RE: Idratek Cortex

["Keith Doxey" <ukha@xxxxxxx>]

Hi David,

I didnt get the chance to see too much of UKHA due to spending an awful lot
of time on my stand but I did get a brief chance to look at the Idratek
stand.

I remember Peter's early work when he was still at university, (I did have
his website linked but it disappeared when he left Uni).

I was very impressed by the functionality of the system and particularly
impressed by the multipurpose moulding used for all the single gang
faceplates. I do think the initial choice of colour was a mistake that put
several people off at first glance. For wall mounted electrical
accessories,
if you are only launching in one colour it should be White as that is the
colour of the majority of electrical accessories.

Whilst I can see the need "to be different" they havent got the
full range
of electrical accessories to go with their modules so you would have
different styles for power points and light switches.

My KAT5 modules are available in Light Grey or Black as they are the
colours
that the manufacturer of the boxes has available. All my own personal
modules are grey.... not from preference but because I bought some of each
colour boxes to give people a choice, most people choose to have Black so
it
fits with their AV kit. I have shipped less than 5% of the units in Grey.

I do think that launching without a dimming capability is also a mistake as
affordable quality dimming is something that anyone installing a large HA
system will want as an essential.

They dont actually need to MAKE a dimmer. There are many affordable dimmer
packs used in the entertainment industry that are rugged, and more
importantly have passed all the EMI and safety tests. They could easily be
linked in by incorporating a module that either had  Analogue 0-10V
outputs,
or a DMX512 output to interface to Digital dimmers. That would avoid the
expense of designing and manufacturing dimmers and would allow a choice of
dimmer packs already available of the shelf in a range of sizes eg 4 x 5A,
8
x5A from the likes of NJD ( http://www.njd.co.uk ) upto 18 x 5A, 9 x
10A
>from
but someone on the list was using NJD's Midi-Controlled dimmer pack for HA
Lighting.

As I said at the begining of this reply, I didnt get much time to see
Idratek but I was impressed by what it could do and the range of things
that
had already been developed. I personally didnt like the colour of the
faceplates although the functionality and design is very good.

The thing that sticks most in my mind is the large control panel (sorry, I
cant remember the name). I didnt like the shape of it at all and I imagine
the voice output would become a bit annoying after a very short time.
Personally I would prefer to see a more conventionally shaped panel with a
2x40 or Graphics VFD as for me I feel that would be more useful and blend
into the house more easily.

I believe that to gain widespread acceptance, HA systems need to
unobtrusive
and user freindly. They should do the control without you feeling that
control has been "taken away" from you (even if it has!). It is
evident that
a lot of hard work has gone into Idratek and I wish them all the best for
its success but they do need to get lighting control sorted ASAP and have
the faceplates available in other colours.

Keith

www.diyha.co.uk
www.kat5.tv


> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Gumbrell [mailto:david@xxxxxxx]
>
> Let's not forget that Idratek are a small start-up without
> access to the resources of the likes of Clipsal.
>
> They basically have one single gang faceplate moulding which
> they use for all the single modules, by changing the stick-on
> fascia. Given the size of the company and the cost of
> injection moulds (£-five figures) this is pretty
> understandable at this stage in their business.
>
> It seems that the comments about the modules have been taken
> on board, since alternate colours for the plastic are being
> investigated. Apparently, once you have the mould, colour
> changes are relatively cheap.
>
> They currently don't have any lighting modules of the form
> you might expect (DIN rail or "wall-wart"). But: one of the
> single gang modules includes 2 (network addressed) relays to
> support switching of light circuits (2 push buttons on the
> front). Another module has 2 higher current relays suitable
> for switching appliance loads.