Home Automation Roundup

Microsoft kicks off CES, watch the keynote live at 9:30 EST

Dave — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:50:03 +0000

Today marks the kick off of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, and what a better way to start it off than a live stream of Microsoft’s keynote event. Topics include Windows 7, Office, Windows Mobile and others. Hopefully some exciting news about Windows Media Center and the Zune Marketplace will be announced, but we’ll just have to wait and see. For the full press release follow the read link below.

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Elk hosts webinar to introduce ElkRP2 security panel programming software

Dave — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 14:14:47 +0000

For those familiar with the installation of a Elk M1 security panel, you have surely used ElkRP to set up both basic and advanced features. The software is much faster than doing it the old fashioned way of programming through the keypad. Well it appears Elk is making the program even better with the introduction of ElkRP2. The latest version available only to dealers is the first release candidate, but Elk warns it should only be used for evaluation purposes. The webinar will cover installation and use of RP2, generic control of Russound, Nuvo, and Proficient distributed audio systems, and finally methods to have both RP and RP2 coexist on the same machine. Two sessions will be held on January 22. The first is 9:00am – 10:00 and an afternoon class from 4:00-5:00. Keep in mind this webinar is only for dealers and space is limited so be sure to sign up early. Click below for the 4:00-5:00 class registration.

Silicondust hints that a CableCARD HDHomeRun is in the works

Dave — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:57:59 +0000

This is my favorite time of the year. Christmas presents, New Year’s hangovers, and hints of new products at CES. Well this one may be at the top of my list. Earlier this week Silicondust hinted on their forums that a CableCARD version of their very popular HDHomeRun network tuner is in the works. The HDHomeRun is one of the core pieces of my setup, accounting for 4 of my 9 tuners in my Windows 7 box. Details are very limited, no price or pictures, in fact the only picture we have is the screenshot featured above. Hopefully more details will follow soon! Click the read link to check out the forum post.

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Cinemar says Happy New Year, makes WeatherLobby a free product

Dave — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 02:41:58 +0000

Cinemar’s first press release of the year brings great news to all of its users. WeatherLobby version 3.90 is now free to all new and existing users. Those of you who have followed the product may have remembered that the recent changes to the Weather.com web services limited applications to only 5 days of forecast information. To restore the previously available 10 days, as well as provide new hour by hour data and some other new features, Cinemar has switched to a new provider offering a more robust product. For full details on the new product, click the link below.

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The End of an Era, Well Sort of…

Dave — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:05:05 +0000

Well I finally decided to move away from a PC based automation system over the Christmas holiday. For the past 6 years I have used Cinemar’s MainLobby and have loved it. It has given me a strong foundation to learn on, and has served me well. I really can’t say anything bad about the product, it has served me well, with the exception of a few hard drive failures (obviously not Cinemar’s fault), it has been rock solid. I have now moved on to a Crestron system. Why?…Well mainly because I have been working my way through the Crestron certification process, and what better way to learn a product than to use it every day. I haven’t lost sight of my DIY roots (that is where the “sort of” comes in), I am still working on my Crestron/MainLobby bridge, but my focus has changed. Before it was so I could use the MainLobby front end for easier development, but now I will just be using the server component to leverage some components that are not available (at least affordably) for Crestron. A perfect example is to use the TZwave component available through Tallus Inc, to control lighting. The Crestron RF lighting solution is great, but doesn’t make sense for me financially. I have a few of their switches for learning purposes, but I will still continue using ZWave going forward. So here is a run down of my new setup

3 Crestron Pro Processors

Adagio AES Processor/Multi-Room audio processor

2 Crestron ML-500 RF Remotes

Crestron 12 button keypad

Crestron infiNet RF Gateway

Crestron infiNet dimmer and Keypad.

Crestron CEN-IDOC iPod Dock

I will be recycling my Samsung q1s and other In wall touchscreens, but now run XPanel on them.

Stay tune for the second post in my How to Wire a Rack series for detailed pics.

NT Designs adds Multicolor segmented gauges/sliders to free downloads

Dave — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 05:16:53 +0000

This came out about 3 weeks ago, but I think it is great that companies like NT Designs offer up free graphics in their download sections. Although I”m sure they hope the quality of their free products will lead you to purchase their other items, it’s always nice to have some of the these objects in your arsenal when designing most interfaces. As many of you know, designing the interface usually takes the most time in your program (at least it should if you are doing it from scratch and you actually want it to look good and be functional). Companies like NT designs, as well as others, try and help us programmers out by putting together some pretty slick looking packages that we can just “plug” our signals into. GUIFX has been the leader for the past few years, but it is nice to see some friendly competition. Click the read link below to go to their download sections, but be nice and spend some time reviewing their paid products as well. These guys put a lot of work into this stuff and deserve a good look!

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Turn your camera phone into an infrared tester

Dave — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:20:27 +0000

Not Flashing

Flashing

Here is a tip I learned in one of my trainings that has turned out to be quite useful. When using ir flashers, there are typically two types, those that give a blinking visual indication when a signal is emitted, and those that do not. A lot of poeple, myself included, have always used the flashing type because you can easily tell if an emitter has gone bad. However, these blinking emitters have some disadvantages. First, they are more expensive. Second, due to the extra power needed to flash the light they draw more current and typically have a shorter lifespan. Finally, if in a dark room, the blinking gets annoying. So here is an easy way to tell if a non blinking emittter is still working when debugging problems. Use your phone’s camera (or any digital camera) to view the flash. Although your eye can not see it, the digital camera will be able to. You don’t need to actually take a picture, just point it at the camera lens and you will see if it flashes or not. In the pictures above (I know they’re not great, but hey, they were taken with my camera phone), I used a remote to demostrate my point but the same applies to emitters. In the first image, a button is not pressed, the second it is. You will see a slight differene in the color of the emitter. When doing this for real it is much more noticable since the emitter actually flashes. This tip has certainly helped me, hopefully you’ll gain some benefit from it too.

Sonos introduces S5 self contained zone player

Dave — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:48:09 +0000

Sonos has definitely become popular over the past few years, and their latest entry is sure to bring more people to their products. In the past, powered speakers were still needed for each zone of audio. The new S5 includes 5 powered speakers so this is no longer an issue. The unit also contains an iPod dock, but it is not needed for playback, the unit can also stream directly from iTunes. Visually the unit reminds of the BOSE Wave or SoundDock systems. The good news is all of this new functionality is offered at a price point of $399. We’ll be interested to see how this takes off, but with the retro market becoming more popular, and the increased interest of multi-room audio systems, it’s sure to be a hit!

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Atlona introduces affordable 8×8 composite Audio/Video matrix switch

Dave — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:10:36 +0000

Atlona announced yesterday it has added the AT-AV0808N to their line of matrix switchers. Although it is technically listed as a composite audio/video switch, it can also be used as a video only HDTV switch. The device takes up only a single rack space and supports control via RS-232, so it is compatible with most automation systems. This may just make it into my setup since I was looking for a low cost way to switch audio coming out of the pass through of my existing MRA system to zones that are already powered by an A/V receiver. Best part is, it sports a MSRP of only $699. Click the read link for full details.

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Cortexa slashes prices on hardware, attracts both DIY and Pro Integrator market

Dave — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 23:35:31 +0000

Today I had a chance to participate in a personal demo of the Cortexa automation system from Jesse Lind from the sales department at Cortexa Automation LLC. For those unfamiliar, Cortexa’s system centers around essentially a headless PC running their automation software. Both control and administration of the system are accessed through an internet browser, and iPhone app and Media Center add-in are available as well. The system is compatible with many common products covering all aspects of home automation including lighting, multi-room audio, security, and HVAC. The layout of the Flash based interface is somewhat static, with the exception of users being able to upload their own images for backgrounds and button labels, however the design is well thought out and intuitive. Each sub-system has both high-level and detailed views, and is also collapsible to the side of the screen. This makes direct navigation into any sub-system a breeze. Viewing the list of supported devices, you can easily tell that they have both the professional integrator and the DIY enthusiast in mind. For example, in lighting they support UPB, Insteon, and ZWave for the DIY, while still supporting Lutron and Vantage products for the custom installer. Configuration of the system seemed relatively simple and straightforward, allowing the user to identify which sub-systems the want to include, detail the components of that system, then define any macros or events that would be associated. My only gripe of the system is that although the majority of the sub-systems are controlled either serially or through TCP/IP, they currently only support A/V device control through infrared (via the Global Cache Network Adapter), however I was assured support for serial control would be coming in future releases. Additional items to look forward to include both a 10.4″ and 17″ touchscreen.

Professional integrators interested in becoming a dealer should contact their sales department for a very enticing introductory offer allowing you to become very familiar with the product, while minimizing risk to the wallet.

The reduction in price can already be seen on their online dealer sites such as AutomatedOutlet.com. To learn more about their products visit them online or check out their Knowledge Base. If you’re looking for single box solution that is easy to use and has multiple interface options, all while staying within a realistic budget, Cortexa is definitely worth checking out.