new boy in town

[jontawn]

Hi All !,

I've stumbled accross this site from automatedhome.co.uk i'm also a member of the mail lists *hello frank mc'*

i'm based in not-so-sunny england and am looking to make a break into the world that is home automation - specifically design and integration of lighting and control systems.

nice to find a forum other than the usual array of home cinema and putting pc's into cars ... (not there is anything wrong with that ... but...)

i guess thats my intro.

regards,
Jon.

[Forumadmin]

Hi All !,

I've stumbled accross this site from automatedhome.co.uk i'm also a member of the mail lists *hello frank mc'*

i'm based in not-so-sunny england and am looking to make a break into the world that is home automation - specifically design and integration of lighting and control systems.

nice to find a forum other than the usual array of home cinema and putting pc's into cars ... (not there is anything wrong with that ... but...)

i guess thats my intro.

regards,
Jon.
Welcome aboard Jon. Hope you enjoy your time here and make a break into systems integration. What part of England are you from? At least its warming up over there!

Cheers

[jontawn]

Hi,

I'm from sheffield!

I've been looking around and i think i'm going to book myself onto a cbus course later this year, a good friend of mine is a qualified electrician so i've got that bit sorted ... just need to decide exactly where i want to be within the expance of HA !

can any of you guys offer any advice on getting into the industry ? and how did you get into it ? (what background, electrician / IT etc)

dont know if it helps, but i currently work in IT at the moment...

regards,
J.

[Frank Mc Alinden]

Hi Jonathan
Welcome aboard...Hopefully you will find some interesting snippets here...
As far as getting into Home Automation i would imagine that initially you would require some other core buisness and build the Home Automation up...Maybe someone who actually does it for a living here could coment....
Frank

[Forumadmin]

I'm from sheffield! Well whats with the weather there? http://www.onlineweather.com/v4/uk/city/Sheffield.html (http://www.onlineweather.com/v4/uk/city/Sheffield.html)

When you said in your first post "not so sunny" you weren't having us on.

can any of you guys offer any advice on getting into the industry ? and how did you get into it ? (what background, electrician / IT etc)


Getting into home automation is not that hard to do. With a few provisos’ that is. A good understanding of electrical rules and regulations is mandatory. I licence is preferred. A good understanding of IT integration i.e. internet protocols, routers, hubs, networking etc is also mandatory. From here it’s just learning, vertical at first and then learning more as needed. One thing I can vouch for is that you won’t be board with the new technologies coming let alone the ones available right now.

How did I get into it? Well I have an electrical contracting business, with a staff of 8. I also had a software development company which specialised in the production of 1 off applications for the electrical industry. I just moved my electrical business into systems integration, blending my software programming skills with the electrical business and here we are today.

Maybe someone else can shed some light on “how we got started”.

Anyway getting there is half the fun. If you are keen for a steep curve then you have just got to put one decision in front of the other. Get a good business plan together and “have a go” as we Australians have been herd to say.

Cheers

[jontawn]

many thanks for your thoughts and comments,

I currently work in IT and have around 7yrs experience of support / networking etc so i think all is cool with that side of things.

well, from whats been said i think i'm going to have a wonder over to the couple just up the road doing a self-build and have a word with them about lighting / audio etc - a little convenient i think ;o) (the self-build)

A friend of mine is a qualified electrician and i've had a word with him, and it looks like i can sub-contract him out to do that electrical side, and i'll do the integration / data side.

once again, many thanks.

Jonathan.

[Forumadmin]

many thanks for your thoughts and comments,

I currently work in IT and have around 7yrs experience of support / networking etc so i think all is cool with that side of things.

well, from whats been said i think i'm going to have a wonder over to the couple just up the road doing a self-build and have a word with them about lighting / audio etc - a little convenient i think ;o) (the self-build)

A friend of mine is a qualified electrician and i've had a word with him, and it looks like i can sub-contract him out to do that electrical side, and i'll do the integration / data side.

once again, many thanks.

Jonathan.
Good luck then Jonathon,
Hope your first project is a success.
Cheers