[Coco] Plug 'n Power info

[gene heskett]

On Monday, November 28, 2011 12:42:53 AM George Ramsower did opine:

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "gene heskett" <gheskett at wdtv.com>
> To: <coco at maltedmedia.com>
> Sent: Sunday, November 27, 2011 7:26 PM
> Subject: Re: [Coco] Plug 'n Power info
> 
> > On Sunday, November 27, 2011 08:13:42 PM Steve Batson did opine:
> >> Unless this is a different controller than what I have, after you
> >> program it, you don't need the CoCo unless you are making changes or
> >> something happens to the program. So, you can be using the CoCo for
> >> other fun stuff while the controller turns lights on and off. :)
> > 
> > I do the same thing with a CM11A here, giving it a year long set up
> > lights on / lights off commands in one heyu write session, and even
> > if it runs off
> > of the end of the program, it will continue to execute those commands
> > until
> > the universe runs down I think.  It will need a pair of C cells at
> > about 2 year intervals for backup though.
> > 
> > Cheers, Gene
> 
>  Gene,
>   I'm assuming you are using the CM11A conntected to a PC.

Yes, running heyu on a linux box.

>   Or possibly
> do you have software for a coco to do so?

Short answer: No.  I don't think its impossible to do on the coco, but few 
if any have tried.  The full protocol x10 specs could at one point be 
downloaded from x10.com, and that is what Jim and I used to write EzHome 
for amigados.  The current maintainer of the linux program heyu (heyu turn 
a14 off) has now added additional support for the other devices being 
peddled by Oregon & 2 or 3 other popular lines purchasable at Lowes/Home 
Depot/etc, including Oregon's weather stations.  That might be possible on 
the coco too, but some of it might have to be paged in and out so I would 
just shoot for the basic x10 coverage as a starter.

Once the baud rate is set, and a com cable made, most any accessory serial 
port would do.  The protocol for most commands is a 3 byte packet, which 
usually gets a 1 byte response but only from some x10 devices.

Biggest problem for bringing it up on the coco that I can see is the coco's 
lack, unless one has been added, of a real time clock, and the cm11a won't 
do anything but ping the pc once a second asking for its clock to be 
updated after a power failure.  pc softwares, including heyu, handle this 
in the background so its rare that the user ever knows its clock was off 
and has been updated.

Sizewise, the main linux heyu executable is 1.3 megabytes, compiled from 
the C src, but there is a boatload of stuff in it that if I were to try and 
port, would get broken out into individual executable's that will fit on 
the coco, perhaps with a central manager that calls in the other pieces as 
needed from rotating storage.  As you know, there isn't much the coco 
cannot do if you give it enough time to do it.

Good to hear from you again George.

>   I use a CM11A on MY PC and it does work. I also have two timers for a
> CoCo that I use.
> 
> George
> 
> 
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Cheers, Gene
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