>Hi, after being unsubscribed for a while, I have re-listed with a >question: I've got a Mac Classic or an SE to donate to the cause of >automating things in the house (i.e. turning on lights, etc) I've been >wondering if there's a way to program the serial port to run things such >as solenoids/relays, etc. I already have REALBasic 3.5.1, which makes >68k binaries, so maybe something like that would work? (BTW, I'm not >interested in starting an X10 home automation system; something more >scratch-built)
It depends on how many items you want to control? If you only wanted to control 1 simple on/off item like a lamp then some simple latch circuit connected to the serial port could probably be made, of course you will need some good isolation between your mac circuit and the AC side of things, if you don't know what you are doing there it is best left alone. If you want to control more devices you can often find project boards in electronic hobby catalogues that convert RS232 to eight logic bits, I have one here, or you could even look at a device called a BASIC Stamp, this little item can have programs uploaded to it written in BASIC and can talk RS-232 and so can be connected to the Mac's serial port as well as to other hardware for controlling your devices. It is possible but depends on you electronics skills. > >Andrew > Regards Sean. -- Compact Macs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/>. Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Compact Macs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/compact.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive:<http://www.mail-archive.com/compact.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
