From: Chuck Pelto <cbpelto-AT-pcisys.net>
Date: 11 May 2008 15:51:24 UTC   (09:51:24 AM in author's locale)
To: xtensionlist-AT-shed.com

Hi Chuck,

On May 11, 2008, at 8:49 AM, Chuck wrote:

> Is there any place around that you can get 2 live chickens? You
> will also need tongue of newt and 4 bats eyes. Then get a big pot
> and a sharp knife. The full moon is still a ways off........

Got the bats—it's a BIG old house and we nailed on last fall that had worked its way into OUR spaces—a big pot and numerous sharp-edged
kitchen and weapon devices. The neighbors have a dog. And there are
some cats that like to hang out around the place.

> I suggest shutting down the server, unplug the CM11a and leave it
> like that for about 30 minutes, then plug in the CM11a and restart
> the machine.

Trying that now.

> Sometimes there is no figuring out what has happened.

Could be the ghost in the house. I've had encounters with it before.
It apparently doesn't like Mormons, as it whacked several hundred
dollars of electronics within 12 hours of a visit by some of their
young, eager missionaries a couple of years ago. Also, I've found
myself carrying on discussions with people who aren't really there;
Female voice from the otherside of the refrig door, "What going on?"
Me: "Trying to find some bacon." Then I realized that (1) that wasn't the distaff's voice and (2) she's UPSTAIRS in her office; not down in the basement, the stairs to which the opened refrig door was
blocking. Also there are the reports from guests who spent the night; people who aren't there sitting on the bed while their under the covers.

> You might check the lines and see if there is anything that went
> bad and is dumping a lot of noise into the system. This can happen
> and is the reason that I have a filter and power strip in
> everything not X10. It makes the system much more reliable.
>
> My recent problem with my new room just went away. All of a sudden
> everything started working.
>
> Also never trust the Ack. It will tell you all kinds of things and
> none of it will be correct. I have had burnt out lights and it gets > an Ack telling me that all is fine. It is worthless and should not
> be trusted for anything that I can see.

I've come to realize that the Ack is not all it QuAcked up to be. A
question for Michael is what can we do to REALLY validate the 'Ack'?

Regards,

Chuck

> On May 11, 2008, at 7:29 AM, Chuck Pelto wrote:
>
>> This morning I awoke to the sound of running water. Not that that
>> is a disaster, as in a broken water pipe, rather the sprinkler
>> system was still on, when it should have been of.
>>
>> So I went to the server closet and told the sprinkler controlling
>> unit to turn off from the Master List. However, instead of the
>> immediate response of Ack OFF, there was a 15 second delay for the >> Ack. And, unfortunately, the water did not turn off. Multiple
>> attempts to achieve the desired state failed.
>>
>> Tests of other units had the same result; delayed Ack and failure
>> to function properly.
>>
>> I tried reseting the Communications link via the Preferences. I
>> tried restarting the machine. I swapped out my CM11A with the back- >> up CM11A.
>>
>> No joy.
>>
>> There have been no known power surges.
>>
>> Other 'environmental considerations': I have a whole-house power
>> surge on the main. I also have a filter/blocker to prevent my
>> signals getting out and other signals getting in.
>>
>> What's going on? What can I do to correct it?
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Chuck
>