RE: Any advice for ambitious newbie?

["Graham Howe" <graham@xxxxxxx>]

Some more comments below

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bruno Prior [mailto:bruno@xxxxxxx] 

> But as I say, use it if you want. I have no problem with 
> people doing things their way. As long as people have no 
> problems with me doing things my way.
> 
No problem at all with people using linux, but as with many areas of
computing, there is more HA software available for the windows
environment. But from what I've heard Misterhouse is very good although
maybe a little too complex for those that are 'technically challenged'
:-)

> 100s of Gb of MP3s? How much music do they possess? Using VBR 
> at a pretty high quality setting, I can rip a CD into around 
> 70Mb without any loss of quality discernible to me (but I'm 
> not an audiophile). So my 35 Gb represents around 500 CDs. 
> I'm pretty keen on music, but 100s of Gb is more than I would 
> know what to do with (or be able to afford).
> 
These sort of collections have predominantly been created through
'sharing' of mp3's, but I do know people who own thousands of CDs.

> > Have you seen the SliMP3, DDAR, Audiotron etc?
> 
> I'm sure they're good, but will they also function to 
> playback video, play games, browse the web, read email, write 
> letters etc? If I want a computer for these purposes in each 
> room, why not get one box to do everything? It would 
> certainly please my wife, who would rather I had no 
> technology visible, and certainly not a handful of boxes for 
> each purpose. Plus there's the cost factor....
> 
Agreed, a PC is the way to go if you want a single multi-media source
in
each room. However there is another alternative, KAT5, this is a
technology that allows AV signals to be passed down CAT5 cabling.
Therefore you could have your sources in one location (node zero
perhaps) and yet watch them in any room. For more details check out
www.kat5.tv.

> > Do yourself and buy a TiVo (or two if you want multi-channel 
> > recording).
> 
> How do I watch what I have recorded on TiVo in the rooms 
> where it isn't located? Is it network-enabled? And can the 
> storage be upped without invalidating the warranty?
> 
TiVo is just a really well put together piece of kit, although from
what
I've heard, the soon to be released ReplayTV will be even better. It
can
be network enabled and have upgraded storage but only through
invalidating the warranty. The other 'problem' is that you need a
subscription per TiVo which could make multiple TiVos quite expensive.
However I expect to make much more use of mine through KAT5
distribution.

> > How many CAT5s per room do you plan?
> 
> I know this goes against established practice in this group, 
> but I was only planning on one run per workstation, plus a 
> few extra scattered around where I think I might want 
> cameras, WiFi access points, points to plug in laptops etc. 
> This will probably mean 2 or 3 per room.
> 
If you wanted to take advantage of KAT5 you would need an additional
run
of CAT5 for each rx/tx pair. I personally put 4 runs to each room with
a
lot more in places like the office/node zero and the lounge.

> > It will be more expensive.  Have you considered hardwired
lighting 
> > systems instead of X10?
> 
> This seems to be the consensus view, which is good to know. 
> No, I haven't considered hardwired lighting systems. I have 
> no idea what that would involve. Where would be a good place 
> to find out about it?
> 
You can ask questions here, there are some on the list with experience
of hardwired lighting, but not me :-)

> Having said that, it seems to be quite a common view that 
> X10, while not perfect, is currently the most cost-effective 
> route for lighting. Is that fair?
> 
I would agree with that, though there are some frustrations with the
way
it is implemented in Europe. Principle problems are cost (about 3-5
times that of the US on certain items) and the lack of status reporting
where a unit can tell a controller whether it is on or off.

Also be aware that with things like LD11s (DIN rail mounted modules)
you
are talking about dedicated cable runs for lights and switches so you
are close to a hardwaired scenario anyway.

> > YES!  If there's one area you want a standalone, stable
hardware 
> > solution then it's security.
> 
> I've been trying to understand what Comfort gives me, from 
> their website, but I don't really get it. A lot of what they 
> do can be done just as easily by a server. Is the main 
> advantage that this kit allows you to use something other 
> than X10 to control those items where security is 
> significant? Their website says that the home control 
> functions (including garage door
> mechanisms) work by sending a code "down the existing 
> ring-main circuits", so it doesn't sound much more secure 
> than X10 if it isn't X10.
> 
Comfort can do X10, but it can also do a lot more. It can have relay
boards and various inputs and outputs so that neither triggers nor
commands have to travel by x10. I use comfort for my alarm system with
PIRs, smoke detectors, CO detector and other things all wired back
through CAT5. I can get Comfort to control lights and so on through x10
(possibly based upon movement detected through the hardwired PIRs). The
other major Comfort feature is phone integration, I can control my
alarm
by phone, talk to someone standing at my front door from my mobile,
program the alarm system from any phone in the house or anywhere else.

> > My garage doors are wired into Comfort and so can be opened by
phone
> either
> > internal or external to the house.
> 
> If this is X10, couldn't this be done as well through 
> Misterhouse or equivalent?
> 
It needn't be x10, could be a relay and I don't think Misterhouse has
the phone integration, but I'm sure there is software out there that
could react to dtmf tones to interact with Misterhouse. It is a little
like the TiVo, Comfort is a fully functional system that does certain
things very well. The other point worth mentioning is that Comfort is
not dependent on any PC so there is never a problem with PC
reliability.

> > I would not use X10 for anything this important! Get smoke 
> detectors 
> > that hardwire into your alarm panel.
> 
> As I say above, I am struggling to understand the difference 
> between X10 and the way that Comfort communicates with these 
> sort of devices.
> 
Comfort is a wired alarm system first and foremost, therefore you
should
use direct detector cabling rather than x10.

Graham

Yahoo! Groups Sponsor

ADVERTISEMENT

For more information: http://www.automatedhome.co.uk
Post message: ukha_d@xxxxxxx 
Subscribe:  ukha_d-subscribe@xxxxxxx 
Unsubscribe:  ukha_d-unsubscribe@xxxxxxx 
List owner:  ukha_d-owner@xxxxxxx

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.