well dont forget that x10 is 25 years old, and 1-wire technology has only been available to engineers just the past 12-18 months, and most of the chips with the 'cool' functions have only come out in the past 6 months, with cooler ones coming out every month.
>>yeh misterhouse can do some cool things. but it will still do all the same
>>cool things, and more, once 1-Wire has more user-end programs, drivers,
>>etc
there's the difference.... I have my home entirely automated now.... not someday when they decide to release these 1wire based things.(who sells 1wire based light switches? nobody)
I too have my home automated, although i did it in 97, and even then i refused to use x10, and custom built some circuitry controlled from an ISA card that does all the cool things x10 can, although it means running 6-core alarm cable around the house. i really havnt touched it since then, and still runs its original dos basic program via dosemu (although last 6 months ive had an experimental 1-wire networking running around the house/backyard/garage).
I guess my point is that x10 is already established and simple to use, so a lot of people choose it, but ive done contract work for a couple of big home-automation companies (who r a rip off!) but they never use x10, 99% of automated homes ive seen run cat-5 all over the house and use tcp/ip aware embeded deives, 1-wire is the next step from this, and really people spending that kind of money expect the latest and greatest technology, not a 25yr old 'hack' method, as my old uni teacher would call it (yes if u want blame him for his influence on me :P )
actually, im sure someone has setup a backyard biz selling home-made 1-wire stuff via the net, so u can buy light switches for 1-wire :P
X10 is highly reliable if installed right. I dont use $19.00 switches, Iyeh i agree its reliable - but is that what u have to pay for it? im guessing thats american dollars?
use $65.00 AGC X10 switches with talkback plus use a repeater and bridge...
I get the same reliability and responsiveness that someone with a $30,000.00
FAST system.(BTW, I am an extreme home automation hobbiest.. and have
designed and installed 5 automated homes based on technology from AMX to
X10)
im quite sure 1-wire will be noticably cheaper, temp sensors are worth about $3 US (a simpe to92 package), control switches, adc/dacs etc about $7 US (the light switches control 4 lights each chip)
im sure once u take into account bulk supply costs (those prices are singular supply), packaging, marketing and all that crap wont add that much to the cost.
as far as the networking is concerned, it uses the old 4/6 core phone lines most buildings have still have intact, but are now using cat-5/6 for voice/data, so its very easy to run through a home/factory/whatever.
thats right - thats where it would get in (as well as if a fault appeared in the x10 interface itself, which does happen, and opto isolation wont help when that sort on power wants in, it will just arc across), for example the modulating data on the mains supply might not be filtered out in the smps, causing the switching transisitors to soak or spike on occasion, and eventualy, after 3/6/12/24 months depending on the quality of the smps components, heat and humidity in the room, etc, the main switching transistors begin to break down, pushing ur 5v to 5.8 and 3.3 to 3.7 or so and slowly frying ur cpu and other sensitive devices. to make it worse, ur computer is probably the safest of all the appliances plugged into ur home, atleast most smps's include extra filtering of the mains, and a lot of people use external 'filter' boards for their computer supply and telephone lines.
I'm very happy with it, and the chance of anything from mains getting into my computer is greater through the power supply that runs the computer than the X10 interface I have.
what about you poor vcr or tv, putting up with this constant data transmission within its supply, there are still applianices that use the mains 50Hz (or 60 in some countries) as a clock refrence or R/C timers etc, X10 plays with all that too.
and u mustve atleast once, suffered the infamous IR interence issue, well known with x10 systems, caused by certain types of fluro tubes that prodce light in th IR spectrum, then along comes x10 and begins to modulate the mains - and there you go - an oversized remote control modulating IR hanging from your roof! :P, usally in the same room as someone is trying to use the remote for the tv, and of course, they wonder why the remote only works with the lights r off! (hehe)
and think about that - that means even your standard light globes are modulating this data - u really think this is ok?
and investigate what happens when u use one of those cheap 2.5 amp car battery chargers (that almost everyone has) that only have one or two small capicators on the AC before a simple transformer breaks it down to a lower voltage, and only half-rectifys the AC and uses the half wave on the DC line as a charging pulse! (ughh - *shudders*)
i hope maybe ive opened your eyes to some of the problems with x10, and introduced you to much newer methods of home automation (why go low risk when u can go zero risk). i really dont want to carry on the x10 vs 1wire debate, we could go on to the end of earth really. but if u want to know more, email me off the list and id be happy to give ya some pointers, chunks of code ive done, etc, there already is a decent program called digitemp for linux that uses the 1-wire stuff, but currently just logs temperatures, and some simple adc stuff.
and someone else has delevoped a cool 'hub' for 1-wire networks (so it can just keep growing and growing :D). im sure within 12 months we will see commercial products readily available for 1-wire, if not sooner.
the end (yes i feel like i just wrote a short book! :P )
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