I recently purchased the Pronto, And now to add the finishing touches to my Home Theater, I need wireless control of the lighting in my room. I have over ten wall switches for over 16 various recessed lights. I also would like to control the lighting for my large fishtank. (now thats lazy but I "NEED" it). I would like to know if anyone could recommend an affordable wireless control system such as X10, and perhaps which X10 system.
Thank You for any suggestions.

Hi,
Jack Schultz (Metronet) was able to provide excellent suggestions for x-10 controllers and is quite knowledgeable about houselinc. Give them a call (312) 781-0045.

Clay W.

Try the ones that Lutron makes (www.lutron.com). They are great for remote dimmers and switches. The best features they have are notbeing noticed in buzz or electrical feeback.

Joe,
The Lutron IR units might work for you although I have to question the ultimate cost and controllability as while they are directly IR controlled, I believe they also have limited different IR codes available, Asside from this, they are not as intelligent as some of the many X-10 type units.
There are a number of vendors of X-10 lighting controls. For basic on/off, X-10 is probably your best (cheapest) source. As far as dimming and "scene" capability, I don't think anyone can compete with the SwitchLinc from SmartLinc. They feature 256 memory positions(scenes), variable sensitivity, variable ramp rates, etc. They hope to ship the new 2 way Switchlinc sometime in January although the original Switchlinc (16 memory scene capability) is still available in limited quantities. I just spoke with them this afternoon and will be ordering some tomorrow to hold us over until the new units ship.
The primary potential problems with X-10 devices are that they send signals over the powerlines and powerlines can often be noisy. This causes a problem in that the dimmers don't get the signals the first time. However, this is where SwitchLincs depart from other X-10 dimmers. They have much greater sensitivity and therefore are much more capable of picking the signal out of the noise.
In addition, there are filters available which will eliminate noise if necessary. The interface between Pronto and X-10 of any sort is carried out by an IR to X-10 receiver which essentially receives the IR event from Pronto and converts it to an X-10 powerline signal, aka PLC for power line carrier.
I hope this helps you in making your decision.
FYI SwitchLincs (current version) are $65 each and rated for 600w load....si8ngle gang device whicg replaces a std dimmer or switch.

Thanks for the responses.
Jack, Does the current Swithlink provide 2 way transmision? and if so, does the extra cost for this feature make sense because i would be using my Pronto unit to control. and I dont think the Pronto provides for this feature.
Thanks again

Joe,
The current switchlinc does not support two way in that it doesn't transmit back it's state or "kick" another code based on a state change. However, for most of our applications, the current version does all that we could want.
As an example, you could have a "movie" mode that sends a P-1 X-10 code which would drive the dimmers to given levels. Then, have an "Intermission" mode that would drive the dimmers to different levels.
I hope this answers your questions.

PS. We use an X-10 mini controller ( I guess about $25) to do the programming of the dimmers as it's the easiest device to use for the purpose. You take each dimmer to teh level you want, then send a program code and it "stores" the level in memory for that X-10 code (P-1 for example). Then when a P-1 comes down the powerline, the dimmer goes to the preprogrammed level. Easy really.