Hello all,
I'm looking for a (cheap) shield or chip that would implement X10, to use with a Arduino.
Ideally, a chip that would draw power from the mains, output stabilized 5V, and provide X10 protocol pins to use by an ATTiny would be great...
Idea is to have something that can be stashed in a home appliance plug, and send sensor readings, and drive a small relay, with no external wiring required.
Or is there any alternative to X10 for PLC?
Thanks,
Greg
The x10 CM17A "firecracker" is very simple to setup for x10 type control.
https://code.google.com/p/dax10gateway/downloads/detail?name=X10Firecracker.zip&can=2&q=
Zoomcat,
Thanks for the links. This kind of confirms that X10 is fading out, because the FireCracker modules are now difficult to find.
What I was hoping would exist is a piece of hardware that would be small enough to fit in a standard electrical plug, and have AC/DC 3.3V+X10 coupling+ATtiny85+triac switch built-in (plus amps sensing).
In theory, that should be doable, given the low power of Attiny, a power converter that delivers 3.3VDC should be small, then a few loops of wire wound around one of the mains wires could use the ATTiny ADC to measure current by induction.
I don't know anything about X10 hardware, but the existing receivers fittings don't look too bulky. Attiny itself in SMD is not larger than a nail.
All that encapsulated in the AC plug, so no worries about electric shock. Then the Attiny could be programmed to control the triac to power up/down, and/or measure current and report that through X10.
When you think that a quite complex HC05 bluetooth adapter sells for $5, you'd think X10 could be that cheap too...
Thanks anyway,
Greg
This kind of confirms that X10 is fading out, because the FireCracker modules are now difficult to find.
They are available on ebay.