Does anybody know how (or IF) you can access X10 devices from VBA?

Where can I find info? I would prefer something FREE, as right now I am just
"testing" a few ideas.
I am looking to control some features for my aquariums


Thanks

Phil

Phillips wrote:
Does anybody know how (or IF) you can access X10 devices from VBA?

Where can I find info? I would prefer something FREE, as right now
I am just "testing" a few ideas.
I am looking to control some features for my aquariums

I think, pretty quickly of Perl. Personally, I use a command line
program to turn X10 stuff on and off and call that from programs/scripts.

But perl runs on about any platform you can imagine (VMS, MS, Unix, etc).

Also, X10 may just suck for your aquarium. If it misses a
"turn heater on", you're screwed.

I've got a relay board attached to some IOs from a digital IO board
I'm using on from WWW.WeedTech.com which takes ASCII commands over
serial, but there are a billion for PC digital IO boards out there.

PRESUME that X10 will fail and design accordingly.
PRESUME that a full featured computer (even Unix) might crash, at the
worst possible time. Killing all your little neons and making the
house stinky and your children cry.

Hey,

I have been using X10 on my tanks (a little more than some neon!2 300 gallon
Reefs tanks) for about 4 yrs. I have been using a Neptune controller and
works fine, but it is a little BASIC in some functions, and would like to be
a little more responsive for certain things. I re issue the commands every 5
minutes to ensure the devices are in the correct state.
I have a JDS I/O and also a Time Commander.

I will take a look at the weedtech site and see how well I do calling from
Excel.

Thanks



"Chuck Yerkes" wrote in message
news:9Y7Ib.4380$I07.10002@attbi_s53...
Phillips wrote:
Does anybody know how (or IF) you can access X10 devices from VBA?

Where can I find info? I would prefer something FREE, as right now
I am just "testing" a few ideas.
I am looking to control some features for my aquariums

I think, pretty quickly of Perl. Personally, I use a command line
program to turn X10 stuff on and off and call that from programs/scripts.

But perl runs on about any platform you can imagine (VMS, MS, Unix, etc).

Also, X10 may just suck for your aquarium. If it misses a
"turn heater on", you're screwed.

I've got a relay board attached to some IOs from a digital IO board
I'm using on from WWW.WeedTech.com which takes ASCII commands over
serial, but there are a billion for PC digital IO boards out there.

PRESUME that X10 will fail and design accordingly.
PRESUME that a full featured computer (even Unix) might crash, at the
worst possible time. Killing all your little neons and making the
house stinky and your children cry.

Phillips wrote:
Hey,

I have been using X10 on my tanks (a little more than some neon!2 300
gallon
Reefs tanks) for about 4 yrs. I have been using a Neptune controller and
works fine, but it is a little BASIC in some functions, and would
like to be
a little more responsive for certain things. I re issue the commands
every 5
minutes to ensure the devices are in the correct state.
I have a JDS I/O and also a Time Commander.

I will take a look at the weedtech site and see how well I do calling
from
Excel.

Excel as a programming platform?

Does the JDS do direct IO? If then, a simple relay switch or solid
state IO module (basically a triac in a box) will give you direct
connection. if the relay is a DP (2 pole), you use one pole for the
AC and the other for a digital input (yes, it's on).

I know many of the home controllers will control something via hardwire.
X10's attraction is that it's cheap, it usually works and you don't need
to wire. Otoh, if you could put one set of controllers at the fish
tank and CAT5 back to the controller, you can get high reliability.
(incidentally, was reading about folks sealing up ibuttons to read
water temp).


[I always figured if I was going to have fish again, I'd have trout or
bass or a tuna or something. Time to clean the tank? Get the cleaver
and start the grill. I'll clean if over the next week and restock :)]


What's been nice about the weedtech is that it's a serial connection to
my computer. Which means I can put it 80' of cable away from the
computer. It's just a PIC chip, a BASIC Stamp or other 8051 chips on a
board could do the same thing. Burning my own PICs or other
uControllers could cost < $30 a pop.


But the weedtech is handy enough. I had it mounted in an Altoids tin,
but it's now in a lunch box with some work room inside for wiring. I can
chain weedtech devices together on one serial line. I can see, but
don't use, the value of that.

I would recommend using the CM11A and then getting the free activeX control
from HomeSeer. This is pretty much the most common controller out there,
not necessarily the best but it has a lot of support and is pretty
inexpensive. Also the homeseer control is very easy to use from VB. I
wrote my own program where i control 2 different CM11A's on 2 different
circuits using this activeX control ... been working great for about a year.



You can get the control from http://www.homeseer.com/downloads/



Regards,



-Erik





"Phillips" wrote in message
news:jxRHb.66375$VB2.130922@attbi_s51...
Does anybody know how (or IF) you can access X10 devices from VBA?

Where can I find info? I would prefer something FREE, as right now I am
just
"testing" a few ideas.
I am looking to control some features for my aquariums


Thanks

Phil