X-10 RF technology to control Z-Wave and UPB switches?

After deciding on Z-Wave technology I discovered one downside.  That is that some of the items that I would like to place around my home (Motion sensors, contact sensors, temperature and humidity sensors) are much more expensive than some of the non Z-Wave variations of those products.  What would be really cool would be if you could use some of the cheaper technologies for some of those areas to control your Z-wave systems...oh wait!  You can! 

Using Homeseer as my control solution gave me the flexibility to do exactly what was described above.  I have my Z-Wave lighting setup around the house already.  Then by using an RF receiver like the W800 or the RFXCom in conjunction with an easy to setup plugin for Homeseer I can utilize cheap X-10 devices like the MS16A motion sensor or the DS10 contact sensor to trigger events or even control Z-wave or UPB devices directly.

Here is the setup I am using:  I have a W800RF32 connected to my Homeseer PC through a serial port.  I have an external antenna installed in my attic (I wanted larger range so thanks to the guys at cocoontech.com I was able to build my own antenna for about 10 bucks).  I then ordered several MS16's (5 for 20 bucks) and DS10's (6 for 20 bucks) and put them around the house.  I then setup the AC-RF2 (RF receiver plugin for Homeseer) and used the configurations in that plugin to accept the X-10 signals being received and translate those into Z-Wave and UPB signals to send to the end devices I want to control.  In this instance again, Homeseer is kind of the glue holding this all together.  The key to any successful home automation is your choice in control system.

Next post will be detailing some uses of the motion sensors and contact sensors, as they have almost limitless uses and you can mod them up some to play MacGuyver.  Geekiness at its finest folks!