HouseBot

I recently purchased a load of X10 stuff and the Firecracker interface is USB. How soon will an HB USB haredware interface be available?

The standard 'Firecracker' is a serial port device (CM17A). Just to confuse me, X10 also has a CM19A USB attached device that they also call a 'Firecracker'. I believe that you are referring to the CM19A.



Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any published protocol specification for the CM19a. If you can find a reference to the spec, let me know and I'll look into it.

I saw in a related X10 post that somebody recommended the Powerlinc USB interface instead of the CM11. Since the Powerlinc doesn't have a memory, what is the difference between using a serial port Firecracker vs. the USB Powerlinc? Which interface do you consider to be more reliable? I'm new to X10 and I'm trying to get some automation going.

I can't speak much about the CM19a (USB version) Firecracker, since I've never had one.



However, the CM17A (serial Firecracker) is very limited in a number of ways. It works in conjunction with an X10 RF transceiver. This means that you are limited to a single house code (only 16 devices) for all of your X10 needs. It is also one-way (at least the HouseBot plugin works that way).



The USB Powerlink is a much superior device. It has logic to handle noisy lines that a standard RF transceiver does not have.



I'm no X10 expert, but that's my 2 cents.