I got a few minutes to install the first of the X10 devices I had ordered yesterday.  I started with the den, where my primary home theater system is.  All that went in there were two of the wall outlets and a wall switch for the ceiling fan/light.  After installing, I tested using the mini-controller and everything worked as expected.  The only thing that did not work was the “All On” button from the mini-controller.  Not sure why.  I don’t expect I’d use it very often, if at all, anyway.

After getting those installed and working, I went ahead and decided to see how difficult setting up the Harmony 880 was going to be.  I created a few custom sequences in the advanced button cusomtization of my HTPC activity – an “On” and “Off” for each device.  Testing it proved that it worked perfectly.  There is a very slight delay of maybe one second, but I would expect that since it’s doing an IR to X10 translation.

So far, I’m pretty happy with how they operate.  Installation was simple and the devices appear to be of decent quality.  Not as “cheap” as I thought they would be, but they’re definitely not heavy-duty.  Next will be the bedroom outlets by the bed and the overhead ceiling fan/light switch.  I do believe that I’ll be installing an additional switch though, so that I can separate the operation of the fan and ceiling lights.  I hate pull-strings and we almost alway leave the fan on at nights.  Being able to control the lights and fan with the remote will be great.

Considering the grandparents arrive today, I probably won’t get to do anything more this weekend, so check in to see what I’m up to in a few days.  Have a good weekend!

I received my order from X10 yesterday and am starting to get excited about installing them. I have discovered a few tidbits of information that I did not come across in my research prior to ordering that have me concerned/disappointed, however.

1. CFL bulbs do not work with my WS467 wall switches.
2. I am probably going to encounter noise interference from my home theater equipment and/or UPS units.

These are some fairly big “gotchas” that I did not think of prior to ordering. Considering my intended usage for the WS467 units, that may not be a problem. The ceiling fan light in the den uses only one bulb, so I’ll just put an incandescent back in there. However, our bedroom ceiling fan light uses three bulbs, so that sucks. I guess I’ll put some 40W bulbs back in there. At least we don’t use that light all that much and I did just put two nightstand lamps in there, so that will help. I’m glad the outlet units don’t care what’s plugged into them.

I ordered 8 of those wall switch units, so it looks as though the majority of them will be used for outdoor light switches. I don’t use CFLs out there, so that’s perfect. It’ll be good for the floodlights too. The rest can be used in closets, I guess. I think I have incandescents in those too. If not, I’ll put them back in. My wife leaves closet lights on all the time, so it’ll be good to be able to turn them off from work with the ActiveHome software.

A potential third issue is the software itself. I really wish I could get a hold of a decent Media Center plugin. I really don’t want to buy anything either…not that I would since I’ve not seen anything that was worth the money so far. It wouldn’t even need any advanced functionality – I’m simply looking for On/Off per device. I probably will have to do without, unfortunately. There is a limited free plugin provided by ExDomus, but I will only be able to use that on one Media Center without client/server interactivity.

Hopefully I’ll get to install something this evening so that I can start to fool around with things a little bit.  It’ll probably only be a couple of outlets, but that’s better than nothing.  So long as I can get that and the ActiveHome portion together, I can fool around with it at work tomorrow.  It would have been nice to get it all working by the time my grandparents arrived though.  While my home automation setup is extremely simple, to them it would be all 2099-like.

If anyone knows how to wire up a universal module to a garage door while still being able to use the wired in switch, please comment.  I’m pretty sure I know how to do it, but the wiring is extremely inconvenient for me to screw up a time or two.

I’ve really been neglecting this site, but I just can’t help it. Ever since the painters finished with the house, I’ve been scrambling to get things back into place. I’ve also spent a lot of time outside the house working on the yard and landscaping…it’s a mess. My fish tanks have also required a lot of attention – especially my fantail goldfish tank, as of late. I had expected a mini-cycle, but was not prepared to deal with a full-blown take cycling. The ammonia levels have really been going through the roof as I underestimated how big those fish have gotten and the amount of waste they produce. I had to replace the bio-bags on my filters after transplanting them and it just ruined my good bacteria levels. pH is still low, so I think they’ll be OK so long as I don’t neglect checking the levels and doing some water changes. Oddly enough, the tank full of platys that had over 40 fish died is the one that had the mini-cycle and is doing terrificly now. I’ll probably move a few of them to Joseph’s new 10G tank this weekend. It’s been running for about a week and is probably ready for a few fish.

Anyway, I just placed my order with X10 and pretty much got everything that was on my preliminary list from last week. However, I did decide to add some additional wall switch modules (they were on sale 4-for-3, so I got 8) and the RCA Universal Home Control Kit with ActiveHome Pro. It was only $20 and will allow me to control everything by PC, so I figure it will be very handy from work and a near necessity once I start expanding. I just need to pick up a couple of timers for my fish tanks now so I don’t have to remember to turn out their lights every night. No sense in getting X10 for that though. I wouldn’t be able to install an X10 outlet now anyway (once I get pictures up, you’ll see why).

This weekend will mostly be spent getting the home theater rewired, moving my son’s room (LAN drop and surround speakers installed) and some touch up painting. There’s also a lot of odds-and-ends to take care of (door stops, installing blinds, unpacking leftover boxes from our move, cleaning, etc.). I want to get as much done as possible before my grandparents arrive next weekend…my parents are probably coming the weekend after them, so I’m not going to get to do a whole lot for the rest of the month (not complaining, it’s just fact).

I’m also all set to purchase unRAID first thing next month. The Seagates have dropped to $199 at Fry’s, so it’s an awesome time to have a TB-dedicated setup. I have decided to forgo the Pro version for the Plus version, however. Plus gives me support to 6 drives and I can’t get past four without getting a new SATA card and external enclosure – not to mention the drives. That’s a considerable amount of cash, which will take me a while to come up with. So I figure if I ever need to expand beyond 6 drives, I’ll just upgrade when the time comes. I need the $30 saved now more than I’ll need it later.

Adding that 4th drive will allow me to finally set up my data structure how I originally envisioned while freeing up some much needed space on the second data drive. It fills up fast considering it holds all my TV episodes, box sets/series and children’s movies. I’ll be splitting off the children’s movies, which is about 300GB by itself. That particular drive is almost at 75% capacity right now, so I need the space. My other disk is nearly at 60%, but doesn’t fill up nearly as fast since it’s mainly individual DVD titles, and I don’t buy that often. I have increased my encoding bitrates since moving to unRAID, however, so I’m going to have to keep a close eye on things. I’ll probably use the new disk as an overflow, if I need to. The children’s folder doesn’t grow very fast either. I’m glad unRAID is so flexible that I don’t have to worry about what to do…I can just throw disks in when I need and put data wherever – the shares will still show me what I want to see – how I want to see it!

I haven’t purchased yet, but I did settle on a home automation choice and decided to go with some X10 devices. They’re just the cheapest available while also providing just what I want to go with at this point in time. I can also expand well with them.

I decided to go with:

2 x Wall switch modules (WS467)

4 x SuperSocket receptacle module (SR227)

2 x IR mini-controller (IR543-S)

1 x Universal module (UM506-S)

My total came to about $139 and should take care of my initial needs for two rooms. Plus, the universal module will give me the capability of opening and closing my garage door from the den or bedroom.

The painters have pretty much finished our house, minus the garage, rear deck stain and another pass on our son’s room. I started moving things back into place yesterday evening and am trying to get the fish tanks back into place. I’ve had about 30-35 fish die since moving them. Hopefully I can get the temp tank with problem transplanted this evening. I’ve got to pick up a new tank heater on my lunch break due to a freak break in one yesterday. I think the water level was too low and it weakened the glass. Snapped right in two.

I’m taking Friday off of work so that I can have a long weekend to get the house in some sort of order to move back in. It sucks being out of your own home…especially when it’s longer than you expected. My wife and son won’t probably go back when I do because of the lingering fumes (she’s pregnant and my boy is only 2), but I don’t really smell anything. I’ve got a good air filter I can put in by the bed anyway.

Anyway, I’ll probably order within the next week or so and I’ll be sure to document my experiences (i.e. Harmony setup) along the way. Stay tuned.

Lately, while our house has been pretty much off-limits due to the painting, I’ve been doing more thinking of possible future projects. There are plenty of things I could do to improve my Home Theater system(s), but I’m being practical. What would make things more convenient while also being useful? What I mean is that while you could go out and spend X amount of dollars on the next cool technology, it doesn’t mean anything if it doesn’t actually server your needs. I simply want to compliment what I have already done, while providing myself with future upgrade/expansion potential.

What came to mind was home automation. I’m not thinking big here, simply becaue there is only so much of it that would prove useful to me at this point in time. One thing I’d really like to have is the ability to control the lighting in my bedroom with the Harmony 670 I have. I’ve looked into the X10 line of products and it appears to do what I want, with the right combination of devices. A standard package looks to provide a little more than I’d even initially want. The only downside is the additional IR>RF bridge I would need since my Harmony remotes are both IR. Good news is that they are pretty inexpensive.

I’ll have to do some more research before I feel comfortable in going this route, however. X10 has been around a while, but I keep discovering reason to believe they aren’t the most reliable devices in the world. I don’t need the best, but I’m not buying junk either.

Please leave any comments or suggestions you may have regarding home automation products. I’d like some feedback on your experiences.