Hello all!

I'm buying my first house and have been planning on starting with a fairly basic home automation setup and expanding from there. After considering MisterHouse in linux, XTension and Indigo on Mac, and HomeSeer on Windows, I have decided to use Indigo 2.0 (and hoping it's in final release before we move!).

Primary uses will be:

* Light control / scenes, for movies, parties, etc.

* Handing when I'm home, away, on vacation, in bed, etc -- turning on or off the right lights at the right times, not blinding me in the mornings by starting off dim, etc.

* An "intelligent" alarm clock to make sure i don't hit snooze too many times and dont' have to remember to turn it off on weekends.

* Making my entertainment system easy for my girlfriend to control. (I believe it's called "WAF", but I'll have to call it "GAF" or "SOAF")

My entertainment center consists of a plasma TV with serial control, a/v receiver, dvd player, cable box, a mac mini for itunes and video playback, and now a tivo series 3.

The home automation controller (a beige G3 tower i have laying around) will probably be in my server rack in the basement, but the entertainment center will upstairs in the living room. So, here are my questions:

1) I want to be able to control the entertainment center components via infrared and serial. I'm wondering if I connect an IRTrans USB and a serial dongle to the TV's serial port via a USB/Serial adaptor (keyspan etc) to the mac mini, is there any way that Indigo 2.0 on the basement G3 can send commands via these devices on the mini, across the network, using some type of client/server protocol? I'd prefer not to run USB cables upstairs, and the IRTrans Ethernet module seems overkill.

2) Most (well, all) of my infrared devices have a "toggle" style of turning on and off via their remotes. My Indigo setup will involve actions such as turning the receiver on and setting the input. My fear is that I'll forget to turn the receiver off at some point, so when Indigo goes to turn ON the receiver, it actually turns the device off instead. I've seen some creative users of power detectors, light detectors next to power LEDs, etc connected to X10 universal modules to inform HA software of the status of a device, but there has to be "a better way" -- I'm wondering how people have worked around this?

3) I'd also be curious in any creative ways people are performing "alarm clock" related tasks, or any other tips anyone can give to a newcomer. I've read the O'Reilly smart home hacks book (great stuff!!!) and spent a lot of time in the forums.

It's nice to see such an active community here, and I look forward to everyone's input!

Matt

Here's some info to start with:

mattopia wrote:1) I want to be able to control the entertainment center components via infrared and serial. I'm wondering if I connect an IRTrans USB and a serial dongle to the TV's serial port via a USB/Serial adaptor (keyspan etc) to the mac mini, is there any way that Indigo 2.0 on the basement G3 can send commands via these devices on the mini, across the network, using some type of client/server protocol? I'd prefer not to run USB cables upstairs, and the IRTrans Ethernet module seems overkill.

I would go for the IRTrans ethernet module. It's about the same price as the USB version, but more flexible in placing.
You can connect the IRTrans USB to your Mac mini and send commands to it from Indigo on your G3 Mac. The iRed software that controls the IRTrans is a client/server app.

mattopia wrote:2) Most (well, all) of my infrared devices have a "toggle" style of turning on and off via their remotes. My Indigo setup will involve actions such as turning the receiver on and setting the input. My fear is that I'll forget to turn the receiver off at some point, so when Indigo goes to turn ON the receiver, it actually turns the device off instead. I've seen some creative users of power detectors, light detectors next to power LEDs, etc connected to X10 universal modules to inform HA software of the status of a device, but there has to be "a better way" -- I'm wondering how people have worked around this?

There is an easy way to make sure the power command switches off the receiver. Just send a non-power command to the receiver that switches it on if it's switched off. Like selecting the first channel. Then send the power command which will actually switch the power off.

macpro wrote:There is an easy way to make sure the power command switches off the receiver. Just send a non-power command to the receiver that switches it on if it's switched off. Like selecting the first channel. Then send the power command which will actually switch the power off.

Hmm, I don't think any of the other remote buttons will turn the receiver on if it's off. But, my receiver is probably about 7 years old and about due for an upgrade - any suggestions for receivers that will do this, or any other solutions?

mattopia wrote:3) I'd also be curious in any creative ways people are performing "alarm clock" related tasks, or any other tips anyone can give to a newcomer.

Hi Matt, and welcome! Here are a few examples of things I do that are not as much home control as they might be occupant control.

Each school day, there are several actions that are scheduled. Each checks a variable (KidsHaveSchool) and if it's true, the following actions fire:
1. A few minutes after the respective alarm clocks go off in the kids' rooms, their desk or dresser lamps turn on, with an auto-off scheduled for about the time that they get on the bus.

2. Approximately 3-4 minutes before the bus arrives (she is very punctual!), there is a Time/Date Action that plays a sound file (bushorn.wav). The kids have been conditioned to this, and when they hear that horn, they scramble for the door.

3. Similarly, five minutes before the bus returns in the afternoon, another T/D Action speaks an alert that "the bus will arrive in five minutes" so that Mom can be sure to have doors open/unlocked for them.

4. Since I occasionally play BZFlag in the evening, and turn down the volume on that computer, there is another Time/Date Action around 4AM that resets the system volume back up to the normal level. [/list]

Most of the units in the house behave reliably, but sometimes the OFF signals are not recognized. Therefore, I use several T/D Actions to make sure certain external lights are off at sunrise and internal lights are off at an appropriately late hour. This is more of a 'belt and suspenders' approach to make sure that I don't leave porch or security lights burning all day, or that the motion-activated basement lights turn themselves off after there's been no detected motion in the basement. You can use some boolean variables to help manage these actions. E.g.: if BasementIsVacant and BsmtStairsIsLight then turn off LT_BsmtStairs

I hope that helps with some ideas. Have fun with your projects!
- Nat