Can anyone explain why a standard 4 conductor phone cable doesn't work to connect the ocelot with the TW523 or PSC05? I looked at the one supplied with the ocelot, and the color code of the conductors are symetrical on both ends. This matches the phone cable I was trying to use. Is it the resistance of the 20 ft. long cable?

Actually, if you examine the cable supplied with the Ocelot closely, you'll find that it IS different than an ordinary phone cable. An ordinary phone cable reverses the pinouts from one end to the other, while the Ocelot's cable does not. Why they did this, I don't know, but I suspect that it was a mistake that got out of hand. By the time it was discovered, ADI must have had to decide between obsoleting every unit that had already been built and just keeping it backwards with respect to the rest of the world.

John Galvin

No, phone cords flip polarity while other applications are usually wired straight through. I wasn't a mistake.

Larry,

My RCS X-10 thermostat and every other device I've encountered that connects to a TW-523, uses a standard 4 wire phone cable. It's the Ocelot that is backwards from the rest of the world. What about the JDS stuff?

John Galvin

The JDS is wiring straight through.

Visonic use the same cable as Ocelot.

Larry,

Are you sure about that? The reason I ask, is that the Smarthome folks make a TW-523 replacement known as the Powerlinc. This device has an integrated cable that simply plugs into whatever controller you have. Now, I have one of these and it works just fine with the RCS thermostat. It also works with a Houselinc controller, but it will not work with an Ocelot, due to the straight Vs crossover issue. Smarthome claims that their Powerlinc works fine on the JDS Time Commander Plus. By implication, that means that the JDS must be the expecting the same sort of cable as the RCS X-10 thermostat and THAT is a standard 4 wire phone cable. I did get the Ocelot working with the Powerlinc after fabricating a cable reversing adapter. It is the Ocelot, that is backwards from the rest of the world.

John Galvin

Nope, it is Telco that is backwards from the rest of the world. Some other devices may have adapted that wiring scheme just because of the availability of phone cords.

The JDS manual was pretty clear about phone cords not working.

Larry,

Somebody should tell Smarthome that their Powerlinc doesn't work with JDS then. See [Link: smarthome.com] where they say that it works with JDS Time Commander Plus, along with Homevision, Houselinc, One For All Command Center and all of the RCS products.

Now, in the JDS manual where it says that phone cables won't work, I wonder if they're just referring to the fact that some "phone" cables only have two wires in them. That won't work, no matter how it's wired.

It's just a big tech support headache, to design a piece of equipment that LOOKS like an ordinary phone cable would work, but it does not. Why make life difficult, just to be different?

John Galvin

It is the phone cable that is not ordinary, in data applications, Ethernet, etc., the cables are wired straight through.

I just looked at the Powerlinc page and it doesn't use a data cord as one is permanently attached so I now have absoluetely no idea what you're talking about.

Yes, as I said before, it has an integrated cable. Now, follow along closely here. The Powerlinc works as a replacement for a TW-523 + an ordinary 4 wire phone cable. As such, it works perfectly with my RCS X-10 thermostat, just like Smarthome says it does. They also say that it works with the JDS Time Commander Plus. So, either they're wrong, or the JDS uses an ordinary 4 wire phone cable to connect to a TW-523. The Powerlinc works with the Houselinc also. The Houselinc also uses an ordinary 4 wire phone cable to connect to a TW-523.

The point I'm trying to make here, is that there are quite a few home automation controllers that work with the Powerlinc and since the Powerlinc is a direct replacement for a TW-523 + an ordinary 4 wire phone cable, I conclude that all of those controllers use an ordinary 4 wire phone cable to connect to a TW-523. The Ocelot will not work with an ordinary 4 wire phone cable connecting to a TW-523. It won't work with the Powerlinc either. Now, I don't know anything about the JDS products, except that they're expensive. I started to download the Time Commander Plus manual, but I gave up after 8 megabytes, with no end in sight, on a modem connection. What I do know, is that either Smarthome is mistaken about the Powerlinc working with the Time Commander Plus, or you are mistaken about the Time Commander Plus not working with an ordinary 4 wire phone cable connecting to the TW-523.

John Galvin

If you connect the powerlinc to a JDS TC then you're not using an ordinary phone cord.

You just don't get it. Never mind.

John Galvin

As Larry stated, JDS uses a straight through cable.

Since there are only two ways to make these cables, its a pity the world can't agree on one way whichever it is.

Btw, I don't know what the Smarthome catalog says about the Powerlinc but in their web catalog they say the following:

For the JDS TimeCommander (Plus), JDS Stargate and HomeVision, PowerLinc directly replaces the TW523 interface module, but modification to the cable may be required if you want to replace the existing power supply with power from the PowerLinc

Cheers, Jim.