I've just ordered that thing. Mostly because I'm a gadget freak and am curious about it's potential. I saw exactly the same device at a local Staple's store for $199, so X10's $50 price seems like a good one.

I'm curious if anyone here has one. What is your experience with it? Well made? Foolproof and reliable? Any general comments?

Dave

I bought one too. Can not seem to get it programmed right. Record will work then it won`t stop after 5 minutes or visa versa

Doug, that is the exact same problem that I'm having...has anyone figured it out yet?

Charlie O.

I think I finally got mine to work...I sent x10 an email and here is there reply below. When I set it up like they suggested it seems to work for now. I hope this helps.

Charlie O.



"If you wish to try and get the VCR Commander to work, here is some
information for you.

Remove the batteries, if you've got them - they're not necessary - and
unplug the power. This will drain the capacitor, basically resetting
the
unit. Let it sit for about five minutes, and then plug it back in.
Don't
worry about the batteries for now, you can always put them in later.
Make sure the IR extender cable is not attached; it has to be
disconnected
in order to program the IR functions. Next, press and hold down the
LEARN IR
button. The light will go solid. This puts the unit into learning mode.
Now
choose the button you want to program. We suggest learning two buttons
only,
RECORD and STOP.

With the red LED on the UX21A solid, press the RECORD button. The light
will
blink about five times, and then go solid again. At this point, take
the VCR
remote and press the record button. (Note: on some remotes, you may
have to
press RECORD twice to send the command.) You're probably going to have
to
hold down the RECORD button on your remote. Keep holding it until the
light
blinks out momentarily, and then goes solid. You've just learned the
RECORD
button.

Next, press the STOP button on the UX21A. The LED will blink five
times, and
then go solid again. Press and hold the STOP button on your VCR remote,
and
the light will momentarily blink out, and then go solid again. That's
the
end of the IR programming - just wait for the light to time out, and
you'll
be done with programming the IR.

Once the light has gone out, it's time to set the LEARN MS feature. MS
stands for Motion Sensor, although any RF X10 command would work. Press
and
hold down LEARN MS until the light goes solid, and the press the ON or
HOUSE
button on your EagleEye or Hawkeye motion sensor. The LED on the UX21A
should immediately go out. That's it - plug in the IR emitter cable,
and
turn on the VCR. When the UX21A gets a signal from the motion sensor,
it
will send the RECORD command, and five minutes later, send the STOP
command.

We commonly recommend that you take the power command out of the
equation
and just run "record & stop". With this set up, you will need to leave
the
power to the VCR on all the time, but you will receive generally better
results.

I hope this has helped you out.


Regards,

X10 Technical Support
If replying, please include the previous message's text.
www.x10.com
(800) 675-3044 X10.COM Sales
(800) 442-5065 Tech Support
(800) 442-5109 Order Processing (M-F 9-5 PST)

Hi Everyone,

Got mine yesterday. I agree with Doug, the instructions are vague. I learned the problems the hard way before I got it to work. I still have a few comments. First my IR Commander will not respond to IR clear memory like the instructions say. I think you press and hold POWER till it goes on solid then release POWER and it starts to flash a few times when it stops flashing its memory is clear. X10 says the IR Commander will store 3 commands. Why can't I store
POWER-RECORD-POWER.

I got one of these too. I already sent it back and am waiting for a replacement. My trouble was that it would not receive a signal from my Hawkeye II or from the Eagle Eye if the motion sensor was mounted anywhere outside of the room the Commander was in. Anyone else have this trouble. I am trying to monitor a front door and send the signal into the house about 25' away in a bedroom. It never would activate unless I took the motion sensor into the room with it.

Check out your sensor. I got one that was good for maybe 10' line of sight.

For those of you that are trying to the VCR Commander, I have found a way to do the same thing without it for about the same cost. I bought a VCR with the Auto Satellite record option on it. There are three brands that I know of that have this. They are Symphonic, Funai, and Sylvania. I think they are all made by the same company. You can get these VCR fairly cheap. I bought one at Best Buy for $60. Anyway, you can hook up a camera to the RCA inputs of the VCR and use a motion sensor and appliance module to turn on the camera. When the camera turns on, the VCR automatically turns on and starts recording. When the camera turns off, the VCR stops recording. I use the motion sensors from X10.com which you can set the time delay. I've found this works flawlessly.