New to home automation - can you help, please?

["martinpalmer8" <martinpalmer8@xxxxxxxxx>]

Since my house is being totally rewired for power, I'm taking the
opportunity to cable up for as much home automation as I feel I might
require in the future.

A first floor cupboard (6ft height x 2ft x 3ft) in the centre of the
house with front and rear access doors will act as the central
distribution point for all cables except mains power and central
heating controls. I'll refer to this cupboard as "Node Zero".

As a total newcomer to home automation, I've done my best to read up
on the subject and have drafted an outline spec (see below). My
personal preference is to avoid wireless and X-10 technology. I would
very much appreciate any comments by you experts out there on any
omissions or errors in the spec but, in particular, I wonder if you
could help me answer the following questions:

(a) Is it better to have fixed IP security cameras transmitting
pictures to a central server, or CCTV cameras connected back to a UHF
distributor?

(b) The distance from the TV aerial to the UHF distributor in the
"Node Zero" cupboard is 30ft. If I put the distributor in the
attic
instead, the distance would be only 15ft. Would this make any
meaningful difference to the signal quality? Is there any reason to
keep the TV "loftbox" away from the Node Zero LAN equipment?

(c) What hardware and cable-type is required to enable me to have an
IR remote handset to select the video signal source (i.e. select
terrestrial TV or CCTV cam 1 or CCTV cam 2 or CCTV cam 3) in any room?

(d) Can anyone recommend a digital audio server compatible with a
networked music player and a Windows XP p.c. network?

Here's the spec:

PC Network and Telephone...

Each room (except the bathrooms and utility room) will have a minimum
of two RJ45 sockets which will be connected back to a patch panel at
Node Zero by Cat 6 UTP cable. The longest Cat 6 cable run will be
200ft from the garage at the bottom of the garden.

The two incoming telephone lines, one of which has ADSL, will also be
run to the patch panel so that any of the RJ45 sockets can be patched
as a telephone outlet. Next to the patch panel will be a router/hub
which can create a 10/100 Base-T network between any computers with an
ethernet connection to the house's RJ45 sockets. It will also enable
internet access to any of these computers.

Security/Intercoms...

The house will have 6 PIR sensors and 3 door contacts. The alarm code
will be set on either of two keypads (front door and back door
locations). Any alarm condition should cause a siren to sound and (up
to) 3 telephone numbers to be automatically dialled for
acknowledgement. The sensors and keypads should be wired back to a
central controller (maybe in the Node Zero cupboard, maybe elsewhere).

Ideally the top floor of the house should have a "panic alarm"
switch
to set off the siren even if the alarm is not armed.

A wireless keyfob should operate the door strike at the back garden
gate (next to the garage). If it is night, this keyfob should also
operate the path lights from the gate to the house. The gate should
also have an intercom linked to the house to facilitate access for
non-keyfob holders.

The garage forecourt should be surveilled by a security camera. When
activity is detected by the forecourt PIR sensor, the camera should
record the activity either to a hard disk or video recorder in the
Node Zero cupboard.

An additional two security cameras will monitor activity at the front
door and in the garden. Pictures from any of the cameras should be
accessible on one TV in the house (or one p.c., not sure which yet).
It might also be useful (but not essential) to access the camera
pictures over the internet.

There should be 4 master intercoms around the house (1 on ground
floor, 2 on first floor, 1 in attic) to allow communication between
four distant areas.

Lighting...

Downstairs lights will be digitally controlled (Mode Lighting's
Evolution). Upstairs lights will have normal (make/break) mains switches.

Smoke alarms...

6 mains-powered loop-connected smoke alarms (Kidde or similar) will
have a local control button to silence the alarms. There will be no
connection to Node Zero.

Television...

A digital television aerial will be connected by CT100 cable to the
input of a Node Zero UHF distribution amplifier (LoftBox?). The
outputs of this distribution amplifier will be connected by CT100 to a
maximum of 8 TV sockets in various rooms thoughout the house. Each
outlet point should be able to receive normal terrestrial TV, FM, and
DAB. Each outlet point will require a separate Freeview digi box (e.g.
Sony VTX-D800U).

At the moment, I don't have cable or satellite TV, nor do I have any
plans to add these.

Ideally, the three security cameras mentioned above should also be
input into the distribution amplifier so that their pictures are
viewable on any TV. This will require some sort of IR switching
control to select the source signal. Alternatively, I could use
cameras with an IP address so that I can view their pictures on a p.c.
connected to the LAN.

Being able to watch the output of any DVD or VCR player in the house
on any TV in the house ("whole house video"?) is not a
requirement.

Audio...

Any p.c. or networked music player (e.g. Slim Devices' SliMP3) on the
LAN should be able to access a single standalone LAN-connected MP3
storage device. For this I suppose that I require a digital audio
server. The digital audio server should be designed for multi-zone
installations so that users can simultaneously select and listen to
different music in different rooms.

The bedrooms, bathroom and reception rooms will have their own local
speaker connections. I do not intend to wire each set of speakers to
Node Zero as I cannot see the advantage.

If I want to switch the speakers from say p.c. sound card output to TV
output, I'll have to do this manually.

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Thanks for reading this, guys.