building a new home

[cj]

heya guys,

building a new house, going to deck it out, I am an electrician by
trade so wiring is no issue with me, I am also building the house
myself so I can design whatever I want.

Basically I am going to list what aspects I would like recommendations
for hardware on and hopefully we can get some good response.

I am going to have a NOC over the garage so all cabling is going back
to there and everything will be controlled from there.

Zwave looks to be the most advanced protocal for appliance control. So
I figure Ill be using that.

(1) Im also thinking about using acoustic magic microphones for home
automation (IVB can CQC do voice commands?)

(2) What would you suggest as zone controllers so if the microphone
pics up sound in one room, it locks onto that signal.

(3) I want to have wired contacts on all doors/windows, what is the
best contacts/controller for this?

(4) I am rfid implanted so I will be using normal keys + rfid for entry
into the main house and rfid for entry into all other rooms. If you
have any questions on this create a new topic and ill answer.

(5) I have x10 anaconda cameras on my old house, any suggestions for
better in the same price range? (32.99).

(6) Entertainment. Would you do big ass dvd changer/player or big ole
computer that has all the movies on it?

(6) Entertainment. controlling tv/radio/dvd/etc...Im thinking pda or
touchscreen?

(7) touchscreens in each vital room.


gimmie suggestions and if i think of more i will post again.

thanks

--chris

[IVB]

Answering that which I know. I don't do RFID or X10, so i'll refrain from
giving you my uninformed opinion.

"cj" <nospam@puddl.com> wrote in message
news:1155871732.843810.320280@m73g2000cwd.googlegr oups.com...
> heya guys,
>
> (1) Im also thinking about using acoustic magic microphones for home
> automation (IVB can CQC do voice commands?)

CQC doesn't do VR yet. Frankly, I don't think the technology is mature
enough to warrant widespread usage.

> (3) I want to have wired contacts on all doors/windows, what is the
> best contacts/controller for this?

For wired contacts/sensors, I got the bag o'magnetic reed switches from
toymaster (www.kanak.com) - something like $2.50/each, cheaper by the dozen.
Running to an Elk M1G, basic switches are all you need.

> (6) Entertainment. Would you do big ass dvd changer/player or big ole
> computer that has all the movies on it?
Depends on # of concurrent streams you want, and # of DVDs you got. I was
looking for a Sony 777ES serial controlled changer, they all seem to be gone
by now as they're discontinued and replaced with the firewire ones. I
currently have 2.5TB in space, but there's tons of heat/noise issues, plus
the power suck. I can get multiple concurrent streams, but if I had to do it
all over again, i'd just get a megachanger.


>
> (6) Entertainment. controlling tv/radio/dvd/etc...Im thinking pda or
> touchscreen?
>
> (7) touchscreens in each vital room.

For both of these, I love my Fujitsu 3400. PDA is just waaaay too small for
anything reasonable inside the home. Plus, the 3400 is only $160, and can
run the CQC viewer natively, no RDP or dot-net-viewer needed. Pics are here.
http://www.charmedquark.com/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=1012&highlight=wallmounted

[Dave Houston]

"cj" <nospam@puddl.com> wrote:

>Zwave looks to be the most advanced protocal for appliance control. So
>I figure Ill be using that.

Figure otherwise.

[cj]

nice response and nice reasoning behind it aswell, really it was.

--chris
cj@puddl.com

Dave Houston wrote:
> "cj" <nospam@puddl.com> wrote:
>
> >Zwave looks to be the most advanced protocal for appliance control. So
> >I figure Ill be using that.
>
> Figure otherwise.

[Dave Houston]

You're building new and say wiring is no problem, yet are planning to use a
braindead RF protocol so I figured nice reasoning would go over your head.
;)

There are several hardwired systems and hardwired beats wireless. Pick one
that fits your budget. I would look hard at Clipsal C-Bus which Square-D is
about to introduce to North America. It has an excellent track record in
Australia/New Zealand and Europe (although it has only been available in
Europe for a couple of years). They also have RF devices to handle any
future needs you may fail to anticipate as you wire. Frank McAlinden (sp?)
recently gave a URL to Square-D's Clipsal page.

http://ecatalog.squared.com/techlib/browse.cfm?hid=0b008926801ebe3d

"cj" <nospam@puddl.com> wrote:

>nice response and nice reasoning behind it aswell, really it was.
>
>--chris
>cj@puddl.com
>
>Dave Houston wrote:
>> "cj" <nospam@puddl.com> wrote:
>>
>> >Zwave looks to be the most advanced protocal for appliance control. So
>> >I figure Ill be using that.
>>
>> Figure otherwise.

[cj]

hey man thanks for responding :)

> CQC doesn't do VR yet. Frankly, I don't think the technology is mature
> enough to warrant widespread usage.

Ive played around a fair bit with homeseer, even went as far as tying
my jabra bt250v into it via bluetooth. Worked exceptionally well but
would cut out from time to time, so like you said its a very buggy
software.


> > (3) I want to have wired contacts on all doors/windows, what is the
> > best contacts/controller for this?
>
> For wired contacts/sensors, I got the bag o'magnetic reed switches from
> toymaster (www.kanak.com) - something like $2.50/each, cheaper by the dozen.
> Running to an Elk M1G, basic switches are all you need.

sweet the elk m1g looks good, any advice on setting it up? you did via
serial i take it? or did u do serial -> usb?

>
> > (6) Entertainment. Would you do big ass dvd changer/player or big ole
> > computer that has all the movies on it?
> Depends on # of concurrent streams you want, and # of DVDs you got. I was
> looking for a Sony 777ES serial controlled changer, they all seem to be gone
> by now as they're discontinued and replaced with the firewire ones. I
> currently have 2.5TB in space, but there's tons of heat/noise issues, plus
> the power suck. I can get multiple concurrent streams, but if I had to do it
> all over again, i'd just get a megachanger.

well im figuring capacity for 500 dvd/movies, satellite feed and the
ability to monitor via multiplexor all the cctvs in the house.

(how many channel multiplexor can one get i wonder?, figure ill have 10
cameras or so in the house).

you went pc with 2.5tb?

yea i think megachanger in the noc will be the best bet.



> > (6) Entertainment. controlling tv/radio/dvd/etc...Im thinking pda or
> > touchscreen?
> >
> > (7) touchscreens in each vital room.
>
> For both of these, I love my Fujitsu 3400. PDA is just waaaay too small for
> anything reasonable inside the home. Plus, the 3400 is only $160, and can
> run the CQC viewer natively, no RDP or dot-net-viewer needed. Pics are here.
>

yea i figure thats what ill do, i will be doing lcd framed monitors
that change artwork based upon the rfid tag it detects when I/family
enter the room.

http://www.charmedquark.com/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=1012&highlight=wallmounted

[robertlbass@comcast.net]

CJ,

Please note that while Mr. Houston routinely posts negative
"information" aboiuot Zwave, he has indicated in the past that he has
never actually had anything Zwave in his possession.

Most of his comments about the subject are based on speculation and
(possibly) some personal animosity toward one participanty of this
newsgroup who sells Zwave products. I don't carry Zwave (other than
one RF transciever from ELK products) so I've not much of an ax to
grind on the subject.

There are several reasons to consider Zwave. For one, the protocol has
garnered support from most of the major players in the industry as well
as several in the PC world (Intel, for example).

I'm a bit fatigued at the moment so I won't rehash much of what has
already been posted on the subject. A Google search on "Zwave" OR
"Z-wave" within this newsgroup may prove interesting.

Regards,
Robert L Bass
www.BassBurglarAlarms.com


Dave Houston wrote:
> You're building new and say wiring is no problem, yet are planning to use a
> braindead RF protocol so I figured nice reasoning would go over your head.
> ;)
>
> There are several hardwired systems and hardwired beats wireless. Pick one
> that fits your budget. I would look hard at Clipsal C-Bus which Square-D is
> about to introduce to North America. It has an excellent track record in
> Australia/New Zealand and Europe (although it has only been available in
> Europe for a couple of years). They also have RF devices to handle any
> future needs you may fail to anticipate as you wire. Frank McAlinden (sp?)
> recently gave a URL to Square-D's Clipsal page.
>
> http://ecatalog.squared.com/techlib/browse.cfm?hid=0b008926801ebe3d
>
> "cj" <nospam@puddl.com> wrote:
>
> >nice response and nice reasoning behind it aswell, really it was.
> >
> >--chris
> >cj@puddl.com
> >
> >Dave Houston wrote:
> >> "cj" <nospam@puddl.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> >Zwave looks to be the most advanced protocal for appliance control. So
> >> >I figure Ill be using that.
> >>
> >> Figure otherwise.