Convastor

Well, that explains the PLM, then. Yeah, I'd read about the SmartHome PLMs on their site. "We have identified an issue... To prevent such an issue from occurring we introduced a hardware change...", but no offers to make owners of the defective devices whole. This, the unacceptable behaviour of the BoosterLinc I bought from them, and the pre-Insteon serial device I have that "hears" but does not "talk," that literally died sitting in a desk drawer, causes me to shy away from SmartHome products. IMO their products are not well-designed or well-built, and SH does not stand behind them. To add insult to injury: They charge top dollar for their stuff. As for how long X10 will remain extant: Who knows? In my case it's not a question of not wanting to replace it, but not being able to justify an outlay in excess of $650 just in wall switches, appliance modules, and lamp dimmer modules, alone. Never mind the four controllers in use, one of which has an IR receiver that enables us to control lighting levels in the family room, which, oddly enough, nobody else has seen fit to replicate--other than UD... on a $300+ device. It's like the one smart home device manufacturer, don't recall whom it was or what protocol, that had no appliance modules in their product line. Srsly?

Thanks, Brian. I've been toying with the idea of getting one of those for years. But I hate to invest more in X10 when the plan is to phase X-10 out. Then again: Doing a bunch of idle browsing whilst watching TV with my wife, last night, I've found many comments to the effect of there being certain things X10 still does best. Appliance modules seems to be one of those things. So maybe I'll just bite the bullet and order one of JVD's XTB-IIR's. I did find SmartHome's own PLM's specs say "Insteon Minimum Transmit Level: 3.2 Vpp into 5 Ohms," so I guess there's no room to nick UD on theirs doing the same. My problem, going with the XTB-IIR route, is then turning around and trying to justify to the family CFO why I need to then spend $314 for a controller. She wasn't born yesterday, has little appreciation for home automation, and we've been married for nigh on 27 years, so there's no dazzling her with brilliance or baffling her with bull**** ;). Part of the reason my wife is sceptical of HA is one of my best friends, who had a tendency to let his geek side get away from him, went nuts on their new home. Then cancer got him :(. Even I couldn't make sense of what he'd done with Insteon in that house. Never mind the alarm system that was somehow integrated with everything. To add insult to injury: He'd apparently changed his keyring's password/phrase sometime between the time he'd shared it with his wife and son and the time he passed away, so everybody was locked out of everything.

Thanks for the follow-ups and additional information, guys. Looks like an ISY is not going to be my solution, after all. Oh well, on to other projects.

We currently have a lot of X-10 devices. All sixteen addresses are in-use. It once-upon-a-time worked fairly well, but not for several years--since bunches of other electronic devices have been added to the house. I installed one-or-another "phase bridge/coupler" in the distribution panel, years ago. Didn't seem to make much difference. Tried a SmartHome repeater/amplifier. It actually helps--when it's not off in the weeds. Then it actually degrades performance. Lacking that device, there is no one spot in the home from which a controller can hit every device in the house. Been looking for a Way Out and a Way Forward for years. The ISY994iZW/IR PRO (INSTEON / Z-Wave Automation Controller 1024 devices/scenes 1000 programs IR input capabilities [RC5]) looked encouraging, but then I read this: in the using old X10 appliance modules? thread. The ISY will have to be plugged into about the worst branch circuit in the house, because that's where I'll need the IR receiver. It's one of the biggest/longest, and busiest/dirtiest circuits. (It's got the entire home theater system, at one end, and most of the computer room, on the other end, on it.) My hope was to acquire the ISY and replace only as many X-10 devices with Z-Wave devices as absolutely necessary, right away, then replace the remainder over time. But if the UD PLM is even weaker than my current X-10 controllers, I fear I may find myself with $314 worth of controller needing another $200, $300, or more worth of switches and dimmers right out of the gate, which is not going to fly. Thoughts? Thanks!