Re: Inject text alerts into a CATV system

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

From: "Dave Houston" <nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx>

>Three TVs does complicate things.

>Here are a few links to get you started...

> http://www.basicmicro.com/Product.aspx?productID=143&CategoryID=43

Thanks, Dave!

That Basic Atom looks like a sweet piece of HW to keep in mind for another
project but I've started re-thinking the problem from the ground up.  It may
be too damn difficult to execute at a reasonable price.  I may have to
settle for CID on one TV and an electronic doorbell.  I may be able to rig
the doorbell so that its volume is determined by the ambient noise level.
If Dad is watching March Madness with the volume at max, the doorbell volume
is at maximum.  When there's no sound detected, the doorbell is at normal
volume.

When I sat down with all the suggestions people had listed and all the
conditions, various inputs and outputs I had to deal with it turned out to
be too complex to function reliably unless I spent a TON of money on it.

> http://www.icircuits.com/prod_osd232.html

Looked interesting too.

http://www.worthdist.com/netmedia/nmctvx.htm

The CTV1-M looks interesting, but I am not sure how I can work it into a
closed system like the DVD/TV/VCR combo unless I develop some way to change
the channel to the "house news" channel and then back again when there's
been an alert requiring a text message.  That's nowhere near as good a
solution as being able to overlay text on the channel that he's currently
watching.

--
Bobby G.


"Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>Dad's nearly deaf and is not terribly compliant about keeping his hearing
>aid turned up.  Instead, he watches the TV with the set's *sound* turned
way
>up - we're talking thunderous volume here.  Unfortunately, this means he's
>almost completely unaware of his surroundings.
>
>What I would like to is create a fairly low cost HA system that's capable
of
>putting up brief text messages over the TV so when he's watch March Madness
>and someone's pounding on the door and ringing the buzzer, I can send
"Front
>Door bell ringing" or "phone call" or "smoke detector activated" or
>"FIRE!!!" or whatever on the screen so he knows to take some action.
>
>We've already got various phone flashers scattered around the house, but I
>would also like to pipe Caller ID info to the screen as well so that he
>*knows* who's calling, not just that there's a phone call.  I don't know if
>other folks' parents are like mine, but after years of being barraged by
>telemarketers, they are as likely just to let the phone ring if they aren't
>expecting a call.  It's become a real issue.
>
>I'm still very much in the planning stage and would like to hear from
anyone
>who's done something similar.  It's complicated by the fact that there are
>three TV's he's likely to be watching.