I have a fish light for my saltwater aquarium that I would like to have automaticly turned on and off at preset times (Turned on at 12:00pm, and turned off at 9:00pm). But I do not want to use a computer to do this automation, is this possible?

I am going to buy 4 XPS3's for my florescent lights, a XPD3 for a bookshelf light, and a IR543 so I can control the X-10's thru my Pronto TSU2000. What else will I need for my fish light? Do I need a special unit to control the preset times?

Also is there anything else I would need to be able to control the X-10's besides the IR543 and my Pronto?

I am completly new to the X-10's and appreciate your patience. Thanks

There are a couple of levels of sophistication that you might try.

Look at this page: [Link: homeautomationnet.com]

1. The PHT02 mini-timer for $23.56 will store two daily on/off commends for up to four sequential addresses.

2. The XPPC controller for $92.99 mounts on the wall and is a much more sophisticated timer/controller.

3. The IBM Home Director for $29.45 lets your right programs which respond to both time of day as well as received X10 commands. This gives you all sorts of additional capabilities but the controller doesn't keep time as well as the other controllers. It's a good introduction to programable controllers, though.

4. The Ocelot controller for $148.50 is a much more sophisticated programmable controller which responds to X10 singles, time of day and can also send and receiver IR signals. Bill doesn't have the Ocelot pictures on the site yet but you can read more about it at [Link: hometoys.com]

your Pronto and IR543 are all you need to control your lights. As for the fish tank light there are timers built into the Pronto though I have never tried them. You may want to post a question about timers in the Pronto forum.

Yeah, that's another option, too. Problem there is that it depends on the Pronto being left in a position where the IR543 will see the timed commands and that nobody's standing in the way at the wrong moment. :)

As long as the Pronto is in the same room as the IR543 then you shouldn't have a problem. The IR543 has great reception of signals so the Pronto doesn't have to be facing it directly (I've actually pointed the pronto 180 degrees away from the IR543 and it still worked). Depending on where you usually keep your Pronto and the IR543 you might not need the other accessories.

--Alexis

I've had a passing interest in the timer feature on the Pronto but never investigated it. Is it basically used for sending out commands at preset times? If so then yes you would need it pointed at the receiver.

I think I'll have a glance at the FAQ.

Frank