Hello Guys!

I'll repeat the oft mentioned mantra of the newbie, and apologise if it seems I am jumping in at the deep end here and not bothering to read or search! I assure you I am, but when I seem to spend virtually all of the 2 hours in the day I have free researching the various aspects of my renovation, then you will understand if I look for a leg up here!.. wont you?

Would any of you care to offer your thoughts on the prospects of success in attempting to automate a dozen lighting zones/scenes, dozen appliances (screen, curtains, diy screen lift, diy reclining seating), thermostat, plus the usual AV macros using a PC.

* I'm thinking here along the lines of controling projector, amp, sky+ through rs232, as they sport this...

* X10 for basically plug and play operation of devices such as: diy 12v plasma screen lift, diy 12v electric reclining seating, curtains, projector screen. Things which would otherwise be operated by a manual button and/or remote...

* Touchscreen monitor mirroring the main display output to the projector, and MCE, Homeseer (suggestions?) perhaps being featured as the hub/frontend...

You will notice from some of the things I've said that I am a joiner by trade, and this is not my field of expertise! Macro commands via a pronto has been the height of automation in my life thus far, so you will immediately be able to pigeon-hole me as one of those who want some of the glitz of a Crestron type installation but have niether the means, nor the Stephen Hawkingesque brainpower to attempt the real thing.

I think there are a lot like me out there who would like to attempt an automation project such as I have outline above, ie: reasonable in terms of affordability, do-ability and upkeep. A step up from IR macros via Pronto, but not quite venturing in to that daunting world of the computer programmer!

Are there any kindred spirits out there that have peiced together a similar type of arrangement?

Or perhaps some advice from one of those forum philanthropists, imparting thier boundless wisdom on the great unwashed!

Seriously guys, any help here, or a shunt in the right direction, would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Nick

[charris cy]

Nick,

nice set of questions! I think I can help you because I have been researching this subject for the last months!

First of all I have to say that I saw some installations using computers and software automation that can pretty do as much a full blown Crestron system can do. I don't really know if they can have the 99.9% reliability of a Crestron and Lutron setup, but at a fraction of that price you can't really complain if they don't. My favourite one is from this guy who uses homeseer. Check his site here: http://www.pksweb.com/ha.htm

Homeseer can control all of the equipment that you are interested in controlling. And it can use a touchscreen interface. Is is compatible with mainlobby from cinemar. Most people use the viewsonic tablets to control their systems. You can buy them in ebay.

Personally instead of using the computer for RS232 and infrared I decided to buy the Global Cache GC-100 which has two RS232 ports, 3 relays and 6 infrared outputs or inputs. Also the model I have (GC-100-18) has 5 additional expansion modules so you can add more infrared, relays and RS232 ports if needed. The GC-100 connect to your network by ethernet and is fully controllable by Homeseer and also another home automation software I found ok called housebot. The other software worth mentioning is CQC (www.charmedquark.com) and there is a guy in the avsforum with username IVB doing some nice things with it using RS232 from his PC. Go to www.avsforum.com and serach for posts by IVB. Although now I use homebot I think i will end up with Homeseer because it is more powerful and it can do everything I want. The forums of the three softwares mentioned above are very good sources of information.

I think the main reason for choosing RS232 for controlling your equipment over infrared is that RS232 is bi-directional hence you can get feeback from your equipment. This is really useful if your equipmnt is in a closet and you would like to know for example the input and the surround mode of your av amplifier.

I am nor a really fun of X-10 because I found out many people were experiencing a lot of problems using it. It uses the home's power lines so it is subject to interference. You can control the equipment (diy 12v plasma screen lift, diy 12v electric reclining seating, curtains, projector screen) that you said that you want X-10 using relays.

For lights pesonally I am thinking for Rako. They do not require rewiring, they save you electricity when you dim and they have an RS232 interface. I have also bought some z-wave lamp dimmers from lets automate and they work very well. Homeseer and housebot are compatible with z-wave. The think is I just got an e-mail back from Act Solutions and it seems that the European light switches and dimmers would not be out for at least 6 months. Check out x-10 too. If you don't get interference and they work ok in your setup, why not?

I prefer touchscreens to present control options only and not mirror the mce. Homeseer has a mce plug-in but I do not really see a reason to use it if you have a touchscreen with mainlobby.

Other companies that make software that can enable mce to be used for home automation are: http://www.embeddedautomation.com/ , http://www.exceptionalinnovation.com/ , www.onev.com , www.securegen.com

I use the Sonos systems for Multi room audio. There is a script in the homeseer forum so you can control it through homeseer if you want, but that is no really needed as the sonos controller is excellent.

I think you should divide what you would to like to do in sections, for example: lighting, audio distrubution, video distribution, climate control, infrared and RS232 control for av. Then you should choose the equipment you would like to use for each section and find a software that can integrate and control the equipment. It is not as difficult as it sounds. Read the above, do some research and come back to discuss some more. I hope I haven't confuse you!

Thanks so much for the thoughtful reply! Just finished working (told you I had no time!) so gonna spend half an hour perusing your links before I hit the hay, and I hope to repost with some more thoughts then.

Just a quick one, though. I was thinking along the lines of having a hard wired 15' touchscreen monitor,which may require mirroring as I also need the PC to show on the projector and plasma. I have a solution wher I can get the power supply etc discretely to a coffee table. Any initial thoughts on the likelihood for success here. I think there may be issues with the touchscreen operability if mirroring...

Just so you know, I have been kinda put off using something like the viewsonic airpad, as there seem to be issues with 'smart display' OS being knackered. Plus, I've had a bad experience with a simpad I bought!

Had come across some of the stuff you've touched on (Charmedquark, global cache, mainlobby) and perhaps I will know a bit more after a bit of reading, but is it possible to eliminate IR commands from the loop altogether?

Thanks again!

One of our customers just posted a gallery thread here on AV showing what he's been doing with CQC, so check that one out for some ideas:

http://www.avforums.com/frame.html

You can also look at our Gallery section on the web site for other ideas. The big advantage of CQC over something like Homeseer is that it includes both a powerful front end graphics system with a powerful back end automation architecture. Some people buy both HS and ML to get that, but that's more complex (two systems you have to stich together), and can be considerably more expensive.

[newstuart]

Hi Nick,

What did you go for in the end and how are you finding it ??

BTW, just realized someone pointed my stuff out in this thread [thx, very nice of you].

If you're curious, this is the thread I keep updated with my screenshots. I can render them on either the HTPC or a 3400 that i've got wallmounted. I've also got this thread that shows the screens i use on my cellphone, over the cellular network.

Here's the HTPC UI screens that I have, and what they do:
List of Interfaces:
- Main Menu w/Mzone wrapper (with sliders)
- Zone Control by name (select which source for which room)
- Zone Control by picture
- Source Overview (see what's playing on each source)
- Source Control
.....CD Stream 1 via art
.....CD Stream 1 via text
.....CD Stream 2 via art
.....CD Stream 2 via text
.....XM Overview
.....DVD Overview
.....DVD Detailed Info selection
.....TV Guide (via SageTV web browser)
- HA Control Menu
.....Security & Motion
.....Doors & Windows
.....Elk Keypad
.....Elk Zone Review
.....Weather (4 day, 7 day with Doppler, 7day with Satellite, 7 day with temperature radar)
.....Irrigation
.....Doorbell Detector popup
.....Traffic
.....Denon Control
.....HVAC

I do a subset of this over the cellphone, as the screen is only 320x240 and I need to cut the size of the screens to <<50K for faster download times.