X-10 (was Re: controlling power) - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

27 Jun 2001

=== ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk 27/06/2001 00:25:35 
...

  On June 26, Richard Erlacher wrote:
  communication via the power mains, isn't it? 
My notion to date has been that
 the X-10 stuff is a mite costly, considering that one could hook up a triac, an
 MOC30-something isolated triac driver, and a PIC, e.g. one of the 14-pin  or
 even 8-pin parts, and put the thing in the box with the switch.  
   Costly?  A 300W dimmer module costs like nine bucks.  When I add up the 
This probably explains why X10 is not at all popular in the UK (and yes, 
a 230V version does exist). I seem to remember that last time I looked at 
the price of the modules they were all about \pounds 40.00 each. And the 
computer [1] interface was about \pounds 90.00. I decided it was going to 
be far too expensive for me to use. 
I checked with them, and they sent me a list of their European suppliers once. (They also
put me on one of their spam lists - not just their spam, but their 3rd party European
suppliers one too ....) When I queried the large jump in costs they tried to blame the
need for 230V PSUs instead of 110V. 

Something else to consider is that a lot of the items are not approved for use in the EU.
(One of their UK suppliers happens to list the approval status - don't ask me which)

Alistair