Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!necntc!linus!munck
From: munck@linus.UUCP (Robert Munck)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: X-10 material in Circuit Cellar Ink
Message-ID: <35672@linus.UUCP>
Date: 1 Jul 88 17:08:57 GMT
References: <44803@felix.UUCP>
Reply-To: munck@faron.UUCP (Robert Munck)
Organization: The MITRE Corporation, Bedford MA
Lines: 34

In article <44803@felix.UUCP> dennisg@felix.UUCP (Dennis Griesser) writes:
>Those interested in the X-10 system for remote control of home lights
>and appliances should take a look at the May/June issue of "Circuit
>Cellar Ink".
>
>page 14 - advertisement for X-10's PL513 power line interface module
>  This is a new product from X-10.  The PL513 is the size and shape of
>  an ordinary lamp module.  It contains a 120 Khz oscillator, a
>  zero-crossing detector, power-line interface, and optically isolated
>  computer interface.  The idea is that your computer listens for the
>  zero crossing and sends enable pulses to the oscillator at the right
>  moments.  This can be done in hardware or software.  

Ha! That's exactly what the OLD Radio Shack Plug&Power module did.
(The grey one that was plugged into the cassette port.)  I've had
a 16K CoCo I driving one of those for about eight years.

Have the BSR fans out there noticed a recent upsurge in popularity
of the system?  Stanley has integrated their garage-door openers
with it and at least one other new company is doing national TV ads.

A problem:  I've just had a weekend visit from my family, assorted
relatives aged [2..65], and they were all driven crazy by my BSR
set-up.  Most of the consoles around the house aren't labeled or have
obsolete labels on the keys, the CoCo requires BASIC commands, and
the GE/RS HomeMinder requires about ten button-pushes to turn a single
light on.  Add that to the complexity of my stereo/video system, and
they couldn't get ANYTHING to work.  Everyone but the 2-year-old 
brought to my attention an article in TIME on user interfaces.

So how DO we set these systems up so that people with no computer or
electronics orientation can use them?  The HomeMinder interface
certainly isn't it; that's probably why GE gave them to RS.
                             -- Bob Munck