Using Arduino Insteon shield with X10

[Alan Majer]

Hi All,

I recently received a query about the use of the shield for controlling X10. I haven't tried this myself, nor do I have any X10 devices to do testing with. However, I thought I'd post to the list in case any of you have worked with X10 via the same Powerlinc Modem (2413S) that the shield hooks up to.

First, does anyone know if the powerlinc itself constrained in any way from sending commands to X10 devices? I know that Insteon has started to limit X10 support for some newer devices, but it would be surprising if the powerlinc couldn't do it.

Second, has anyone tried sending X10 commands successfully with their shield? Any suggestions along those lines?  

Last, in case it is useful, I just found a link to someone who has posted code for using X10 with the PLM which looks worth trying. One interesting note is that the author recommends waiting 500ms between commands (saying it "breaks" otherwise), so perhaps that may help. See:

http://www.madreporite.com/insteon/x10.html

Alan

[Russ Tooley]

I'm just using the X-10 PL513, Alan's Insteon Shield, the standard Ethernet Shield and a two line LCD display based on an Arduino Mega - all works great. I didn't realize that the PLM could send X-10. I'll look into that. Even using the PL513, there is a delay required between commands. I really do like Alan's Insteon Shield as it has worked flawlessly for a couple years. The only thing I am missing is the ability to get the Arduino to recognize incoming Insteon commands, that would be awesome.

Russ

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[Alan Majer]

Hi Russ,

Thanks for all the info about your setup. I'm quite curious, you said you're using the PL513 to send X10 commands: Are you actually using an ethernet cord to connect the shield directly to the PL513?   I'm not familiar with the PL513, so it would be interesting to know if the pins were actually physically compatible with the shield, allowing it to be used with the shield also. 

Agree about getting to recognize incoming Insteon commands... a couple of people have mentioned wanting this. Eventully, I should take a closer look at some old code I have from early development (I seem to recall getting this to work at some stage as part of another project) and see if it's possible to create a simple example sketch of this.

Last, I found another link about the 2413S related to X10. It offers a bit of troubleshooting advice, plus also has some users which seem to confirm that X10 is possible with this PLC. If anyone gets test code from the arduino working with the 2413S, please do share. Here's the link to the 2413S / X10 discussion:
http://forum.universal-devices.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=5278

Alan

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Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 12:48:15 -0500
Subject: Re: Using Arduino Insteon shield with X10
From: rto...@lakefield.net
To: arduino...@googlegroups.com

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[Russ Tooley]

Greetings...

The PL513 is RJ11, not 45. Here is a link that (I think) I used as help getting the wiring correct for the PL513. Some discussions mention needing a resistor, but it works just fine w/o. http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=185216.0

As I mentioned, I should have realized that the PLM was capable of doing x10. Then the time I spent trying to make the PL513 work could have been applied to the PLM instead. But, I am curious, so will pursue that when I get a little time.

If I get anything working on the PLM, or find any help with receiving Insteon, I'll post it here.

Thanks All,

Russ

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