Ocelot vs TI-103

[Wadenut]

I'm thinking of replacing my CM11a; not because of any reliability issues so much as obscolesence. I have an Ocelot sitting on the shelf which I was thinking of using for the purpose. The question is, is the Ocelot a reliable X10 interface and should I bother trying or just buy a TI-103? I am planning on adding IR sometime soon so using this would mean one less thing to plug into the wall.

Suggestions?

[completelyhis]

neat thing about using the ocelot is that you can easily setup handshakes and failsafes and all, using the cmax software. it has good reliabilty, from what I've heard. i have an ocelot, but don't use x10, so I couldn't help ya there.

[Wadenut]

The handshaking is one of the main reasons to use the Ocelot.
However, I've since discovered that the Ocelot doesn't support extended X-10 protocols. Unfortunately, I have an RCS TXB-16 thermostat which I believe does use the extended commands so the Ocelot may no longer be an option.

While were on the Ocelot... It seems I'll be needing some sort of IR emitter compatible with the unit. I can't find anything on the ADI site indicating what might be suitable or available. Any suggestions? I've already cooked one emitter I had lying around and plugged in without checking. Reminds me of the carpenters rule: Measure twice, cut once.

[Stuart]

Wadenut,
check out Jon00's ir blaster for the ocelot. Easy to build and works well.
Stuart

http://www.btinternet.com/~jon00/IRBlaster.shtml

[Wadenut]

Thanks. I think I can find most of the components in my junkbox.

[Stuart]

Wadenut,
Just to let you Iused a nte3084 for the opto isolator and a Tip42 as the transistor. Great little circuit and it tolerates a lot of different parts.
Stuart

[jrfuda]

I think that the RCS TXB-16 used preset Dims for control and reporting, and the Ocelot does support these... I had, at one time, tried to use a TI103 and Ocelot with PSC05 together. I had some stuff hard-coded into the Ocelot, for which it sent X10 commands (did not use it for X10 via HomeSeer) and used the TI103 has my X10 interface for HomeSeer.

Remember, the TXB-16 uses a PSC05, so if the stat can use it to send/receive all necessary commands, so should the Ocelot.

I found that TI103's like being the only transmitter on a powerline. For some reason, when either PSC05 coexisted with the TI103, the TI103 would get alot of phantom commands, especially from the Ocelot (probably due to proximity). These phantom commands went away when I stopped using the TI103 and used the Ocelot's and TXB16's PSC05 has the only transmitters on my powerline.

Another neat thing about using an Ocelot in conjunction with an X10 thermostat, is you can put all the logic/schedule to control the thermostat in the Ocelot, and have it do all the control for you. You can set a variable in the Ocelot that will let the HS thermostat plugin override the Ocelot. For example, Ocelot internal program only goes if variable x=0, if HS changes the variable to 1, then these lines don't run and HS has the ball. You can set the variable to be set/reset whenever HS starts/stops. You can also make the Ocelot reset the variable to 0 every so often, and HS set it back to 1 ever so often, so if HS goes kaput, the Ocelot will take over managing the thermostat, kind of like a watchdog some of us have done in the past that would reset the PC if HS didn't reset a variable in the Ocelot routinely (I don't need this anymore since I have a HomeTroller S2 that does this for me).

My Ocelot is my favorite piece of automation hardware, and the only thing I've used non-stop since I got into this whole thing (I had an 18 month hiatus where I did not use HS). If the Ocelot has web access and suported protocols besides just X10, it could probably run everything itself! My new HomeTroller S2 is slowly gaining on the Ocelot with its awesome stability (and MUCH easier programing), though.