Re: Inject text alerts into a CATV system

[Robert L Bass <sales@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 19:09:00 -0500, "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.

Heh, your situation mirrors mine.  My father *finally* bought hearing aids last
year after much prodding from the rest of the family.  His TV volume was making
the rest of us deaf.  I was speaking to my mother the other day and she told me
he is being very careful of his hearing aids.  He keeps them rolled up in a
clean cloth in his dresser drawer all the time.  :^)

There are devices that the CCTV industry uses to inject titles and time stamps
into an image as it's being viewed / recorded.  Perhaps one of these can be
configured to work with your HA system.  Alternatively, there are PC cards that
are used for video capture which allow titling.  I'll give a couple of suppliers
a call tomorrow and ask if there's one that can display text from a background
app running on the PC.  There are Caller ID devices that can handle that.

Also, if you happen to be considering satellite vs cable, note that some
satellite TV providers offer on-screen caller ID prompts which pop on screen
when the phone rings.  I have DISH Network and ISTR they provide the service at
no charge.

--

Regards,
Robert L Bass

Bass Burglar Alarms
The Online DIY Store
http://www.BassBurglarAlarms.com

--

Never underestimate the power of very stupid people in large groups.