Hello all, I've been lurking for a while now and finally have some questions of my own. I'm ready to step up from the X10 brand products to some better switches and controllers using the X10 protocol. Currently I'm using an ActiveHome setup but would like to consider a more robust controller for my upgrades. All of my existing devices are X10 wireless and I don't foresee too many wired devices or other options that would require extensive relay I/O capability in the future. My questions are:

1) Given my limited budget, I like the $139 price point of the Ocelot. It appears that this combined with HomeSeer would make a very capable configuration with minimal expense. Are there future limitations with this hardware that I'm going to run into as I grow? What is it lacking that puts it at such a comparatively low price point?

2) I know that some of you (Larry in TN et al.) are using JDS units or other similarly priced controllers. What are the main advantages to stepping up to that range?

3) I really like the on-screen display of the Home Vision unit but can't justify the price just for that feature. Are there any other units or add-ons that allow on-screen capability?

4) I'd love to hear any general opinions that you may have - build quality, company reputation, firmware upgradeability, or past experience. All input will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Zac

Zac,

The $139 price of the Ocelot will provide x-10 and IR control that is independant of your PC but nothing more. You have to have hardware add-ons to do anything else. Personally though, I love my Ocelot. It performs flawlessly and I have gotten to the point where I have not had to think about it since the new year - it just runs. My needs are fairly simple though - I use it mostly to translate x-10 commands from one house code to another. My IR543's are on house codes G and P and my switches, appliances and scenes are all on other house codes. So the Ocelot will, for example, initiate scene B7-ON when it receives a P2-ON or it will turn off all lights on the main floor when it receives a G9-OFF.

For in depth info about Ocelot, (aka cpu-xa) visit the cpu-xa list at www.futurestandard.com.

I have no experience with any of the other systems that are available.

I have no experience with Ocelot but I can tell you want to look for when comparing--programming flexibility. JDS if far from perfect in that regard but I don't if other systems match or beat it. That's what I'd be looking at if I were in your position.

Thanks for the input all. After reading Loran's other thread concerning the slow lookup times of the Ocelot I think I will consider other options.

Skip the Ocelot. With the CM11A from Activehome Homeseer will give you prety much any programming features you need. At most add a Slink-e to your system to complete it.

The best thing about homeseer is that it will run on the 486 in the closet. No need to buy much more. And the harddrive in a PC will hold far more than what the Ocelot or any of the JDS units will hold.

Don't get me wrong guys. The Ocelot is very nice and is much more powerful than ActiveHome. I just leave mine running in the background with no PC attachment. I use it and rely on it. It is simply not appropriate to control everything directly, but that is not what I am looking for.

Roughneck,

I'm not familiar with the Slink-e. Would you (or anyone else) enlighten me?

Also, with Homeseer running on a PC in your closet, what kind of delays do you have doing macros and stuff? Just wondering if you had a PC on energy saving, does it need time to wake up, think about things, think about things some more, then finally get round to sending commands...... it would be really annoying to send an IR command and have it respond 20 seconds later. This is the only drawback I can see to having a system that only runs off a PC.

Cheers, Cammo

>>And the harddrive in a PC will hold far more than what the Ocelot or any of the JDS units will hold.

I am not sure exactly what we are holding here - if it is a schedule, I have about 3,000 lines of code in my Stargate schedule and the memory is less that 50% utilized.

Homeseer and a dedicated PC is a good solution for some folks, although I would not want any Microsoft OS less than NT running my house so I don't think a 486 would be suitable. Oops, excuse my while I reboot my HA system so I can turn on the dinner time lighting scene :)

Actually comparing a dedicated controller and a PC and a CMA11A with whatever HA program is a bit of apples and oranges -- the latter is a good low cost alternative but Stargate and Ocelot (with some expansion module(s)) can provide digital and analog inputs and relays -- digital inputs are neat because one can use hardwired motion sensors and get rid of the Hawkeyes and all the chatter that they put on the power line.

Cheers, Jim.

There are no longer any delay issues with IR and the Ocelot. We hopped-up the IR code in the latest release.
Ocelot user's, you can download the latest code from our website www.appdig.com
The newest release also supports 1024 IR codes.

Regarding the low price, this is simply a matter of volume.
The Ocelot, and assorted modules, are widely used in commercial automation and security applications.
Next time you are in a casino, or Walmart, glance up at all the video cameras, these are connected to VCR's that are likely controlled by large Ocelot IR networks.
Dan Boone, ADI

Please be carefull with Futurestandard.com - I need 5 weeks to get order from them. 5-weeks "Backorder" is not what you wait from I-net seller.

Shop around before buying anything. Make sure that they have the product in stock. The Ocelot is very popular, and shipping delays have been a problem in the past. Consider Worthington (www.worthdist.com) Smarthome (www.smarthome.com) Homecontrols (www.homecontrols.com) FireControl (www.iautomate.com)
All of these vendors should have the product in stock.
Dan Boone, ADI

Your message did not include a specific URL.

I find addicon's website very sparse indeed,
and could not find any references to a "support"
page, or "downloads" etc. All I could find were links for PDF docs.

Could provide a more specific URL to download new software?

BTW, I love the Ocelot, works good for IR, which is why I bought it. And I got it from Future Standard,
the only place that I found that had it for $139. Everywhere else it was close to $200. I believe I had to wait two weeks for it, longer than I anticipated but willing to do so for a $60 savings.

The latest release is at [Link: appdig.com]
Scroll to the bottom of the page for the link that downloads the new software.
Install the new C-Max, then load the new executive.
C-Max will report 1.61e1, the firmware will report version 2.85
This version provides improved IR transmission performance for stacked IR commands. To achieve maximum performance, relearn your IR commands with the assistance of the new C-Max.

There is also a new manual available online. The manual was updated on 2/17/01.
Dan Boone, ADI