Re: Very newbie Homeseer question

[Kevin Hawkins <lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi there,

I'm going to leave the HomeSeer  xAP X10 route to James to respond on
as he knows better than me - I think there is a workable solution there
with xAP as effectively you can have multiple networked X10 connectors
via a LAN working from one HS application.  One concern might be that
keeping things in synch might be a bit of an issue regarding relative
dims and also the remote / delayed transfers via the Ethernet serial
link. Extended X10 too might be awkward, but Edward might know ???  The
lack of X10 status may or may not be an issue.  HS makes some clever
assumptions to guess/track  the state of X10 devices and progressive
errors can creep in here.    Anyway -I think there's another way to
approach this... see  below...

tnichols2594 wrote:

>I am using homeseer to control multiple devices in my home via a
>smarthome usb interface.  I have a horse barn or stable about 300
>yards away that I also need to control the lighting and many other
>devices there.  The barn is connected to the main house via fiber and
>the barn office is on the local lan with the main house.
>
>I installed a Lantronix EPS1 serial server at the barn and then
>connected that to a serial X10 interface to enable me to send X10
>commands to the barn via ethernet/lan.  However, I did not realize
>that HS would not allow me to connect two different X10 interfaces
>and I need them both.
>
>
There is possibly a hardware kludge available here that would allow you
to connect the two serial X10 devices to one serial port - one in your
home and one in the barn, but FTTB let me see if we can work out another
route...

>I was told on the HS message board that xAP would allow me to do this
>and wondered if anyone could give me some pointers on what needed to
>be done or if this could be a reliable control method for the barn.
>It is too far away for wireless (unless expensive directional version)
>and not on the same power grid.
>
>
A few gotchas there then to the easy solution :-)  ....   I am taking as
'a given' that you wish to utilse X10 in the barn as your chosen
lighting system...

xAP to the rescue I think..
Assuming you would be prepared to have a PC sitting in the barn  as
well then you could run another copy of HomeSeer on that and actually
'synchronise' HS devices between the two systems using xAP and the BSC
schema.  Then you would attach a local X10 connector to that Homeseer
machine too and all would be well.   (Or less ideal but this could even
be a second PC in the home with your Ethernet serial link to the barn
X10).       You would choose which devices were synchronised  between
the two HomeSeer's such that a script running in your home could change
a device that was immediately synched to the other machine in the barn.
An X10 light switch in your home could therefore switch a light on and
off in your barn.   I haven't done this myself but it should work. I
believe James used two HomeSeer instances synched this way as his
testing model for the xAP plugin.  It should be very fast too (except
for the normal X10 delays).   Is thsi second PC a viable path for you ??



Kevin



>Any suggestions would be appreciated.
>
>Thanks,
>
>TNichols
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