RE: Re: newbie help please - long post

["Mark McCall" <lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I have just bought my first home and am interested in automating

Hi marcmchawi, welcome to the group.

> 1. Distribution of AV to more than one room - At present I have a DVD,
> Sky box, VHS, X-box, CD/Minidisc all running through a Yamaha DSP A2
> amp into a Panasonic Widescreen TV. I want to be able to distribute
> this to the lounge and bedroom with IR control, maybe even housing all
> the equipment in Node 0. I have seen a new Yamaha amp that has 3 zones
> -  2 video and 1 audio only - how do I get
the
> signals to the right place. Do I use some of the stuff I've seen
on
> www.kat5.tv or do I buy very long s-vhs leads

KAT5 everytime.  You may need some sort of matrix switcher to choose which
sources to feed to which rooms.

> 2. Whole house audio - I know top end systems are out of my price

Have you seen the pics of the Sonos stuff?

> maybe bathroom will do. I have an Ipod and have seen the Seaonce port
> which I like and would want to use this as the main library
of
> songs anyone know how this connects to the amp and how do I
control
> the volume in each room

Easier to have all your music on a "sever" pc and then use a
SliMP3, Xbox,
PC or whatever in each zone as a client.

> 3. Lighting - I love the idea of auto occupancy lighting, but I am
> unsure of what other levels of control this offers? Do I opt for
> hardwired pir or the stcik on RF versions

Simplest is X10 RF PIRs, try that first and see what you think.

M.