X10 wireless or wired

[langenet]

Ok, I've got a bit of a dilemma and was wondering which would be more reliable to test whether my garage good is open or closed.

First off, let me say I have very clean X10 in my house.

My choices include 1) using magnetic switches on a powerflash module and was thinking this might be more reliable than a DS10 since it's wired and not susceptable to RF interference. Furthermore as it gets cold here in Canada in the winter months, there no depleting battery issue to contend with.

Or 2) DS10 with magenetic switches. Both magnetic switches are the default ones that come with the DS10.

or is it just 6 or one half dozen???

Robert

[wpiman]

Ok, I've got a bit of a dilemma and was wondering which would be more reliable to test whether my garage good is open or closed.

First off, let me say I have very clean X10 in my house.

My choices include 1) using magnetic switches on a powerflash module and was thinking this might be more reliable than a DS10 since it's wired and not susceptable to RF interference. Furthermore as it gets cold here in Canada in the winter months, there no depleting battery issue to contend with.

Or 2) DS10 with magenetic switches. Both magnetic switches are the default ones that come with the DS10.

or is it just 6 or one half dozen???

Robert

Wired is preferable; but aesthetics play into it.

[Rupp]

If you have clean X10 this I would use the power flash and magnet. I would use what I have on hand but both should be equally reliable.

[mnsandler]

go wireless with a ds10

i tried the x10/powerflash method initially and was not happy with the reliability. i think my house is just not x10 friendly. so i went the ds10 route and couldn't be happier.

for both setups i used a garage door magnetic switch as opposed to the simple magnet switch that comes with the ds10.

good luck

[langenet]

Thanks for your input. I do have both spare DS10's and a powerflash. I suppose I could try the DS10. Just that in the winter when it goes down to -30 degrees C, I wonder how battery life would be maintained...

What magnetic switches are you recommending?

Robert

[Uncle Michael]

One other consideration is the amount of X10 traffic on the power line. As you know, X10 signals are slow and can consume the better part of a full second. If you have multiple X10 "transmissions" in close succession, it can take some time to get through. X10 power line signals also consist of two parts. So there is a non-trivial chance for confusion. That is, an 'A4-On' overlapped by an 'A9-Off' can become 'A4-Off'.

In my experience, a fixed-position DS10 with good reception in combination with ACRF2 is more reliable than wired X10 - even in the winter, and I have very clean X10 signals as well. You don't say if your garage is detached, but if it is not, you could also consider running a wire to a DS10 located inside the house to help with battery output.

So, my recommendation would be to test the DS10 first. If reception is good, that's the way I would go.

[JeffCharger]

Robert, I live near Toronto and have both Powerflash and Ds10's in service. I have a garage door connected to a Powerflash and it never misses a beat. I also have a DS10a which is mounted closer to the receiver that one would be if connected to the garage, and have some difficulties with it. I would definitately use the powerflash unit if you have easy access to a power plug. I think that I even used the magnet contacts from a DS10a for the connection to the Powerflash unit...

[mfisher]

I use ACRF2, a W800RF and DS11A units for my garage doors, windows, sliding doors and gates. Using a 'turnstyle' antenna that I built, RF reception is excellent from 1 to 200 feet and I only have to change the batteries about every 18-24 months (a bonus of living in Southern Ca. I guess.)

Even though my powerline is clean and my X10 setup is really quite reliable, I chose to use the DS11A over using a PowerFlash because the DS11A will transmit it's status every 90 seconds or so while a PowerFlash only transmits once for each input event. If for some reason an RF collision occurred and the first DS11 tx was missed, it would be updated 90 seconds later. If an X10 powerline collision were to occur, the PowerFlash event would be missed completely.

Additionally, the DS11A will report a low battery condition, so I can always change them before events get missed.

If your main concern is battery life, you could consider running your DS10 on a 3v AC adapter or even a solar cell (and rechargable batteries) and never be concerned with changing batteries...

[bmora]

I live in Maine and winter days can get well below zero (got to -15 on 1/16 this year). I had NO problems with DS10a's in my unheated garage. As a matter of fact I have not changed the batteries in almost 2 years.....

Thanks for your input. I do have both spare DS10's and a powerflash. I suppose I could try the DS10. Just that in the winter when it goes down to -30 degrees C, I wonder how battery life would be maintained...

What magnetic switches are you recommending?

Robert

[JeffCharger]

I have a number of DS10as and haven't suffered issues with cold.... they work fine right through the winter....
Robert, if you've got a stable and "clean" X10 environment, I would bet that you'd have a greater success with a powerline x10 signal versus an RF signal. Nice thing about a powerflash is there's no batteries!

[mnsandler]

Thanks for your input. I do have both spare DS10's and a powerflash. I suppose I could try the DS10. Just that in the winter when it goes down to -30 degrees C, I wonder how battery life would be maintained...

What magnetic switches are you recommending?

Robert

here is the magnet switch i used

http://www.automatedoutlet.com/Home/...ensors/ODC-59B

has both NC and NO connections.

[drozwood90]

At my last house, I had 3 DS10A's on the door. Plans to do similar here...when that project rolls around.

I put tilt sensors on the TOP (Second panel) and BOTTOM, as well as a magnet on the TOP of the door.

When the magnet is disconnected, the door is OPEN in someway shape or form. When the "TOP" tilt sensor is tripped, the door is opening. When the last tilt sensor trips, the door is open.

The magnet was just there from before I got the tilt sensors. That worked very well as well. By putting it on the TOP of the TOP panel, I could tell exactly when the door was totally down, without needing to use anything but the stock DS10A magnets.

I now like my tilt sensor method, as I can tell three states using the two magnets (I was thinking in case it got stuck, or it kept cycling between "fully up" and "going down") I could prevent a situation that another user had. Jim Doolittle (I think) had mentioned that one day he had the back door of the mini van open, the automation kept trying to close the door. I'd like to try to prevent that.

This is ALSO why I bought a few safety gates on e-bay. They are IR beam walls (think of it like the sensor that's part of the existing garage door opener...but 1.5 feet long). I put two of those up on the wall as well to watch for people...doors, maybe someone is over, they have a chair straddling the manufacturer's sensor...the door could try to close on them. With the safety gate, I'm pretty much protected except for the tailgate being open.

At least that's my HOPE!

--Dan

[langenet]

Well thanks to all of those for your suggestions. I had 5 minutes yesterday and tried the DS10. The garage is attached and there was no porblem with the DS10. So I'll go with it for now and see how it works in the winter.
I haven't automated checking if the door is closed at night yet, but drozwood90's method is very interesting. I do have the IR beam safety as well...

Robert

[wpiman]

I did this with an Ocelet at my last house. Worked flawlessly.