Subject: Digest for 3/29/99 Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 22:44:33 -0800 From: "XTension Discussion" To: "XTension Discussion" -> Davis Weather serial output by Jeff Rothfus -> error 1727 by Noitcainc@aol.com -> Re: X-10 over Aluminum household wiring by Craig Sutherland -> Re: error 1727 by michael@shed.com -> Re: Davis Weather serial output by michael@shed.com -> Re: X-10 over Aluminum household wiring by Chad A Gard -> Fry's Piracy by michael@shed.com -> Re: Kitchen thoughts by rob@whidbey.com -> Re: Kitchen thoughts by Chad A Gard -> XTension FAQ by cwallac -> Re: XTension FAQ by Chad A Gard -> Playing Sounds by john.brumleve@kzf.com -> WX200 software by Phil Pedersen -> Re: WX200 software by michael@shed.com -> New LynX? by robotman@macconnect.com -> Re: New LynX? by michael@shed.com -> WX200 by Phil Pedersen -> Re: WX200 by michael@shed.com -> Re: WX200 by cwallac ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 29 Mar 1999 04:36:45 -0800 From: Jeff Rothfus Subject: Davis Weather serial output Hi Folks - Picked up a Davis Weather Monitor II at a *very* good price over the weekend ... Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but it seems the "WeatherLink Data Logger" dongle is nothing but a glorified cable adapter. Has anyone taken a look inside the dongle? Is there RS-232 coming out of the RJ-11 on the Monitor II itself? Thanks! - - jeff ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 29 Mar 1999 05:22:07 -0800 From: Noitcainc@aol.com Subject: error 1727 Can someone tell me what apple script error 1757 is. Eacch time I try to test a script i get it. Thanks Larry ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 29 Mar 1999 05:22:52 -0800 From: Craig Sutherland Subject: Re: X-10 over Aluminum household wiring >>I have not heard this rumor. However, I can see no reason >>why the signals would not propagate, as they are carried >>on the same current that powers the lights... >> >>There might be some issue of corrosion of contacts? > > > One room of my apartment (the bathroom) has aluminum wiring. X10 does work > in there, though not that reliably. I believe michael is correct, in that > it is more likely signal degredation due to corrosion rather than the > medium the power is being carried on. > > Chad Gard Chad, Aluminum wiring will loosen at he breaker box over time, causing potential interference. In the 70s, aluminum wiring was used pretty widely due to high copper costs. Tightening the feeds at the brreaker box will improve the situation, but should only be done by someone competent with that work. Craig Sutherland ****Who is John Galt?**** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 29 Mar 1999 05:37:18 -0800 From: michael@shed.com Subject: Re: error 1727 Hello Larry, The error -1757 means that the 'OSA Dialect is not loaded' This means that somehow the AppleScript system is not properly loaded or located in your system folder. As I mentioned in an earlier post, there is the possibility that XTension was started up with the "F" key pressed, but since that it unlikely, I would suggest that either your XTension Preferences are corrupt, or you simply have a bad install of the Mac OS. The first thing you should do is throw away the XTension Preferences from the System Folder:Preferences folder. Restart XTension. If that does not cure the problem, then you should reload the Mac OS... Following is a short list of the error codes that relate to problems with Scripting in XTension... michael /************************************** API Errors *************************************** errOSASystemError = -1750, errOSAInvalidID = -1751, errOSABadStorageType = -1752, errOSAScriptError = -1753, errOSABadSelector = -1754, errOSASourceNotAvailable = -1756, errOSANoSuchDialect = -1757, errOSADataFormatObsolete = -1758, errOSADataFormatTooNew = -1759, errOSACorruptData = errAECorruptData, errOSARecordingIsAlreadyOn = errAERecordingIsAlreadyOn, errOSAComponentMismatch = -1761, errOSACantOpenComponent = -1762 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 29 Mar 1999 06:20:48 -0800 From: michael@shed.com Subject: Re: Davis Weather serial output Jeff Rothfus wrote: > Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but it seems the "WeatherLink Data > Logger" dongle is nothing but a glorified cable adapter. > > Has anyone taken a look inside the dongle? > > Is there RS-232 coming out of the RJ-11 on the Monitor II itself? Hello Jeff, Although I've not heard, nor have I looked inside the dongle, I do suspect that this is some sort of 'level converter' and not just a 'pass thru'... I developed the applet for the Davis with the help of a couple of other list members, so I haven't really seen one at all. sorry, but it will probably be that you have to buy the dongle from Davis. michael ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 29 Mar 1999 06:21:48 -0800 From: Chad A Gard Subject: Re: X-10 over Aluminum household wiring >>>I have not heard this rumor. However, I can see no reason >>>why the signals would not propagate, as they are carried >>>on the same current that powers the lights... >>> >>>There might be some issue of corrosion of contacts? >> >> >> One room of my apartment (the bathroom) has aluminum wiring. X10 does work >> in there, though not that reliably. I believe michael is correct, in that >> it is more likely signal degredation due to corrosion rather than the >> medium the power is being carried on. >> >> Chad Gard > > >Chad, > >Aluminum wiring will loosen at he breaker box over time, causing >potential interference. In the 70s, aluminum wiring was used pretty >widely due to high copper costs. > >Tightening the feeds at the brreaker box will improve the situation, >but should only be done by someone competent with that work. Don't want to frighten anybody, but the aluminum doesn't go back to the fuse (yes, those glass things...And Lowe's, Menards, Ace hardware, and so on don't carry the strange size my apartment needs. So I hope none ever blow). The aluminum starts at a J-box in the bathroom ceiling. Copper comes in, huge corroded wire nut that will never be able to be removed, and copper goes out. Remember what I've said about smoke detectors? Well, there you go. In case you're wondering why I know that.....I wanted to install an exhaust fan. Never did, because of that little problem. At least it's wrapped in asbestos insulation. Chad Gard Butler University, Instructional Media Services WWW: http://media.butler.edu Equipment Requests: Mailto:request@media.butler.edu Personal Email: Mailto:gard@indy.net "If you're falling off a cliff, you might as well try to fly. After all, you don't have anything to lose." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 29 Mar 1999 06:36:00 -0800 From: michael@shed.com Subject: Fry's Piracy Hi Folks, Over the weekend I received a message about someone who purchased a copy of XTension from Fry's in Burbank CA. Since they are not a valid dealer for XTension, I got very interested in just what he had purchased. At the current time, it looks like he bought a CM11 and a 'Macintosh Interface' cable, which was most likely a remnant from the old Mac CP290 product. Taking it home, he found that it wouldn't work with the CM11, and took it back to complain. After about 30 minutes, the befuddled employee emerged from the back room with a different diskette, and said that the latest software can be obtained from the shed website. Of course this too wouldn't work, so I got an email complaint. The software loaded on the diskette was version 1.7... Since this version hasn't been delivered or been on the site for over a year, it's very likely that Fry's had a copy just laying around, and copied the software onto a diskette which was originally X-10's Macintosh CP290 offering. I am well aware that Fry's sells 'remainders' and just plain junk sometimes, but this is evidence that they obviously hire brain-dead crack heads. If anyone ever runs into this kind of piracy, please let me know. I will certainly exchange a valid copy of XTension and cable to anyone who can provide me with evidence of such piracy... michael ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 29 Mar 1999 07:26:27 -0800 From: rob@whidbey.com Subject: Re: Kitchen thoughts I did some brainstorming on this very problem (making several dishes all get done at the same time) several years ago. It seems what you really need is akin to a "Project Manager" (a la MS Project) capable of running several projects (recipes) simultaneously in real time. It's not a trivial application, especially considering that it must be EXTREMELY flexible and user-friendly. Anyone who has tried to use conventional project management software will appreciate how steep the learning curve is. If anyone is interested, I could send them a copy of the writeup I did back then. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 29 Mar 1999 07:46:55 -0800 From: Chad A Gard Subject: Re: Kitchen thoughts >If anyone is interested, I could send them a copy of the writeup I did >back then. I would be interested in your writeup, Rob (a cool near-rhyme if nothing else). I had been thinking of kitchen stuff, too. Nothing in my kitchen is automated, and it is the only room that is that way. Unlike Michael, I like to cook and am fairly good at it. Like Michael, I have difficulty getting everything to be finished at the same time (or at an appropriate time mid-meal....For example, desert done about 30-40 minutes after the meal started...). However, I don't see a simple way to fix this. I don't have much of a problem with forgetting when to remove stuff from burners, as generally I can just look/taste in the pot to tell that one, but if I'm baking more than one thing I have two distinctive-sounding egg timers (there a tri-tone apart in pitch, for you music people. I guess I have the devil's kitchen....). Things I had been considering for the kitchen would be automating the light, a barcode reader to keep track of the kitchen inventory (since I do tend to waste a bit of food/money buying stuff I already have, which then goes bad), and a terminal (via my LCARS interface thingy) to display a searchable recipe database. You could search by prep time, cook time, and time to completion, as well as things you wouldn't normally think of- number of burners used (what if you only have one burner left due to other dishes), oven temp (if you are baking/roasting more than one thing), which wood for the smoker (don't want to use hickory for your mesquite BBQ'd turkey, do you?), and so on, in addition to ingredients. I'm not sure quite how the search process would work, but it would also be nice to be able to prepare a menu and have a shopping list returned based on the current inventory of your kitchen. Chad Gard Butler University, Instructional Media Services WWW: http://media.butler.edu Equipment Requests: Mailto:request@media.butler.edu Personal Email: Mailto:gard@indy.net ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 29 Mar 1999 07:47:59 -0800 From: cwallac Subject: XTension FAQ Wasn't someone working on an XTension FAQ? I was wondering how it was progressing. Seems like the AppleScript 'error 1757' question could be added to it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 29 Mar 1999 07:59:46 -0800 From: Chad A Gard Subject: Re: XTension FAQ >Wasn't someone working on an XTension FAQ? I was wondering how it was >progressing. > >Seems like the AppleScript 'error 1757' question could be added to it. I was, but when I asked for some feedback before making it "Live" and available for people to add questions to, no one responded. It's still there, kinda hanging like a dead limb, http://media.butler.edu/homautofaq/ Chad Gard Butler University, Instructional Media Services WWW: http://media.butler.edu Equipment Requests: Mailto:request@media.butler.edu Personal Email: Mailto:gard@indy.net ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 29 Mar 1999 09:37:16 -0800 From: john.brumleve@kzf.com Subject: Playing Sounds Hi Folks: (Long wind ahead... Please bear with me, or at least skip to the bottom paragraph.) Our architectural firm is participating in CANstruction 1999, an annual event that benefits the Free Store Food Bank in our area. The event, cosponsored by the American Institute of Architects, utilizes the skills of several participating architectural firms in our area. This event is held in several cities across the country. The Object: Utilizing only durable non-perishable foodstuffs, (primarily cans,) construct a "built" work of art. A temporary exhibit. An homage to pop culture. Whatever. The Event: Building of the display takes place in the time span of 5 hours. The exhibit will continue to be viewed for 5 days in one of the major art galleries in town. The exhibit is usually viewed by several hundred people. Our Plan: Using "The Wizard Of Oz" as our thematic starting point, we are constructing a multifaced movie set of several pertinent scenes from the movie. It will be viewed in the round. Early on in the process, we knew that multimedia would be integrated into our display. We finally settled on how we were going to do it. As people approach or view the display from any of four particular points of view, an appropriate sound clip from the movie would be heard, thematically "in sync" with the view before them. Me And My Big Mouth: I volunteered to assemble the technology to accomplish the sensing and playback of the sound clips. Of course, all along I knew that my solution would utilize XTension and an assembly of X-10, Mac, and wireless systems. Here is my idea of the setup at this point: 1) Position an MS13A at each of the four "views" of the display. 2) Position a wireless speaker receiver set within the display 3) Backstage, one of my IIci's (OS 7.6) would be equipped with: Sound clips in four "theme" folders An RR501 tranceiver The transmitter to the wireless speaker An X10 interface XTension This is what I want to do: Whenever an MS13A fires, Xtension picks it up and plays the next sound in the theme folder for that quad. I guess I would need some way to prefer certain areas, so that the sounds don't get too busy, with each MS13A capable of firing every 10 seconds. I'll handle that part. Where I need help: The main riddle for me is instructing the Finder to play the next sound file in a particular folder. Something along the lines of (pseudocode ahead): tell finder to play the "next" sound in "soundfolder OZ1" I suspect that this may involve some "list" commands from within XTension and possibly use of the attachments script. It's the aspect of incrementing to the next sound file in a Finder folder that has me psyched. I'm afraid that in this area, I couldn't script my way out of a wet paper bag. I appreciate any help you may provide. Regards, John PS: Apologies to Michael and Mark, this would be the second time that you have seen a similar message. - ----------------------------------------------- john.brumleve@kzf.com "As a matter of fact, it's ALL rocket science." - ----------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 29 Mar 1999 13:02:37 -0800 From: Phil Pedersen Subject: WX200 software I saw this on VersionTracker today. A beta version of a Mac software package similar to the PC version provided by Radio Shack for the WX200 is available from http://www.infranet.de/members/helmut.niklas/WeatheRecMac.htm Not a lot of information, but the screen shot looks promising. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 29 Mar 1999 13:24:03 -0800 From: michael@shed.com Subject: Re: WX200 software HI Phil, Thanks for the tip! Snatched the file, and of course looked immediately for any sign of 'scriptability'... none there :-( It would also be helpful if the program didn't record any data that wasn't 'significantly changed'... makes for a lot of useless file space. Looks pretty, but we still need something that is more useful than just 'pretty'... Maybe he'll be suggestible ? michael ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 29 Mar 1999 13:29:37 -0800 From: robotman@macconnect.com Subject: New LynX? Hi All, Has anyone (Michael?) seen the new $99 LynX? Does it really have a 'raw' mode for different signal formats? It's always seemed that X-10 could be made MUCH faster with a little judicial 'futzing'. For example, instead of xmitting 1 ms of 120 KHz carrier, xmit just 6 cycles (or less!). Does anyone remember the tape interface on the old KIM-1 and how it's Baud rate was increased many-fold by this sort of signal processing-type futzing? "I feel the need The need for speed" - -HD ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 29 Mar 1999 14:04:49 -0800 From: michael@shed.com Subject: Re: New LynX? Hi Folks, I've reported before on the LynX-PLC, so I won't re-hash it. As soon as I see one, I'll start working on the drivers. I regularly request data from Marrick, and regularly do I get ignored... But I do relate to the philosophy of making sure that something is 'finished' before releasing it. It is expected to have a 'raw' mode, but don't get excited about increasing the X-10 speed. Not unless you also want to re-program all your lamp and appliance modules... michael ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 29 Mar 1999 15:42:28 -0800 From: Phil Pedersen Subject: WX200 Radio Shack just put the WX200 on sale for $249.00, about $50.00 off their usual price. I'm going to pick one up since they even have them in stock. Am I right in remembering that the problem of running both Xtension and the WX200 software available from the Shed website on the same Mac has been fixed by using the latest version of the OSAX? I seem to remember seeing a thread about this back in Dec/Jan on the list. Phil ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 29 Mar 1999 16:39:00 -0800 From: michael@shed.com Subject: Re: WX200 Hi Phil, Sheesh, I wish someone would report that they had successfully integrated the applet and XTension on a single Mac. Reason: I am so comfortable with the configuration I have that I don't want to dismantle the WX200 and move it to another Mac. (about 100 yards) I know, I've got that KeySpan serial card on the 7200, and it would be a perfect platform, but I use this stuff, and really don't like to take down my home for testing. Is anyone doing this ? michael ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 29 Mar 1999 19:12:57 -0800 From: cwallac Subject: Re: WX200 michael@shed.com wrote: >Sheesh, I wish someone would report that they had successfully >integrated the applet and XTension on a single Mac. > >Is anyone doing this ? I was until my machine died. Apple's had it for two weeks now working on it. I am using the Keyspan SX4 Serial card. XTension is on the same Mac. Works great. Don't recall off hand what I had to do to get it to work. Sorry. Laters, ---------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Digest To request a copy of the help file, reply to this message and put "help" in the subject.