OK, after a bunch of rescheduling due entirely to the company I was using (and once to the weather), I finally got all the work done that I need to get my reworked automation system up and running.
History: I have an HAI OmniPro II Alarm System which acts as the brains of my automation system.? It’s a decent alarm and offers great flexibility in programming and component upgrades.? For the most part it is even user upgradable which is cool too.
I had also had X-10 switches, outlets and other stuff as the basis for my automation components.? At first, this stuff worked great but over time, it began having problems and began to be unreliable.? One big example was that our living room light would come on at random times.? This was due to increase electrical noise (maybe due to a new furnace).
Improved Situation: The HAI unit has been updated (firmware and communication module) to work with UPB.? I also have updated the programming in the unit.
I swapped out the X-10 devices for UPB devices.? The big differences are that these UPB devices do handshakes and verifications and part of their protocols so are very very reliable.? I’ve had the switches, outlets in for about a month and they have worked great.? UPB has it’s own underlying programming model relying on something called links which I have programmed as well.? The HAI unit ties into this programming.
I have 2 remaining X-10 components.? 1 is a sprinkler control system which has a UPB version on order and should be here soon.? The other is a 220v device and they don’t seem to have these for residential applications yet.
We’ve had the system up for a day or so and I have had to make some programming mods but other than that, it’s been doing great!