What we don’t need to know
There is a lot we don’t need to know. The X-10 communication protocol is handled by the PIC microcontroller compiler command syntax. In the olden days, we would need read the zero crossing moment from the PL513, and output bits and complementary bits on the zero crossing, bit banging the communication (address and command) through the PL513 module. We don’t need to go low level anymore. The PICBasic Pro has a XOUT command does all that hard work for us. It reads the zero crossing and outputs the communication.
The X-10 commands available on the PICBasic Pro are as follows:
0 0 0 0 1 All Units Off Switch
off all devices
0 0 0 1 1 All Lights On Switches on all lighting devices
0 0 1 0 1 On Switches on a device
0 0 1 1 1 Off Switches off a device
0 1 0 0 1 Dim Reduces the light intensity
0 1 0 1 1 Bright Increases the light intensity
The syntax structure of the command follows:
XOUT DataPin, ZeroPin,[HouseCode\KeyCode]
DataPin Is the pin assigned to send data to the X-10 interface. It is automatically made into an output pin by the XOUT command.
ZeroPin, Is the pin assigned to receive zero crossing
timing from the X-10 interface. It is automatically made into an input
pin by the XOUT command.