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[brobin]

Update:

Found a BSR X10.014701 switch in my X10 boneyard, and installed it. Ran dishwasher. Floodlight stayed off. Go figure.   

Will run more cycle before declaring victory.

Just proves 'They don't make 'em like they used to!" 

[ceedee]

Update:

Found a BSR X10.014701 switch in my X10 boneyard, and installed it. Ran dishwasher. Floodlight stayed off. Go figure.   

Will run more cycle before declaring victory.

Just proves 'They don't make 'em like they used to!" 

And, never throw things out.  You never know...

[Brian H]

Update:

Found a BSR X10.014701 switch in my X10 boneyard, and installed it. Ran dishwasher. Floodlight stayed off. Go figure.   

Will run more cycle before declaring victory.

I am not too surprised.

IMHO.
X10WTI use to see how designs could be made to work with less or cheaper parts. For the ones in the FCC Database. A * next to a component on the schematic. Was not installed. 

[bkenobi]

So if we go through and find the schematics for all of our modules and add back in the * items, we should have a robust X10 system?!   

[Brian H]

Can't say if it would then be a robust system.

I do know adding 4 bypass capacitors to the through hole component version CM15A helped lots of users. I don't know if they caught on and added them to the later ones with surface mounted controllers.

[bkenobi]

I never heard of that mod. Not sure it would apply to my version(s), but that would have been sone thing I would have tried day 1 based on performance out of the box.

[dhouston]

It's shown here...
https://www.laser.com/dhouston/ImproveCM15A.html

I'll try to remember to check the later SMD CM15A to see whether they added the caps.

[bkenobi]

Did you add the last part at a later date than the rest of that page?  I saw this page or a variant of it years ago when I was preparing for my external antenna mod.  I found at the time that adding the antenna helped, but without an extra inline amplifier I was still not where I needed to be.  I believe you sent me a different RF chip to swap in at one point prior to the antenna mod but it didn't help.  I wonder if just adding these caps might have been all that would have been needed for a significant improvement.

In the end, I never ended up installing all the motion sensors I wanted because range was still terrible on those (even after adding 18" passive antennas to them).  I tried my door/window sensors once and found them so bad, they've lived their entire lives in a box in the basement.

[dhouston]

I think that page was complete when uploaded. You probably saw my eggbeater antenna page which was much older.
https://www.laser.com/dhouston/eggbeater.pdf

I never made any before/after range measurements regarding the bypass caps so I'm not sure how much difference they will make. But my earlier measurements with the eggbeater plus amplifier predated adding caps to the CM15A and gave 300+ feet range with an HR12A. I never measured motion sensors or door/window sensors at those extreme distances but am sure they would likely work out to 150 feet with eggbeater + amplifier.

I don't recall seeing a schematic of the SMD version of the CM15A. Without one it's difficult to tell whether they used bypass caps.

[bkenobi]

For me, the external antenna (RadioShack in my case) plus inline amplifier were huge improvements.  I went from kinda worked in the next room to 300+ foot range.  I don't need to be able to use the HR12A from the woods, but I can!

[dhouston]

I don't recall seeing a schematic of the SMD version of the CM15A. Without one it's difficult to tell whether they used bypass caps.

With an SMD version of the CM15A - date sticker 13F24...

Using an ohmmeter and datasheets for the ICs it appears there are small SMD capacitors on all but one Vcc pin. The microcontroller (CY7C63723C) has two Vcc pins - one has a cap, the other is connected to the first via a trace under the IC and has no cap but does have empty solder pads for one. Best practice would call for a cap on this pin as well.

Again, without a schematic I've no idea about the values of these small SMD caps but my WAG is they are 0.1uF bypass caps.

In addition I would add bypass caps in parallel with the power supply electrolytics.