Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- supported_hardware:w800 [2019/05/12 15:08] – update for new plugin James Sentman
+++ supported_hardware:w800 [2023/02/13 14:52] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1
@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 The W800 receiver from [[http://www.wgldesigns.com/w800.html|WGl Designs]] is the most versitile receiver for X10 wireless signals. If you already have an investment in X10 wireless devices such as their excellent motion and contact closure devices or their remotes there is no reason to stop using them if you’re thinking of updating the rest of your infrastructure to ZWave or something else. The wireless X10 devices remain an excellent, reliable and less expensive option for remote controls, motion sensors and contact closure sensors. Indeed their battery life is generally significantly better than even the most recent and expensive ZWave sensors while continuing to be less expensive. There is no reason not to mix different protocols with XTension.
-Note that this page is specifically geared towards the new W800 plugin included with XTension version 9.4.18 and later. There are differences to the support for the original plugin that has been included in the package since 2004 or so.
+Note that this page is specifically geared towards the new W800 plugin included with XTension version 9.4.18 and later. There are differences to the support for the original plugin that has been included in the package since 2004 or so. Note that the original W800 plugin has also been ported to Catalina and newer OS versions and will remain as part of the standard XTension distribution going forward. If you are happily using the original plugins there is no longer any reason to perform a conversion to the new plugin. If you are starting a new interface please use the version 2.0 or newer W800 plugin.
+====Availability and Alternatives====
+As of September 2022 the wgl designs home page is offline. This may be a temporary condition or they may be gone now. These were the best receivers for X10 transmitters but I imagine the market was shrinking. As an alternative you can use the [[supported_hardware:rtl_433|Software Defined Radio]] plugin which can be set to the 310mhz frequency to pick them up. In my testing this works but not as reliably as the W800 was. It may be that by disabling all the plugins but the X10 receiver it would be better. Some experimentation may be necessary to get this working as well as the original devices.
 ====Serial VS USB====
@@ Line 127: / Line 130: @@
 ====History====
-The original W800 plugin was added so long ago as to be just forever. The new plugin was added in XTension version 9.4.18 in May of 2019.
+  * The original W800 plugin was added so long ago as to be just forever. The new plugin was added in XTension version 9.4.18 in May of 2019.
+  * In sep of 2022 I noticed the wgldesigns page is offline and added the section on using the sdr radio plugin instead.