X-10 sucks. I'd read about all these complex installations that people would have, then I'd try a simple 1-sensor, 1 light installation and it would barely work
50% of the time. I'd ask questions in forums where the "experts" hung out and I'd get answers like "Yeah, that happens sometimes".How the heck were people running their entire houses with X-10 knowing that "Yeah, that happens sometimes"?
I had no real trouble with it. There was a problem working on the opposite leg of the 240V but a capacitor across the two worked (one was sold for the purpose). That wasn't my problem with it. Complex systems were too much of a PITA to get working. It hasn't gotten better.
There you go again with the table crap. Where are those folding legs you said I should buy? How many tables have a lower shelf and pegboard back?
Since when does the height of something determine what it is? If I built a workbench at 36", the same height as a kitchen counter, would it suddenly become a base cabinet?
No vise...jeez, we just put the thing together 10 minutes before I posted the pic. No vise, so it's not a workbench. Give me a frigging break.
Amazing! It's almost like you were right there while I stood around watching instead of coaching, teaching, helping. When I didn't explain to her how the clutch would stop her wrist from twisting. When I purposely didn't tell her that applying pressure in direct line with the screw would stop the bit from slipping. When I didn't offer to take over (multiple times) only to have her say "No, not yet. I've got this."
Man, you called it exactly right! Amazing.
The food waste disposal is in and disposing of food waste as expected.
The drawers fit perfectly. Drawer fronts going on tomorrow.
Works fine too. At least for the time being. This wireless stuff can be finicky, but this a pretty simple installation. No hub, no app, just a receiver switch where the old toggle switch used to be and a remote switch that is just surface mounted.
Ha ! Good find - but much tougher to find it in Canada .. John T.
If the local electrical power is clean and quiet and if you don't have surge/noise protectors on the X-10 devices you're trying to control (plugged into the same duplex outlet counts as having a surge/noise suppressor), then X-10 works. X10 does NOT work if you have TED (The Energy Detective) monitoring your household power as it puts way too much junk on the powerlines when it sends data. You also need to understand that some sensors (light/dark) send a code for one device when triggered and for the next device when released - and you need the device being controlled on the same side of the split 120 (US) unless you add a link to put that signal on the other side of the split power feed. Once you figure out which side of the 120/240 every outlet/switch is on, you can do lots with X10. Just plugging things in at random outlets doesn't work - but that's in the manual IF you read it. I use the wall-mounted RF remotes to control lamps that are plugged into non-switched outlets. Beats walking across a dark room to turn on a light ;-)
We've been using some X-10 devices for ~20 years. I like being able to program the various lights when we're not at home and having different lights active on different days and at different hours on those days does make the place look lived in. I just purchased a new house alarm base unit pkus a repeater to extend the range of the sensors (this house is three floors). That's a project for the next week or so... The alarm notification is a voice message sent by phone to multiple numbers. You can include smoke, CO, flood, etc., alarms to trigger that notification.
My wife's washer is even WiFi. My earphones are WiFi and if you want to make adjustments say for noise cancellation, you need to use your cell phone. I have a Fire TV and it has NO nobs, buttons touch screen or any method of adjusting anything, including turning on or off other than the WiFi remote. If the remote breaks the only control you have is to pull the plug.
My son gave us the one we have. Never really wanted one. Turns out it is pretty darned nice. I now have a bunch of them around the house.
Besides controlling a bunch of lights, they answer most questions, like convert 32mm to inches, or 7 day weather forecast, or how many miles from Pgh to Denver.
Also the sound on the regular Alexa is pretty good (not the echo), and with Amazon Prime she plays 99% of any music you want, free. (Alexa, play Mashed Potatoes by Nat Kendrick And The Swans, or play some Bo Diddly, or play my music library) She also hooks up to my Sono's sound thing-ee my son bought me, and my Samsung sound bar he also bought me, which all have great sound.
The best is I get to talk trash to her at will, and give insane political commentary in hopes some dick at Amazon is listening in...
Never too old for a bit of child abuse....
re: "Also the sound on the regular Alexa is pretty good (not the echo)"
Which Echo device are you referring to as a "regular Alexa?"
Alexa is not a device. Alexa is the name of the AI technology that all of the various Echo smart speakers, the Alexa app, some cars, and a bunch of other devices use. The various smart speakers and video devices from Amazon are all Echo devices. Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Show, Echo Studio, etc.
I have four Gen 3 Echo Dots but I only listen to one of them "directly".
The one in the living is connected to a sound bar with a sub-woofer. With the swap of a cord, it can be connected to my surround sound system.
The one in the shop is connected to an old all-in-one bookshelf stereo unit with some upgraded speakers.
The one in the garage is connected my DeWalt boom box.
The one in the master bedroom is not connected to anything. It's mainly just an alarm clock with benefits.
I played with X10 way backalong. I'm now in the process of pulling and tossing it all. I never found it satisfactory as a control system. It's the 21st Century and there are much more reliable ways to do things.
Yeah but the price of controlling lights is being controlled yourself. Not going to happen.
No HF in Canada ... but we do have Busy Bee :
Isn't Princess Tire (something like that) the Canadian HF? Any cheap item you might want, all from China?
Princess Auto - similar, but not much into woodworking :
I don't think that's the same workbench. It's lot more expensive and has a thinker top (perhaps real).
I put *everything* on my credit card. I get 1%-3% back on *everything* I buy. It just makes financial sense. Helps keep my credit score above 825 too.
"He" didn't build a cheesy workbench. "We" built a cheesy workbench. As in my daughter and I. The daughter that, up until Friday night, didn't have flat surface in her basement suitable for stirring a can of paint or a place to stash her small, but growing, set of tools.
I've got a grand total of about 3 hours (including shopping) into the thing. The most important time was the 1.5 hours of bonding/teaching time with my daughter (with SWMBO lovingly watching over us) and now my daughter has *something* to use as she learns the in-and-outs of DIY around her first house - a 1935 house that sure could use a little TLC.
Scoff all you want. We had a fantastic weekend and we got a lot done, including using the workbench for more than just bonding. Sure, I could have bought her a folding table and threw it in a corner. "There you go. Stir all the paint you want."
Instead, I helped her *build her own workbench*. I'm sure you can understand the difference between someone buying her a folding table and someone helping her build her own workbench.
She knows perfectly well that it's not a high-end furniture making workbench. That's not what she needs right now - or maybe ever. We agreed that she will use the workbench to figure out what works and what doesn't. Too high? Too low? Too wide? Too short? Do you want drawers in next one? Maybe shelves? Will it be for woodworking? Arts and crafts? We don't know yet, but in the meantime she has a dedicated area to use for projects and to figure out what she likes - or doesn't like.
For all I know, she'll decide that DIY isn't for her. Maybe the only DIY she'll get into is taking out all the screws that she put in and tossing the whole thing in her fire pit. On the other hand, maybe she'll get so into it that her first workbench will morph into her first outfeed table. I don't care either way. What I do know is that she sure seemed happy to be building and using her own workbench this weekend.
That's all that really matters to me.
Yep, that's the bottom line.
Everything else is just someone's opinion.
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