POWERLINC PROGRAMMING MANUAL v1.2a - Smarthome

POWERLINC PROGRAMMING MANUAL v1.2a 

INTRODUCTION 

The PowerLinc from SmartHome will provide 12V 300mA DC and two-way power-line 

communication to any PowerLinc compatible OEM 1 unit. The PowerLinc can also be used as a 

direct TW523 replacement for two-way power-line communication only. 

Known PowerLinc compatible devices are listed in appendix A. 

USAGE 

Plug the PowerLinc box into any standard 120V 

60Hz power outlet. Plug the other end of the 

PowerLinc into the OEM unit that will be 

communicating with the power-line. 

Outlet 

PowerLinc 

CAUTION – the PowerLinc is not designed nor 

approved for use on power-lines that operate on non-120V/60Hz cycles. Attempting to use the 

PowerLinc on non-approved power-lines may have hazardous consequences. 

OEM Unit 

Also, do not plug the PowerLinc into a telephone jack or telephone equipment. Doing so may 

result in equipment failure. The PowerLinc is designed for power-line communication, not 

telephone communication. 

CONNECTOR SPECIFICATIONS 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES 

• The X10 TW523 technical manual is available online at http://www.smarthome.com/manuals/MAN- 

1136.pdf. 

• The PowerLinc programming manual is available online at http://www.smarthome.com/1132.html. 

Please check for documentation upgrades. 

• The PowerLinc is available for purchase at http://www.smarthome.com/1132.html. 

1 

Original Equipment Manufacturer 

http://www.smarthome.com | powerlinc@smarthome.com 

16542 Millikan Ave, CA 92606 | 1.800.SMARTHOME 

Copyright © 2004 Smarthome 

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APPENDIX A – Compatibility Chart POWERLINC FEATURE 

DEVICE MANUFACTURER POWER PLC RS232 

HomeVision Custom Solutions 

HouseLinc SmartHome 

One for All Command Center Universal Electronics 

Time Commander Plus JDS 

TouchLinc SmartHome 

8 CH X10 Relay Control RCS 

16 CH X10 Relay Control RCS 

X10 Thermostat RCS 




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APPENDIX B – RS232 Protocol for standard X10 transmission 

(Please refer to Appendix D for extended raw data transmission) 

RS232 communication parameters to the PowerLinc are 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit, 9600 

baud. 

This must precede all commands: 

1. Send 0x02 to the PowerLinc. 

2. The PowerLinc will respond with ACK (0x06) if ready, NAK (0x15) if not ready. 

3. The ACK will be followed by a carriage return (0x0D). The NAK isn’t followed with a 

carriage return. 

After an ACK (0x06) and carriage return (0x0D) is received, the PowerLinc is ready to accept a 

command. 

To send an X10 house code, unit code, and function code, send the following hexadecimal bytes 

to the PowerLinc: 

0x63 [Send X10 Command] 

0x?? [Refer to Appendix C for house code hex or ASCII byte to send to PowerLinc] 

0x?? [Refer to Appendix C for unit code hex or ASCII byte to send to PowerLinc] 

0x?? [Refer to Appendix C for function code hex or ASCII byte to send to PowerLinc] 

0x?? [Refer to Appendix E for Repeat Count to send to PowerLinc] 

Additional notes: 

To leave out the function code, substitute a 0x00 in its place. For example, to send A1 only: 

0x63 0x46 0x4C 0x00 0x41 

To leave out the unit code, place the function code in the unit code’s place, then place a 0x00 in 

the function code’s place. For example, to send AON only: 

0x63 0x46 0x45 0x00 0x41 

Example communication for “A1 AON” 

0x02 [start command ] 

0x06 [ACK ] 

0x0D [carriage return ] 

0x63 [send X10 command ] 

0x46 [house code ‘A’ ] 

0x4C [unit code ‘1’ ] 

0x45 [function code ‘On’ ] 

0x41 [repeat command once ] 

0x58 [transmission received ] 


0x4C [unit code ‘1’ ] 

0x31 [sent once ] 


0x58 [transmission received ] 


0x45 [function code ‘On’ ] 

0x31 [sent once ] 


The symbol “” indicates communication to 

the PowerLinc, and “” indicates from the 

PowerLinc to the OEM unit. 




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APPENDIX C - PowerLinc X10 Code Chart 

X10 Code X10 Hex Code Hex byte or Ascii byte to send to PowerLinc 

A 06 46 F 

B 0E 4E N 

C 02 42 B 

D 0A 4A J 

E 01 41 A 

F 09 49 I 

G 05 45 E 

H 0D 4D M 

I 07 47 G 

J 0F 4F O 

K 03 43 C 

L 0B 4B K 

M 00 40 @ 

N 08 48 H 

O 04 44 D 

P 0C 4C L 

1 0C 4C L 

2 1C 5C \ 

3 04 44 D 

4 14 54 T 

5 02 42 B 

6 12 52 R 

7 0A 4A J 

8 1A 5A Z 

9 0E 4E N 

10 1E 5E ^ 

11 06 46 F 

12 16 56 V 

13 00 40 @ 

14 10 50 P 

15 08 48 H 

16 18 58 X 

All Units Off 01 41 A 

All Lights On 03 43 C 

On 05 45 E 

Off 07 47 G 

Dim 09 49 I 

Bright 0B 4B K 

All Lights Off 0D 4D M 

Extended Code 0F 4F O 

Hail Request 11 51 Q 

Pre-Set Dim High 17 57 W 

Pre-Set Dim Low 15 55 U 

Extended Data (analog) 19 59 Y 

Status = on 1B 5B [ 

Status = off 1D 5D ] 

Status Request 1F 5F _ 




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APPENDIX D - RS232 Protocol for extended raw transmission 

(Please refer to Appendix B for standard X10 transmission) 

RECEIVE 

The PowerLinc recognizes extended code data over the power-line. Upon seeing an X10 

function code of “extended code” or “extended data”, the PowerLinc will echo back a lower case 

ASCII “e” to signify that there is extended data on the power-line, then it will echo back all output 

on the power-line in hexadecimal format until it sees a three zero-cycle gap (as per X10 

specification). 

Example 1: 

The PowerLinc sees the following bits on the power-line: 

SC HC P FC XD XD ZCG 

1110 10100101 1010010110 10101010 000000 

SC = Start Code 

HC P = House Code “P” 

FC XD = Function Code “Extended Data” 

XD = Extended Data 

ZCD = Three zero-cycle gaps 

After seeing the extended data on the power-line, the PowerLinc first echoes back a lower case 

ASCII “e” to signify that there is extended data on the power-line. Then, according to the binary 

data above, the PowerLinc would echo the following hexadecimal bytes: 

E A 5 A 5 A A 8 

1110 1010 0101 1010 0101 1010 1010 1000 

[SC ][ HC P ] [ FC XD ][ XD + part of ZCG ] 

Resulting with a total ASCII output string of “eêZ[ø”, which corresponds to the following 

hexadecimal bytes: 65 EA 5A 5A A8. Not all of the three zero-cycles are echoed back. 

Example 2: 

The Stanley X10 Door Position Transmitter sends the following hex data on the power-line when 

the “TEST” button is pressed: 

E6 96 A9 A9 55 5A 9B 9A A6 A5 65 55 6A 60 

Which the PowerLinc echoes back as: “eæ–©©YUZ›šZ¦¥eUj`” (quotes not included). 

Note that the actual raw data starts after the first character “e”, since the “e” is simply to signify 

that the rest of the data is extended data. 




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Transmit: 

The PowerLinc permits the user to place any data out onto the power-line. To send data onto 

the power-line, send hex-code “80”, followed by a byte count (in hex) of the data to be placed 

onto the power-line, followed by the data to be placed on the power-line. 

The data to be placed on the power-line should be complimented, per X10 specification, and 

terminated by six 0’s, to indicate a three zero-cycle gap. While this is the recommendation, the 

PowerLinc will allow the user to place any data on the power-line. 

Example: 

The symbol “” indicates communication to the PowerLinc, and “” indicates from PowerLinc to 

the unit. 

0x02 [start command ] 

0x06 [ACK ] 


0x80 [send extended data ] 

0x05 [byte count ] 

0xEA [Start code + House code ] 

0x96 [House code + Function code] 

0xAA [Function code + Extended data] 

0x6A [Extended data ] 

0x98 [Extended data + gap ] 

0x00 [Gap ] 

The hexadecimal data is translated into the following binary data on the power-line: 

E A 9 A 9 A 6 A 9 8 0 

1110 0110 1001 1010 0101 1010 0110 1010 1001 1000 0000 

[SC ] [ HC ] [ FC ][ XD ][ ZCG ] 

SC = Start Code: three 1’s followed by a 0. X10 protocol dictates that all X10 transmissions 

should start with this start code. 

HC = House Code: expanded house code 

For example, house code “A” which is normally “0110” (0x06) becomes “0110 1001”. When the 

house code is expanded out, each bit is complimented. Another example: house code “M” 

(“0000” or 0x00) would be expanded out to “0101 0101”. 

FC = Function Code: expanded function/unit code 

Similarly to the house code, the function code also needs to be expanded out. In the above 

example, the expanded function code is “10 1001 0110”. This condenses to “11001”, or “0x19”; 

which is the X10 hexadecimal code for “extended data”. Another example: function code “ON” 

(“0101” or 0x05) would be expanded out to “01 0110 0110”. 

XD = Extended Data 

The extended data in the above example is “10 0110 1010 1001 1”. The extended data is 

completely arbitrary, but is recommended to conform to the X10 specification of complimenting 

every bit. Six 0’s will signify an X10 “End-of-transmission”. 

ZCG = Three zero-cycle gap 

X10 protocol dictates that all X10 transmissions should be terminated by a three zero-cycle gap. 

The six 0’s on the end satisfy this requirement. 




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APPENDIX E - PowerLinc Repeat Code Chart 

Repeat Count (decimal) ASCII Byte Hex Byte 

1 A 0x41 

2 B 0x42 

3 C 0x43 

4 D 0x44 

5 E 0x45 

6 F 0x46 

7 G 0x47 

8 H 0x48 

9 I 0x49 

10 J 0x4A 

11 K 0x4B 

12 L 0x4C 

13 M 0x4D 

14 N 0x4E 

15 O 0x4F 




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POWERLINC PROGRAMMING MANUAL v1.2a - Smarthome

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