decoding X10 RF remotes

Forum 2005-2010 (read only) Hardware Interfacing
1

Hi all.

can anyone point me in the right direction for a library or code to read the X10 RF signals from the standard X10 RF remotes on the market via a 433/315mhz receiver connected to the arduino ??

just to clarify, i dont actually use X10 at all, just the remotes, keyfobs etc, because they are relitively cheap & come in the right sizes etc.

I operate an off grid power system on solar panels and a wind turbine. i use a X10 wall switch in each room to control lights, timers & batch routines etc through a central power distribution unit

the X10 RF signals from the wall remotes are currently being received by a WGL designs W800 RF-RS232 adapter, this adapter connects to a NSLU2 (a modded linksys device running linux & mister house) once received a bunch of perl scripts send commands to a arduino mega on one of its USB ports, the mega is directly driving 40+ relays (across several relay boards) on its io ports for turning devices of and on.

effectively i want to take the NSLU2 out of the equation, it uses too much power running all the time, i dont really want to use the W800 to connect directly to the mega as its RS232 & not TTL.

i do however have the exact same RF 433mhz boards that are in the W800, so i would like to get my mega to receive and decode the RF signals directly, but this is where i am struggling.

i have used the RF boards with virtualwire and they work fine, but i cant seem to find any info on decoding X10 remotes :frowning: i have tried to decipher the x10 library in the playground, but this is for x10 Powerline, i have no zero crossing source or TW53 etc. i have tried the NEC ir decoding libraries (as x10 RF is meant to be NEC encoded) but no go there either.

ive spent days searching through the forum and can find code for homeeasy to do it, but not x10

help !!!! :slight_smile:

satmanuk

2

Here is a reference on the X10 RF protocol (and others) . . .
http://davehouston.net/
(There is no Arduino code already written for this AFAIK)

There is an Arduino lib for the CM17A "Firecracker" . . .
http://www.arduino.cc/playground/X10/CM17A
(I guess this is going in the wrong direction, but it may be worth a look.)

I also have some X10 / Arduino projects here . . .

I'll be interested in your progress.
Good luck!

3

Hi Brohogan

Here is a reference on the X10 RF protocol (and others) . . .
http://davehouston.net/

good site to be sure..... but im not skilled enough to engineer an X10 RF decoder for the protocol from the ground up. im a builder of things by nature, not a coder of things....

There is an Arduino lib for the CM17A "Firecracker" . . .
http://www.arduino.cc/playground/X10/CM17A

the problem being that the firecracker is transmit RF only, and being honest i am not skilled enough in arduino yet to reverse that for a receiver :frowning:

I also have some X10 / Arduino projects here . . .
http://brohogan.blogspot.com/

i had read your site lots over the past few days, i like the project, im looking to acheive something similar, but without the mains line, my system is all 12v & 24v, i suppose all the principles could apply, i just dont have a zero crossing point reference/source.

I'll be interested in your progress.

i will do a full system post when i can get this RF thingy figured out

Good luck!

i need it, been strugling with this one for days :frowning: