[misterhouse-users] Newbie question about getting started..

[Jeph B. <jb...@ne...>]

Forgive me if there's a FAQ on this topic, but I'm new X10 in generally,
and I've been browsing this list for a little while now, to get a feel for
things..

To get started, I obviously need a PC board X10 2-way
transmitter/receiver.  Although this is not listed under "System
Requirements" on the webpage, there are several referrences to hardware,
speficically the X10 CM11 ActiveHome and the CM17 Firecracker, which is
cheaper.  The question is, to hook up to my Linux / FreeBSD (/ MacOS X?)
machine and run MisterHouse X10 apps, does it matter which one I buy?
Are there any limitations to the Firecracker over the ActiveHome, besides
the Windows software that comes with it that will go unused anyway?

I figure, the only way to jump into this stuff is to, well, jump into this
stuff, but I don't want to jump into buying a piece of hardware that has
serious limitations that I'll find down the road.

Also, I own (and happen to wear daily for some reason) a Sun Java Ring
that friend from Sun gave me.  This has an end that looks a lot like the
iButton.  Seeing the Java references from the iButton page, leads me to
believe this is a type of iButton.  Anyone know if I'm on track here?

Thank for the help in getting started.
-- 
Jeff A. Blaize
Network Engineer
<jb...@ne...>