Re: Web Enabled Time/Temp/Humidity and I/O Controller

["Robert Green" <robert_green1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"Christopher Glaeser" <nospam@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1eSdnTskeLo87HbXnZ2dnUVZ_jGdnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> I just placed an order through Amazon and have recieved an email that it
has
> shipped.  Looking forward to playing with this device.
>
> Best,
> Christopher

Me too!  At $35 apiece, it's quite a deal.  Especially considering the cost
and complexity of other web-smart home control devices out there that run in
the multi-hundred dollar range.

So far, I've got three different projects in mind for the two units I have:

1) Whole house power use tracking,
2) home monitoring and remote reporting (i.e. emailing my cellphone if the
the fridge blows a fuse or if the GFCI trips) and
3) a way to help my hard-of-hearing friend hear smoke alarms and doorbells
and phones ringing since my first attempt at a solution didn't work as well
as I had hoped.

As some in AHR might recall, after discovering my elderly friend couldn't
hear the typical high-pitched smoke alarm, I got him a one of the few low
frequency smoke alarms out on the market.  What I didn't discover until
recently was that he spends most of his time wearing full cup, noise
cancelling headphones because he has such a hard time hearing the TV if
there's any background noise!!!!

With the web-control unit I am hoping to tie into the alarm sounder so that
if it goes off, the device will send me and others an email and will also
activate a "bass shaker" or some other sort of vibrational alert that I'll
put under his easy chair, where he spends most of his time recovering from
two TKRs (total knee replacements).  I may also investigate creating a
little box to plug in between the headphones and his TV headphone jack that
will switch off the program sound track and switch in an alarm sound when
the device detects the smoke alarm, the doorbell or the phone has sounded.

I didn't order the chassis, partly because it costs almost half of what the
unit does! So I've been looking around for something to mount the board in.
I've found it fits perfectly in the clear plastic flip-top cases I've been
storing 3.5" floppies in, thus saving $15 for the case they sell (but
*don't* list on the Amazon site for some odd reason).  As an added bonus,
I've cleaned out all the old floppies in my collection like Windows 3.1 and
Microsoft flight simulator.  (-"  Out with the old junk, in with the new!

I also discovered that the 16 pin IDC (insulation displacement connector)
the unit uses to access its analog and other ports is exactly the same size
as that long forgotten connector used to connect joystick ports to PC
motherboards (long before USB came along).  It's so nice when my junk bin
yields up just what I need!  It validates my packrat way of life.  I
suggested to the vendor that they might want to make such additional parts
(and a suitable power supply) available for purchase directly from them,
rather then sending them off to Digikey or Mouser for the missing puzzle
piece.

I've unfortunately had to postpone my futzing around with the unit until the
leaves covering the front and back lawns disappear.  (-:  More to come!  -
Eventually.

--
Bobby G.