Re: Re: Lighting Control (was Re: Adverts)

["Mark McCall" <mark@xxxxxxx>]

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> I'm thinking of a PIC running directly off the mains, via a dropper
> resistor, with a sense input from the existing lightswitch, another
input
> so it can detect the zero crossing, an IR input, IR output, and an
output
> to drive a triac.  The PIC can easily handle all the IR stuff and
drive a
> triac, so there's not much else required except some suppression.

All sounds a bit hectic!  This will mean running wires from every light
switch to your chosen location for the custom IR stuff too then?

> Can't do (yet... he says hopefully), but I don't think it matters.
Comfort
> can send control commands, if there's a need to receive status info
etc
> then that can go through a PC.  It's still better (in my system) than
X10,
> which I accept is a target price and functionality to aim for

Ah....now a dedicated PC comes into the equation :-)

All this talk of buiding and designing custom stuff is probably very
rewarding but I guess I just like an easy life :-))

Last night I had a visitor to the house (a fellow nerd) that had to leave
my
study every half hour for a smoke break (yes - I don't allow him to smoke
in
my house!).  Every time he went away and came back he couldn't believe the
automatic lighting.  His route to the back door - upstairs hall, downstairs
hall, kitchen. utility - is now completely automatic.

All done with X10....all working faultlessly.

> skimmed it, but if I read it correctly (the 'technical' chapter), the
data
> rate is only about 120kbps in 'normal operation' and it only manages
> 720kbps when 'hotrodded', ie single direction, no error correction
etc.  I
> can't believe that's true, is it?

Its definately asymetrical in standard form (it can be symetrical too).  So
I think its 720 in one direction while 120 in the other (usually).

> As the saying goes- "Cheap, Reliable, Fast- pick two"...

Indeed!

M.