Now I’ve got my X10 system running and know its limitations, I could have saved a wheen of money not buying stuff I don’t need. Our house appears to have been wired by an, um, spirited amateur, so powerline signalling is of limited use. Thankfully, the tiny and cheap X10 FireCracker CM17A (warning: too many flashing GIFs at this link!) can be driven from heyu [previously]. You can score these on eBay for under $10, and all you need is a serial adapter to drive them.
The really cheap bit in my system was discovered in Active Surplus. I found a case of Leviton “Plug-in Frequency Transceiver Modules” for $4/each. One was out of its case, and wouldn’t you know it, it’s the same as a RR501 module, which typically retails for about $30. Sure, these are old stock and are a nasty beige colour, but they provide a way of switching a two-pin appliance. They can also relay remote commands from RF to wired controls.
The only X10 controller I can’t get to work with the Raspberry Pi is the CM19a USB PC Transceiver. I suspect it draws a bit too much power to run from a Raspberry Pi, as it makes the machine unresponsive if it’s plugged it. Running from my bench setup it works fine with the mochad driver, but no dice with the other machine. The CM19a reads wireless RF X10 commands, and it would be useful if I’d added a motion sensor. As is, I’ll stick to the lights going on and off.
(Update: there’s a good chance that my CM19a problems are down to the ancient dwc_otg* fixes I still run on my Raspberry Pi’s kernel. You probably don’t need them, and this device could work fine. One day I will find time to fix ’em …)
(Incidentally, this is the “North American Edition” because X10 RF controls are completely different in Europe, and none of the above is useful to you. Yeah, I know this article is the equivalent of PC Load Letter to you; sorry.)