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X10 CM11A not sending signals [Resolved]

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    #16
    Thanks to Uncle Michael, Mark and everyone I was able to get an X10 tab. I understand what you mean about labels in Setup and I got the software setup. Still no communication from the X10 so I tried a last ditch effort and plugged in a 100' extension cord to the outlet I originally used in the basement through the years and dragged it to the second floor bedroom and plugged in the CM11A. Voila! Everything is working fine! HSTouch included.
    Now I have to find a local compatible circuit to plug the CM11A A in. I was also thinking that I might extend the RJ11 connection to the controller instead. Does anyone know if there is a length limitation of the connection to the RS-232 serial port?

    Thank you again

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      #17
      In the 1990's here with Homeseer 1 I ran old telephone wire from the second floor (attic) to the basement in a 2 story home. For the CM11A I used an outlet adjacent to the fuse panel and it worked well at the time. It was maybe 40 feet.

      Over the years here have extended RS-232 using cat5e from one side of the home to the other probably up to 300 feet and never have had issues with it.

      The serial parameters for communications between the interface and PC
      are as follows:

      Baud Rate: 4,800bps
      Parity: None
      Data Bits: 8
      Stop Bits: 1

      RS-232 cable lengths (Texas Instruments)
      19200 50
      9600 500
      4800 1000
      2400 3000

      So relative to the above you can go up to 1000 feet.

      Since the 2000's here have extended many serial cables using RS-232 with no issues. IE: Irrigation box was installed in the garage. I ran a cat5e cable from the HS location in the basement to the other side of the house and in to the garage with no serial issues. Use(d) two Digi 8 Port Edgeports / Digi 7 port USB hub and probably some 10 of the RS-232 cables are longer than 50 feet today.

      Just redid powerline wiring switching over from cat5e to telephone cable recently for a smaller footprint in my Leviton OmniPro 2 panel and Homeseer cabling. Runs are about 30 feet. I added more outlets near the fuse panel such that I have 2 UPB PIMs, 2 CM11A's and 2 TW-523's (one TW-523 is a dual phased XTB emulator plugged in to the two phases of the home electric).

      If you have old telephone cable or any cat5e running from near your fuse panel to your Homeseer location you can do this easy enough. The CM11A only needs 4 wires.

      Curious what you X10 Homeseer debug logs look like when you used the long extension cable.

      The granularity of the X10 debug today will indicate any delays and shows if you have any sort of noise on your electricity.

      Relating to X10 itself have a search right here about optimization.

      BTW use the plugin manager and debug logs to watch initialization of the CM11A. If this part doesn't work or you see many errors then you will have issues talking to your X10 devices.

      Set up one device X10 variable once you have good communications with the CM11A and watch the communications via the debug logs.

      I use the old X10 chimers here to test communications around the house.
      Last edited by Pete; May 12, 2017, 07:49 AM.
      - Pete

      Auto mator
      Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
      Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
      HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

      HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
      HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

      X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

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        #18
        Thank you Pete for the comprehensive RJ-11 cable information. Now to find a way to route that cable. We have a 1940s double brick house with 1-1/2" thick plaster walls and I recall the difficult times I had running multiple lines of coax from the roof when we had multiple DirecTV satellite dishes, hardwiring the entire house for alarms in every room, phone lines and many AC outlets. That was a long time ago. I'm getting too old for this But I'll find a way somehow. I dread tearing out baseboards again.
        Thanks again for your help.

        Comment


          #19
          If I were facing that challenge I'd explore at least two other avenues first.
          1. Why is the circuit near the computer not suitable? Could a blocking filter on a UPS, for example, fix the problem?
          2. Which circuits in the house support X10 and which don't? Is there a closer outlet you could use? Is there a pattern, such as one phase is better than the other?
          Mike____________________________________________________________ __________________
          HS3 Pro Edition 3.0.0.548, NUC i3

          HW: Stargate | NX8e | CAV6.6 | Squeezebox | PCS | WGL 800RF | RFXCOM | Vantage Pro | Green-Eye | Edgeport/8 | Way2Call | Ecobee3 | EtherRain | Ubiquiti

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            #20
            Maybe too many wall warts in the rat's nest of power strips on the new line I wired in years ago. I was fortunate to find an outlet behind the bed on the old house circuit that I see I upgraded to a 3 prong grounding outlet some years ago. This room is a spare bedroom/storage room crammed with stuff. I tried connecting the CM11A to the outlet and it communicates the X10 signals. I then ran a 16 gauge light duty 25' extension cord along the wall to the CM11A. Many years ago I installed an X10 bridge between both sides of the 240V AC lines in the basement power closet to improve the signal. I have over thirty devices (light switches, appliance modules, Power Flash, etc.) But I can't communicate with the side porch light like I used to. I don't see any reason why. The six other light control switches throughout the house I use in my Event Manager work fine. I double checked the X10 configuration tab and the codes are definitely correct. Any suggestions?

            Comment


              #21
              Noise too can come in from the outside of your home.

              When enabling the plugin in the plugins window watch that GUI for an OK or Warning or no connection first.

              On the working X10 switches are there delays or are the commands instant? On a delay you will see the on part keep repeating until the X10 switch goes on. If it doesn't you will see it also with a constant attempt to turn on the X10 switch.

              Then look at your debug logs to see the actual back and forth banter between Homeseer and the CM11A. If that is working or there is a lot of noise on your line you will see an error connecting to you CM11A or an error like it is not connected.

              Once the above pieces are OK / working then add one X10 device and tell it to go on or off and watch the logs again. Noise will extend the banter, no noise the communications is less than a second.

              Recently here reinstalled the old blocking coupler X10 bridge back in the fuse panel. It is a PITA to install because I had to remove the mains incoming neutral wire to the bus and put it through the hole in the bridge / coupler. Relating to X10 also went to using Jeff's XTB X10 stuff (X10 on steroids). All this only mostly for my once a year Christmas lighting using X10 appliance, light and outdoor Black and Decker modules. Main powerline switches here are UPB. UPB is using a phase repeater as it worked better than a phase coupler (also use Z-Wave and Zigbee these days).

              Here use an X10 chime on A1 to test and the old x10 powerflash (alarm thing) cuz the relays are really loud and there is a chimer with those too.

              Or you can temporarily install HS3 on a laptop with only a CM11A connected and test room to room to look for X10 signal sinkers. Here went to multiple CM11A's and UPB Pims on serial servers around the house to check for noise (but not for regular use). (basement is primary and have one on the main floor and 2nd floor of the home today).
              Last edited by Pete; May 13, 2017, 02:14 PM.
              - Pete

              Auto mator
              Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
              Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
              HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

              HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
              HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

              X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

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                #22
                I finally decided to run phone cable from the RS-232 to RJ11 plug from the computer in the bedroom to the basement and plugged in the CM11A to a known working outlet from the past. Now I get a WARNING! in the X10 plugin status column. Does anybody know why this is happening? PLease help.

                Comment


                  #23
                  Have you tried disabling then re enabling the X10 plug-in?
                  Mike____________________________________________________________ __________________
                  HS3 Pro Edition 3.0.0.548, NUC i3

                  HW: Stargate | NX8e | CAV6.6 | Squeezebox | PCS | WGL 800RF | RFXCOM | Vantage Pro | Green-Eye | Edgeport/8 | Way2Call | Ecobee3 | EtherRain | Ubiquiti

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                    #24
                    The problem was in the RJ11 connections. I thought all Rj11 connector plugs were the same until I did some research. Turns out that telephone connectors are 6P 4C, meaning that the actual connector has a wider footprint to accommodate 6 conductors and phones only use 4 conductors (actually they only need the 2 inner conductors). RJ11 4P 4C (like the ones on phone handsets) are narrower, same as the interface with the CM11A. I found this out by trying to plug in a 6P 4C connector directly to the CM11A. So I tried cutting the sides off of the RJ11 sold in stores and somewhat successfully plugged it into the CM11A. But here's where the trouble comes in, connecting the RJ11 4P 4C connector into a standard phone line coupler. Obviously it was too narrow to get a proper fit. That was my problem, so I decided to cut the RS-232 to RJ11 4P cable in half and crimp on store bought RJ11 connectors. I then was able to attach either end to a phone coupler. Problem solved.

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                      #25
                      Good news Ivan.

                      Yes the CM11A RJ jack is the same size as an old phone headset.

                      Very difficult to find these RJ ends these days. Where did you find them?
                      - Pete

                      Auto mator
                      Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
                      Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
                      HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

                      HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
                      HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

                      X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

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                        #26
                        I couldn't find them anywhere except overseas for manufacturers in lots of 1000. I couldn't find anywhere on the Internet any kind of coupler adapter that converts 6P 4C to 4P 4C, for that matter I couldn't find a 4P 4C to 4P 4C coupler either. What I did was to cut in half the existing RS-232 to RJ11 4P 4C cable that came with the CM11A, solving both problems on either of the ends. I just installed regular RJ11 6P 4C connectors that can easily be connected together using any store bought 6P 4C coupler. In my case I used one coupler in the basement to connect to the CM11A and one coupler at the RS-232 end to connect to the computer in the bedroom. Solved the problem.

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                          #27
                          Yes here on last endeavor relating to the CM11A's did the same as you.

                          IE: just cut the wires and installed regular sized RJ-11 ends and couplers.

                          This is the same thing I did in the 1990's. In the 2000's switched over to using cat5e for a similar run of RS-232. Trying to reduce wiring footprint took it back to old telephone wire and repurposing cat5e for a network run.

                          I am using a Digi Edgeport here and plugged the other side directly to the Digi Edgeport. Maybe a 25 foot run there.

                          The X10 plugin debug diagnostics is very granular now. If you have any sort of X10 noise on your lines you will see a warning or no connection to the CM11A on the plugin manager. If you look at the logging you will see more stuff.
                          - Pete

                          Auto mator
                          Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
                          Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
                          HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

                          HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
                          HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

                          X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

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                            #28
                            Originally posted by Pete View Post
                            Good news Ivan.

                            Yes the CM11A RJ jack is the same size as an old phone headset.

                            Very difficult to find these RJ ends these days. Where did you find them?
                            Hi,
                            I find this on amazon (fr for me)

                            https://www.amazon.com/Modular-Plug-...3&keywords=rj9

                            Jean-Francois

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                              #29
                              Thank you Jean-Francois.
                              - Pete

                              Auto mator
                              Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
                              Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
                              HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

                              HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
                              HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

                              X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

                              Comment


                                #30
                                Thank you Jean Francois,
                                I was researching RJ11s. Didn't know about the RJ9s. Thanks for the info and the Amazon URL. I saved it to my lists for future reference.

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