New apartment (Part Deux)
- Thread starter Sabz5150
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Sabz5150
FALCON PUNCH!!!
thats fine and dandy, but I've never heard of it/used it.
It's badass. I can walk through my apartment and have the lights follow me. Everything's dimmable. There are a few things that aren't wired up yet, b/c I am waiting for my dimmable CFLs to arrive. Yeah, I'm green...
the whole place with the exception of the kitchen tracks and low voltage halogens are compact fluorescent.I've already written a simple web app and set up a tiny PC to run as the lighting server for the place. I can use my Wii to control the lights
and it's accessible from all the frontends.The best thing about X10 is it's ungodly cheap. Just ebay 'x10' and start going through the listings. You can wire an entire house for around 150 to 200 dollars.
EDIT: My bud wrote the main back app. I just made the frontend of it a bit slicker.
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Sabz5150
FALCON PUNCH!!!
If you want to give X10 a shot, grab yourself a starter kit like this one:
X10 3 Piece Starter's Home Automation Kit X-10 - (eBay item 110179626736 end time Oct-17-07 18:47:46 PDT)
That comes with your palmpad, the transceiver which doubles as an on/off only unit and a lamp module with dimming capability. With that starter kit, there's no need to replace switches or do things that would require you to kill your power. If you like it, you can grab extra modules.
Switches: eBay Express: X10 3-PK Wall Switch Module - Home Automation (WS467) - Description
Lamp modules (dimming)
X10 3-PK Dimmable Lamp Module - Home Automation (LM465) - (eBay item 130163125993 end time Oct-20-07 05:32:40 PDT)
Lamp sockets (non dimming)
X10 3-PK Socket Rocket Mini Lamp Module X-10 LM15A - (eBay item 130163166598 end time Oct-20-07 08:01:21 PDT)
Receptacles
THREE PACK X10 SUPER SOCKET OUTLET MODULE SR227 - (eBay item 160169048509 end time Oct-22-07 09:41:52 PDT)
Appliance modules
eBay Express: X10 3-PK 2 Pin Appliance Module - Home Automation AM486 - Description
To get your PC working with X10, you can buy the Firecracker module or the top end two way module which polls the modules for their status. Software comes with both or is downloadable as a free package.
X10 FireCracker Home Automation PC Interface X-10 CM17A - (eBay item 110179646197 end time Oct-17-07 20:05:03 PDT)
There are gobs of other modules and applications... X10 is extremely universal, especially with a PC behind the scenes.
X10 3 Piece Starter's Home Automation Kit X-10 - (eBay item 110179626736 end time Oct-17-07 18:47:46 PDT)
That comes with your palmpad, the transceiver which doubles as an on/off only unit and a lamp module with dimming capability. With that starter kit, there's no need to replace switches or do things that would require you to kill your power. If you like it, you can grab extra modules.
Switches: eBay Express: X10 3-PK Wall Switch Module - Home Automation (WS467) - Description
Lamp modules (dimming)
X10 3-PK Dimmable Lamp Module - Home Automation (LM465) - (eBay item 130163125993 end time Oct-20-07 05:32:40 PDT)
Lamp sockets (non dimming)
X10 3-PK Socket Rocket Mini Lamp Module X-10 LM15A - (eBay item 130163166598 end time Oct-20-07 08:01:21 PDT)
Receptacles
THREE PACK X10 SUPER SOCKET OUTLET MODULE SR227 - (eBay item 160169048509 end time Oct-22-07 09:41:52 PDT)
Appliance modules
eBay Express: X10 3-PK 2 Pin Appliance Module - Home Automation AM486 - Description
To get your PC working with X10, you can buy the Firecracker module or the top end two way module which polls the modules for their status. Software comes with both or is downloadable as a free package.
X10 FireCracker Home Automation PC Interface X-10 CM17A - (eBay item 110179646197 end time Oct-17-07 20:05:03 PDT)
There are gobs of other modules and applications... X10 is extremely universal, especially with a PC behind the scenes.
Thats pretty pimp, I may look to rewire my living room, bedroom, office and eventually kitchen with this stuff. It'd be pretty cool to make it web enabled as well so if we are on vacation and I want the lights on to remote into the pc or write an app to call it up to a secure server or some crap like that.
Regarding re-wiring plugs and switches, I'll still be able to utilize a remote and/or a pc?
Thanks for the info
Regarding re-wiring plugs and switches, I'll still be able to utilize a remote and/or a pc?
Thanks for the info
Sabz5150
FALCON PUNCH!!!
Oh yeah. All you need to do to "rewire" your home is replace the existing switches and receptacles with the X10 ones. There's nothing else you need to do other than set their codes (the red and black dials). The receiver unit picks up the radio signal of the palmpad/firecracker and sends its signal through the power lines. No extra wires or work needed
As for it being web based, here's the first version of the web controls that I made for the apartment. On the lighting server, the descriptions will have buttons beside them for on/off and bright/dim. Click one and the lights obey.
SSL #2223 Lighting Control System
Please note that this link will not control my lights. I can only imagine the rave my apartment would become if it did.
EDIT: Before B comments on it, yes my html skills suck.
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I can say that about most hardware... Linux-8,000,000,000 Windows-2
Sabz5150
FALCON PUNCH!!!
Speaking of
I picked up a pair of Pinnacle PCTV HD cards off of Woot about a week and a half ago. They were one of their Launch items... meaning this is their first release into the market. They're PCI cards that handle NTSC, ATSC and QAM digital cable. They even tossed in an FM radio tuner. 50 bucks a shot.
Talk about a friggin deal. Even the HVR Haups don't do that, and they're twice the price.
Anyway, I stuffed 'em into my Myth server which had just recently crashed (OS drive head crash), and started a fresh reinstall. I had big worries about having spent 100 bucks on tuners I couldn't use, being they are brand new on the market.
Linux found them without a single hitch, drivers straight out of the kernel, no special nothing to get 'em recognized and assigned dev ports. Get this... Myth fully supports QAM tuners. Hell, even Vista can barely do that!
The next day I went out and bought a new laser printer. The g/f needs a workhorse (third grade teacher) and Staples had these things for $49.99. It came with Linux drivers on CD.
The field's changing... rather fast albeit mostly unnoticed.
sabz -- you need this.
http://homemodders.com/t78/
http://homemodders.com/t78/
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