Re: Justify Upgrade from X-10 to Z-Wave?

"Tom" <donot@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:XkT8k.14149$Xe.13152@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I read both of your reviews. They answered quite a few questions and
addressed several concerns. Right now, all my modules work anywhere in the
house (when conditions are ideal) which makes me assume that all the
outlets are on the same leg such that coupling between the two legs isn't
necessary - is this a correct assumption? Assuming that the house is all on
one leg, could I not install, using a standard wall plug and outlet, the
XTB-IIR anywhere in the house?

It is unusual for all of a residence to be on a single phase. If the house
has any 240V receptacles - for a dryer or stove - then it is supplied with
120/240V split phase. Back in the early days of X10, most smaller homes
didn't even need signal couplers. There were virtually no "signal suckers",
so even the relatively small amount of signal that coupled through the
utility transformer was adequate to drive modules on the opposite phase.
Such a situation is relatively rare today, but you may have an installation
where your worst "signal suckers" are on the driven phase so the little
signal that makes it to the opposite phase is not further attenuated.

While optimum performance is obtained with the XTB-IIR near the distribution
panel where it can directly drive both phases, it is certainly possible to
install it anywhere in the home. A number of people have wired it to a
dryer plug. That will also drive both phases, and there will not be too
much signal lost if the run to the main distribution panel is relatively
short. The XTB-IIR can certainly be plugged into just a single phase. If
you do have all your X10 devices on one phase as we do here, then it isn't
even necessary to include a passive coupler to propagate its strong signal
over to the opposite phase. Because X10 signal strengths decrease as they
move away from any X10 transmitter, the closer the XTB-IIR is to the main
distribution panel, the stronger signals will be throughout the entire home.

Jeff


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