Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Electronic Curtain Rails: Retrofit
You can automate many curtains by simply wrapping the U-shaped pulling cords around an electric motor. Naturally,
the devil is in the details, so there are a few prebuilt motor and pulley systems on the market that are able to open and
close curtains, mounted into a head rail. They include the Regency PowerMotion, Universal Curtain Motor (UCM),
and the Add-a-Motor 80 (CM80).
Using a retrofit solution requires you to have a good existing head rail, because this determines the maximum
weight of the curtain the motor is able to handle—if it gets stuck, then the motor could burn out. The specific weight
will vary between devices, but a good guide is that head rails with ball bearings will manage curtains up to
30 kilograms, while those without might stop at 10 kilograms.
All of these devices require manual installation to fix the cords to the motor, configure the open and closed
positions of the curtains, and adapt the electronics to incorporate a separate X10 receiver. Depending on the device,
this might involve a simple AWM2 or AM12U unit or possibly an in-line module.
Controlling the curtains once installed is a simple on/off affair, requiring some additional control logic to
automatically position them as “50 percent open,” for example; however, you can always issue an “off ” command
manually to stop them from opening any further. There are switches designed specifically for curtain control, such
as the Marmitek X10 Motor Drive Switch (SW10), which repurposes the standard X10 messages of “on,” “off,” and
“bright” to be “fully open,” “fully closed,” and “partially open,” respectively.
N
You should not leave control curtains unattended in the first few days after installation, because the motor might
try to move them too far and burn out.
Tip
Electronic Curtain Rails: Prebuilt
One such solution here is the Silent Gliss AutoGlide. This provides a made-to-measure curtain track with a
premounted motor and a remote-control unit. Because the curtain track is custom-made, you must know in advance
the size and shape of your window since DIY adaptations are not possible and bending it (to fit in a bay window) is
possible only by the manufacturer. The motor can be controlled by an X10 appliance module using a similar amount
of DIY to the retrofit versions.
Stand-Alone Controllers
Having lots of remotely controlled lamps and appliances isn't much use unless you have some way of controlling
them. All the devices covered in this section contain an X10 transmitter in some form that places an X10 data message
onto the power lines, which is in turn picked up by any of the X10 modules covered previously.
Tabletop Transmitter Modules
These modules all provide a way to send X10 messages from a basic keypad to a specific device. Because they are
powered by mains, the signal can be placed directly on the power lines, avoiding the need for an RF-to-X10 gateway.
This group supports the largest selection of devices, with each adding its own unique selling points. I'll cover only a
small selection here.
Mini Controller (MC460)
This is a standard, but functional, wired device that supports eight units, switchable in two banks (1-4, 5-8), along
with the standard “all lights on”/“all units off ” options and brightness control. To reduce the button count, the
brightness control only affects the most recent lamp switched, either on or off. This is fairly standard among most
transmitter modules.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search