Brian's Brain

This blog post references my hands-on feature article 'Homeland Security: Monitoring And Manipulating Remote Residences' in EDN's November 22, 2007 edition. It's one of a series of web addendums to the print writeup.

Scrutinizing the events of the day via media sources such as newspaper, television, radio and Internet, I often find myself feeling pretty pessimistic about the future (although, to be perfectly clear, remaining uninformed about the world around oneself isn't an acceptable alternative). Then, inevitably, some nugget of positive news or random act of kindness lifts my spirits and re-cultivates hope for the human species' prospects. I experienced just such a psychic boost back on November 29, when EDN reader Gary Hunt, a retired consulting engineer, emailed me feedback on my 'Homeland Security: Monitoring and Manipulating Remote Residences' article published one week earlier. Gary wrote:

In the "Control Issues" section, you note the "press and pray" limitations of X10, but my attempts to use it turned up an even bigger difficulty for me. In some cases, I was unable to get two devices connected to the same circuit breaker to communicate, much less across AC line phases. I cannot verify this by real test data (I simply gave up), but it appears that the presence of 5 UPS units and several other surge suppressors on my home wiring just "sucks up" the X10 signals. There are various signal amplifiers and such like available to help with this problem, but adding bigger signals floating around on the AC wiring seems like the "get a bigger hammer" approach to me--there is enough 'noise' in this house already. So I have a BIG box of unused X10 equipment gathering dust in the storeroom. Your speculation about "why so much barely used gear is available for purchase" struck a real chord with me.

After I responded to his email with thanks for taking the time to write me and share his experiences, Gary replied with an offer to send me, at no charge, the 'big box of unused X10 equipment gathering dust in the storeroom' for consideration in any future home automation projects I might pursue. I of course took him up on the proposal, while insisting that I at least reimburse him for shipping; the box arrived a few days ago and it is indeed big, as well as extensive! As mentioned in the November 22 article, I'd wanted to test X10/INSTEON interoperability as well as to more generally expand the functionality of my home automation system, all of which I'll now be able to pursue at no incremental out-of-pocket expense. Stay tuned for future online and print writeups as I pursue these aspirations.

Thanks again, Gary, for the early Christmas present and for the generous spirit which it signifies. And thanks, too, to everyone else who's emailed and phoned me with comments and questions. I seem to have struck a chord with this particular project topic, judging from the comparatively abundant feedback I've received; keep the responses coming!