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[SteveRF]

Well, after several months of "fairly good"
operation, I have come to the conclusion that
my CM15A just cannot handle multiple (usually
2) RF signals appearing near the same time.
Bath lighting is controlled via a macro
triggered by a motion sensor.  We had guests
for a week (usually only wife and myself
home) and EVERY DAY, EVERY NIGHT we had
conflicts with bath lighting.  One or the
other did not respond to the motion detector
signal and the guest or I had to wait for the
next motion detector cycle or use the wall
switch push button.  Home Automation ends
when we have to use the button. I was
EMBARRASSED ! (was my In-Laws)  All other
macros and timers continue to work as
expected.  My experience has been ok till now
but I cannot imagine it working in my home if
I had 2 or 3 kids in and out of motion
detection areas all the time.  Seems the
CM15A really needs an overhaul in the
reponse/robustness area ?
X10, is there priority given to RF ? (store
and forward ?) Is there anything that can be
done with our software to enhance reliability
in this area ?  A second unit ?  I have a
04J44 4MAR unit running on WinXP/SP2. AHP ver
3.187  Frankness would be appreciated.  If
the CM15A cannot handle it then we need to
know and maybe we can try a different method.
Baths are triggered by MD B1 and B3 and fire
macros C4 AND C5 (master and guest bath).
These macros contain dim after 11pm and
before 5am, full ON if between these times.
OFF is controlled by the Motion Detector (MD)
internal timer.
Thanks
SteveRF

[tcassio]

SteveRF,
I know you have been following the posts
all these months.  Welcome to the club.
X10 emphatically denies this problem and it
will not be fixed because the problem does
not exist.
T.

[SteveRF]

TCassio,
Hello from the Gulf Coast !  We will wait and
see if X10 can offer a solution or interim
solution.  Probably will not hear a peep on
this thread until next week.  I should have
posted sooner.
regards,
SteveRF

[carmine pacifico]

I am sure X10 Pro will find a solution,
after all according to X10 the CM15a is a
great device and has no flaws.

[martin]

SteveRF : You’re not alone, I have the same
issue with two bathroom lights controlled by
Motion Sensors and we are four in the house
(including two girls 8 & 10). What I did is
adding a delay of 50 seconds in the bathroom
macros to turn the lights off. This ensures
that the lights are turned off by either the
delay or the MS off trigger.
When there is RF conflict to trigger the
macros on, it usually works with a delay of
about 2 to 5 seconds before the macro runs.

[wink]

My motion detector works flawlessly (when
it's velcroed to the back of the CM15A, how
about that for range!)

[marty]

LOL!  I hope it's metal velcro. )

[Bill H]

I also had Steve's mother-in-law problem
with sensors. I told her to leave. Solved
two problems at once.

[marty]

What was Steve's mother-in-law doing at
your house. )

[SteveRF]

Martin,
Thanks for the response.  Run that by me
again... You have a delay of 50 seconds ?..
After initial signal to turn bath lights on ?
I have the built in MS delay of 8 minutes
set.  I have no delay in the macros for
either of the baths.  I rely totally on the
MS delayed OFF signal.  The off was never a
problem, it was always the on signal that was
delayed.  When we had company (mother-in-law
and HER sister..eek!) we experienced a
constant conflict delay...made it rather
unusable.  Can you imagine the disgusted
looks I was getting when mother-in-law
wonders why the lights are so erratic... o
well, they are gone now..SMILE!  I can't even
imagine having my 2 girls back here.  I'd be
pushing the ON button every time and home
automation would go by the wayside.  That is
with only 2 MSensors being worked.  I cannot
imagine having more with a flurry of
activity...
Regards,
SteveRF

[carmine pacifico]

SteveRF

I really hate to say this, but: I told you
so.
The CM15a deficiencies (denied by X10 Pro)
caused the lights to malfunction many times
and in several cases wake up my baby.
When I switched to the 1132CUP finally
worked as planned, but due to the large
number of commands send on the power line
to dim or bright up to 3 lights, sometimes
the response was slow. I finally replaced
the wall switches with preset dim from
smarthome, a single PLC command turns the
light at the dim level desired reducing
traffic on the power line.
I think if you use preset dim switches your
set-up may work to your satisfaction.

[SteveRF]

Anonymous,
Thanks for the tips.  My problem has never
been the dimming function which occurs only
after 11pm but rather the inability of the
CM15A to be able to process incoming rf from
2 sources within a fews seconds of each
other.  It seems the constant motion in one
bath precludes the other MS signal from being
processed which results in about an 8 second
delay (the next MS cycle) to turn the light
to ON.  That delay, eventhough short, causes
the occupant to "push the button" thus
putting my home automation on hold for the
next 8 minutes in that room.  It is not like
there is a lot going on at the moment. In
most cases there is nothing else being
transmitted on the line.  I am only talking
about 2 signals that need processing.  Seems
to me that a more robust store and forward
programming approach may help.  Maybe the
next generation of the CM15A will resolve
most of our problems or maybe there is a way
to bolster the throughput by using multiple
CM15a's... now that is a thought...smile.
Regards,
SteveRF

[martin]

SteveRF: Hum, me it's the other way around,
I never had problem for the lights to turn
on (except the delay when multiple RF/PLC
signals are sent at the same time), it's the
lights that were not turning off. My MS are
set to 1 minute to send RF Off and I got a
50 seconds delay in the associated macro. I
also use slim remotes in the bathrooms to
set up a flag when the lights need to stay
on.

[carmine pacifico]

SteveRF
The Anonymous reply was from me, computer
error.

In order to do what you want the CM15a need
to buffer incoming RF messages, this would
eliminate your problem, but during high
traffic on the power line there would be
considerable delays. In my case when the
stairs motion was triggered the controller
would send 5 bright command, then send 5
bright command to another light; if I
entered the bathroom next, the light would
take from 5 to 10 seconds to response,
unacceptable; it takes about .75 seconds to
send 1 command on the power line. The
longer delay may not be a problem for you
or me, but the boss (wife) and guest do not
like it, the only solution is reduced human
or PLC traffic.

[AccessX10]

Yes, as others have stated… this is a “know
issue” amongst the user community. I
experience this problem on a daily basis. A
motion sensor triggers and remotes become
non-functional (PalmPad, Stick-a-Switch,
etc.).

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