROM, much better battery-backed RTC, published communications protocol, Arduino compatibility, lower cost) and I think it will also be better at the things they have in common - but I may not be the most unbiased of observers.

It seems the carrier pigeons have run into headwinds so I'm still waiting for the PCBs. Once they arrive, I should have a working model in a few days. Initially, it will use a command line interface - more user-friendly interfaces will come later. Also, I still need to design the external PCB/enclosure for the WiFi & Bluetooth modules.

And, I've heard from the EE who designed the PLC Amp that's on my webpage.
https://www.laser.com/dhouston/plc-amp.html
He has volunteered to test everything and he's likely to be a more unbiased tester than am I. Plus, he lives only 100 miles or so away so I can test the RF range from here.
   

[bkenobi]

If you can get 100mi range, that would be impressive.   

[dhouston]

If you can get 100mi range, that would be impressive.   

I'd best put a stop to this before anyone thinks I'm serious. I expect excellent range and will publish range test results for three antenna options (telescoping, eggbeater, amplified eggbeater). Based on previous testing I expect hundreds of feet with an amplified eggbeater antenna.
https://www.laser.com/dhouston/eggbeater.pdf

[Tuicemen]

With the CM15A currently out of stock I asked Authinx what their plans were for the CM15.
Currently there doesn't appear to be any plans on updating this as their resources are running thin with what already is on their plate.

Basically they stated if the community were to take on creating a prototype and develop the needed software they would look at manufacturing.

Does this mean the community could mod any existing X10 module and if successful they will consider producing it?
Does it mean Dave's CM15 mod could be come the new CM15? 

[dhouston]

Basically they stated if the community were to take on creating a prototype and develop the needed software they would look at manufacturing.

That's a major undertaking requiring sourcing of parts, some of which were unique to X10 (e.g. the isolation transformers used in nearly, if not, all of their powerline interfaces. Then, there are UL & FCC approvals which are not something that community design can deal with.

As you know, I offered to modify the new SMD design (for free) for them to produce if they would provide the gerber files for the existing SMD design. (Even if they do not have the gerbers, the company that manufactured the CM15A would, along with the parts list.) That would have retained their power supply and PLC interface hardware, replacing the MCU and RF receiver while adding TTL interfaces for external (and externally powered) WiFi & BT modules (their power supply cannot handle these if internal). The new RF receiver would qualify for self-testing and the other changes would not materially affect their UL status. And, using the Atmel ATmega328P MCU (used in the Arduino UNO) would make community provided firmware & software practical as well as make it attractive to a few billion Arduino acolytes around the world. Plus, it would use the same plastic enclosure with only slight modification.

They never responded so I resurrected my design that modifies the old through-hole CM15A figuring there might be some in the community with spare through-hole CM15As who might be interested. As I've noted before, methinks the new boss is the same as the old boss...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHhrZgojY1Q