Insteon and X-10

[TonyNo]

Do you have an X-10 phase coupler/repeater in your house?

No, have not needed one.

Do you use any BoosterLincs? Shifting a BoosterLinc around to a more strategic location might solve the problem.

No Insteon PLC yet; just X10.

Maybe I'll get the loaner X10 meter from Martin when I order my Insteon PLC. I s'pose I could also drag a scope home from the office.

 

[TonyNo]

I was able to get info from the SDM log on one of my issues, and Dave (PowerHome) came back with this...

ui:srir=00 00 00 01 24 B3 0F 11 8C
si:00 D4 2C 01 24 B3 0F 11 8C
PLC:eventraw=03
PLC:eventraw=04
PLC:receiveinsteonraw=04 01 24 B3 00 D4 2C AF 11 FE
3/13/2006 9:05:38 PM:ackmsg=01.24.B3:ON at OUT
PLC:eventraw=03
PLC:SRIR=03,01 24 B3 00 D4 2C AF 11 FE

You can see where the ON command at level 8C is sent to the SDM. The very next line shows the SDM sending the command out at the same level. Then, BOOM, the acknowledgement comes back with the level at FE (254) or full on. The last line shows that this acknowledgment is used as the return for the SRIR command.

It's looks as if either the command was "misinterpreted" by the device or the device is defective. Since ... the device initially went to 50% and then "popped" to 100%, it sounds as if the device might be defective. That or the command was received properly and then a "reflection" was misinterpreted. Reflections and problems such as this may be caused by borderline communications.

So far, it seems as if this one LampLinc has a mind of its own.

Can someone (SmartLabs?) confirm a problem based on the above info?

Thanks!

 

[HighTest]

And I have two Ultrasonic Command Consoles that I use in the garage. Mine were made well before BSR stood for Brave Sir Robin . . .

I'd always wondered what that BSR on an older spectrum analyzer ment. Now I know.
:unsure:

 

[TonyNo]

Grr! I swapped out that LampLinc for another one, and this one, too, jumped to 100% from 50% on its own...

 

[KenM]

ui:srir=00 00 00 01 24 B3 0F 11 8C
si:00 D4 2C 01 24 B3 0F 11 8C
PLC:eventraw=03
PLC:eventraw=04
PLC:receiveinsteonraw=04 01 24 B3 00 D4 2C AF 11 FE
3/13/2006 9:05:38 PM:ackmsg=01.24.B3:ON at OUT
PLC:eventraw=03
PLC:SRIR=03,01 24 B3 00 D4 2C AF 11 FE

You can see where the ON command at level 8C is sent to the SDM. The very next line shows the SDM sending the command out at the same level. Then, BOOM, the acknowledgement comes back with the level at FE (254) or full on. The last line shows that this acknowledgment is used as the return for the SRIR command.

The way I read the message flag (0xAF) from the 'receiveinsteonraw=', you got back a 'NAK' to a direct message. I'm not up on Insteon logic so I do not really know what that is telling you, except that the command failed for some reason.

Does the device act up when you try to set a slightly lower level?


Ken

 

[TonyNo]

100% is too bright, so I typically run it at 50%. Sometimes it just jumps to ~100% with no interraction by me at all.

 

[KenM]

I'm no expert on this stuff. Having said that, here are some thoughts.

If you have more than one device doing this, it could be that whatever is sending the Insteon commands is getting confused and sending some garbage in the message. This would be my guess as the 'NAK' probably means that the device received a valid message with a command that it couldn't decode and execute.

I would also do a 'factory reset' on the device just to be sure it isn't something wierd that is stuck in the link table.

Insteon messages have a CRC (checksum) byte at the end that is supposed to prevent powerline noise from garbling a command. A command with a bad CRC is supposed to be ignored. Because of this, reflections are possible but very unlikely.

An ideal troubleshooting setup would be to have a separate device to monitor the powerline commands (a second PLC) and look at what it actually reads.

Good luck.

Ken

 

[TonyNo]

Thanks. I did do a Factory Reset for just that reason.

 

[TonyNo]

Well, I swapped the halogen for an incandescent. No jumping dim levels so far. I thought Insteon was supposed to be more immune to noise?

Can anyone shed some light (ugh) on this?

 

[Digger]

I had problems with noise from CFL's and once I changed to incandescent it resolved the problem. I am slowly replacing my newly installed incandescents with newer CFL's and so far so good.

For &^( and giggles I put a few old CFL's back in a little while ago and tried sending 20 on off commands. Guess what I missed two. Soooooooooo I guess its a noise problem. So now I have to go swap them back tomorrow.

I can understand the CFL's being a problem but Halogen? Are they low voltage halogen with switching power supply feeding them? I know that those little switchers are noisey.

 

[TonyNo]

I put the halogen back in place and the jumping dim's resumed.

 

[AutomatedOutlet]

Is the halogen electronic or magnetic? It can make a difference.

 

[TonyNo]

Dunno! How could I tell?

It's one of those common 6' tall halogen torchiere lamps.

 

[Digger]

A lot of those lamps are VERY noisey. I wont buy one since they are dangerous. They made imprevements a few years back by limitng bulbs to 300W I thinkand putting a guard over the bulbs.

BE CAREFUL with that type of light. It can be a fire hazard if knocked over etc.

 

[TonyNo]

Ah ha! I got a response from SmartHome...

This is a normal issue that happens when you have a lamp module that has local control turned on, which is the default setting for the insteon LampLinc. To remedy this issue simply diasble local control.