Ocelot / PoweLinkII mistakes on X10 Received

[dschoppe]

I'm using the Ocelot / PowerLink II with HST's Ocelot plug-in. My lighting is all Lightolier Compose including firewalls, making it quite reliable.

That said, I am noticing some mis-interpreted or partially received X10 showing up in the HS2 log. I've verified that the correct X10 messages are indeed reaching the AC receptacle into which the PowerLinkII is plugged by simultaneously logging all X10 traffic in the same location using the ACT AT004. The noise at the receptacle is also quite low (<40mV).

Earlier tonight, for example, I pressed Scene B on my kitchen CP keypad which then transmitted X10 Preset DIM 3 (or Monterey PPD) to address D10.

The AT004 tester showed that it received the correct X10 (in Monterey):
D10 -----
Ppsd0 -----

The corresponding entry in the HS2 log was this:
X10 Received D10 (Kitchen Lights) D3 (Dining Room Bookcase Lights) D Preset Dim2 17

While it should have been this:
D10 (Kitchen Lights) D Preset Dim 3

I'm not sure if the PLII, Ocelot, HST plug-in, or HS2 is the culprit. Should I try disabling HS2 for a while and use the X10 monitor in CMAX to see what the PLII/Ocelot reports? Any other suggestions?

The expensive solution (which I have a hunch would work) would be to purchase the Compose Comm card that plugs directly into the firewall. Then I would need to write an X10 plug-in to support the Compose RS232 protocol. Since the firewall is seeing/repeating the correct X10, I'd guess that the comm card would report the correct data to its serial port as well.

Thanks,
Don

[dschoppe]

Ok, I did some testing with the X10 Monitor in CMAX, removing HS2 & Ocelot plugin from the loop. Well CMAX is showing some mistakes as well (see image attached), whereas the AT004 is spot-on.

Does anyone have a "stand-alone" monitor program for the TI-103? I have one on hand, and I'd like to see how it performs without HS2 in the loop as well.

Thanks!
Don

[dschoppe]

Update: I built a new cable to connect the PowerLink II to the Ocelot and these errors seem to have disappeared!

Previously I was using the very long 4-wire RJ-11 telephone cable that came with the Ocelot coupled to the black cable that was provided with the PowerLinkII (i.e., with an RJ-11 on one end and an RJ-45 on the other). Between the two, I inserted an RJ-11 coupler that rolled over the wires. (Unlike the TW-523, the powerlink does not use the straight-through cable when connecting to the Ocelot).

Anyway, I created a new five foot cable using two pairs in a CAT5. On one end I crimped an RJ-45 to plug into the PowerLinkII, and on the other end I crimped an RJ-11 for the Ocelot. I have not seen an error now in several hours.

I also wrote a very simple HS2 script to poll a TI103 for received data. It simply writes the data to the HS2 log so that I can compare it with the data reported by the Ocelot / PowerLinkII / HST plugin.

So, if anybody is seeing errors in their received X10, don't immediately assume it's a powerline problem or powerline noise. Take a close look at the cable connecting your PowerLinkII or TW-523 to your Ocelot!

Don

[dschoppe]

Argh. I spoke too soon. Although the Ocelot/PLII is performing better, it still misses sometimes. Here's a log where I tapped dimmers A8 and A9 off sequentially. The TI-103 caught both "Off Replied" messages, but the PLII/Ocelot missed part of them.

Don