COMPARISON OF NEW VERSUS OLD WS467 WALL SWITCH MODULES by Charles W. Sullivan 11 August 2007 Revised 10 September 2007 A major redesign by X-10 of the WS467 Wall Switch Module hardware and firmware occurred around the beginning of 2007. Unfortunately however the model designation was not changed from WS467, which will undoubt- edly result in a lot of user confusion. Even worse, some characteristics of the redesign make it backwards incompatible with the original design in many software packages. This note will attempt to describe the major characteristics of the new design as compared with the original design. This information was obtained by trial and error measurements on actual units, as X-10 has published nothing about the new design. The units tested here all have date code sticker 07E21, however there is no assurance that units with later dates codes will be the new design modules. The characteristics of the original design WS467 (and rebranded units sold under the RCA, IBM, and Radio Shack labels) remained basically unchanged over the years. The module responds to X10 signals All_Units_Off, All_Lights_On, On, Off, Dim, Bright, and All_Lights_Off. If an original-design module is in the Off state, a received Dim signal will first bring it to full brightness before dimming. The only way to avoid this is never to turn the module Off but instead to dim it to minimum brightness (which is usually visibly indistin- guishable from darkness). Then it can be brightened as desired from that point. The new design shares many characteristics with the discontinued LM14A 2-way Lamp Module although it remains a 1-way module, i.e., with no status-reporting capability. However it now supports the Extended Code Preset function which allows it to be directly set to any arbi- trary brightness level 0-63. In common with the LM14A, minimum brightness (at Extended Code Preset level 1) is nowhere near darkness, but about at the level of 8% of line voltage. However this is not a critical limitation now that the module supports the Extended Code Preset function. It is fully Off when turned Off (at Extended Code Preset level 0) by either an Off command or by an Extended Code Preset command. The new design also supports the Extended Code All_Units_On and All_Units_Off functions. Curiously, and unlike the LM14A or the original-design WS467, the redesigned WS467 no longer supports the All_Lights_Off function. Like the LM14A, the new design also supports Extended Code group commands (at least those which are applicable to 1-way modules). Modules can be configured as members of groups, then all modules which are members of a group will simultaneously respond to a single "group execute" command. The new design has a "resume" feature similar to the LM14A, i.e., the ability of returning from Off to the previously set brightness level, which like the LM14A is called into play when the module receives the On or All_Lights_On signal, or if it is manually turned on with a tap on the push-button. (This behavior differs from the redesigned LM465 plug-in Lamp Module which resumes the previous level when it receives a Dim or Bright signal). Most curious however is that the redesigned WS467 cannot be brightened from the Off state by a Bright (or Dim) signal; it has to first be turned On. It thus differs from all other dimmer modules from X-10 and those from most other manufacturers. This one difference renders the redesigned WS467 backwards incompatible with the original design in many software packages, including some features of X-10's flagship product ActiveHome Pro (for Microsoft Windows). Manual operation of the redesigned WS467 with the push button now has the capability of setting the brightness level. When Off, the first press of the button turns the module On to the previous level. Once On, the next press and hold of the button gradually dims the module. Additional presses and holds alternate between brightening and dimming the module. In either mode, a quick tap of the button turns the module Off. More details about the characteristics of the new design LM465 will undoubtedly reveal themselves with time.