Subject: From: Date:

Re: [ECS] ECS X-10 Interface... David Mccoll Mon, 4 Jan 1999 01:40:55 -0800

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Stephen,
Nice to hear from you again.
One of the strong points of an ECS home is the ability to add whatever
interfaces you want whenever you want. This allows you to add the features
you think will be good for your home when you want the feature so you don't
have to drop a whole whack of cash at the getgo.

I think your choice should be governed by your budget and the functions you
desire. If you have lots of money the HV is the recommended interface and
does it all. If money is a concern, a selection of independent devices that
suit the need may be best. If you are new to home control a gradual
inexpensive approach will let teach you what can be done, and you will find
out if you enjoy what you have done.

If you don't need IR and the ASCII to VIDEO interfaces then I would suggest
going with a Lynx Kit for X-10  or the X-10 CM-11 but ask around about that
one first, I don't know if it is supported with the Win version. As far as
digital inputs go, if you don't need to use them as alarm inputs that need
to be latched then the Prarie Digital's
are great and offer 24 inputs. They are a bargain and available locally at
Active components under the name of ITC-232. They are designed in North Van.

The Micro Redac has been discontinued. It was a great device in its time,
and did it all except IR, but the support for them vanished and a bunch of
us are left with expensive interfaces that don't support the more recent
X-10 features such as preset dimming.

David Mccoll


-----Original Message-----
From: Stephen Weiss <seweiss@fast.net>
To: ecs-list@netbloc.com <ecs-list@netbloc.com>
Date: Sunday, January 03, 1999 9:40 AM
Subject: [ECS] ECS X-10 Interface...


>Hello,
>
>Having recently freed up some time to download and peruse ECS lite, I
>see that it supports a number of X-10 interfaces, which I obviously need
>
>to get ECS to do anything useful.
>
>My question is: which is the best interface (and from where to purchase
>it) to use with ECS?  I would like to control not only X-10 devices but
>digital and analog devices in the future, as well.  The descriptions of
>the devices in ECS are good and allow me to reduce the list to those
>that do not suport digital/analog I/O.
>
>I have seen a lot of chatter about the Mico-Redac interface device which
>
>seems to do everything I want, but cannot find it for sale.  I have
>found Applied Digital's web site, but see no mention of the device
>there.
>
>Thanks in advance for your input,
>
>Stephen Weiss
>seweiss@fast.net
>
>
>

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