A few months ago, I posted this entry in my blog, about upgrading from X10 to Insteon. I described Insteon as a "breath of fresh air" after having worked with X10.

Time has moved on, and we all know that in this world, nothing is perfect. So, I'd like to report the following updates regarding my switch to Insteon:

• The protocol is annoyingly complicated. It took me a lot of reading and scouring different documents to figure out how to turn a light on. At first I was using a "group command", which meant that there weren't any confirmation messages. I've since figured out how to use the "direct message" properly, so my Powerlinc software knows immediately if the Insteon command was received by the destination module or not.
  
  
• I started out using a USB Powerline Modem, but the USB interface wasn't reliable. It shows up as a USB com port, but it would fail if there was a power surge or interference (ie, washing machine spin cycle). Then, I'd have to unplug the module to reset it. So, I've now switched to a Serial Dual-Band module, which plugs into a traditional serial port on the PC. This has been super reliable, with no issues to report so far.
  
  
• Despite the fact that I live in a small apartment, getting all of the Insteon devices to talk to each other has been a bit of a hassle. I have no less than three "Access Points", which are wireless devices designed to help bridge phases, but sometimes even they don't talk to each other. They claim to have a range of 100 feet, but in my place they can barely traverse 8 feet line of sight. Maybe this would work better in a large, multi-story home.
  
  
• The Insteon Motion Sensors are crap. I've had two fail on me, where they just decide to stop turning the lights on. Maybe this is related to the same problem as above, since they use the Access Points to communicate as well.
  

However, from a more general perspective, Insteon is way more reliable than X10 ever was. Once I had all the kinks worked out, things just work... I can be sure that if I see a little light switched on on my diagram, that the light is really on. With X10, it was always a crapshoot.

So, I would indeed recommend Insteon for the home automation hobbyist. X10 is old-school, man, throw that shit away.
Add or view comments

So a few weeks ago, I posted a video of a series of small LED signs I had ordered from eBay. After many weeks of trying to figure out what to do with them, I decided it might be cool to build a multi-line information display for my building.

First, I took all of the plastic cases apart, freeing the internal sign electronics.
See the rest of this entry...

Add or view comments

Spotted while walking my dog:


Oddly, this garden always has the most hideous, weed-like plants on the block. Never anything beautiful or colourful. Not even anything that flowers. Why anyone would steal one of these plants is beyond me.



Add or view comments

I saw this while walking Taiga Sunday morning, on the side of the road:




Add or view comments

I haven't posted any puppy photos lately, so here's a quick pupdate.

Taiga's lost most of his darker fur and is growing in his summer coat. He's currently claiming my spot on the sofa:




Add or view comments