Jerry Feldman wrote: > Home remote control - not exactly hardware hacking.
Home automation fits the charter of the list. > Years ago I looked into X10... I've written about X10 on BLU (see archives). I'm not a fan. Never worked reliably for me except in very limited use (i.e. a RF wireless switch talking to an RF receiver; no power-line communication involved). > I've looked at Insteon... A viable choice, but it still mostly depends on power-line communication, which I had had enough of, so I put my bets on Z-Wave, with uses a mesh RF network. > What I am looking for is a couple of wireless outlets so I can > program a couple of lamps that are currently running on manual timers. > > ...decided it was not worth it at the time. I recommend starting small and simple. If you go Z-Wave start with one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Intermatic-HA07C-Settings-Wireless-Control/dp/B000BRGU2E/ It's a simple timer/controller. Doesn't handle DST time changes correctly (hard wired for the old schedule) as I noted in my Amazon review, and has a clunky UI, but it's cheap and does the job (I've been using one for a couple of years). You can find one for about $12 at the Ocean State Job Lot down the road from you. Alternatively get the version that comes bundled with a couple of lamp modules: http://www.amazon.com/Intermatic-HA101K-Home-Settings-Wireless/dp/B000BRMMDU/ or separately purchase some modules: http://www.amazon.com/Intermatic-HA02C-Settings-Heavy-Duty-Appliance/dp/B000BJSDZO/ I went with the appliance modules (use a relay instead of a TRIAC) as I don't really have any incandescent lamps that could make use of the dimming functionality the lamp module provides. Anyway, this will get your basic need met for under $50 ($40 if you shop carefully). You;ll get your feet wet with Z-Wave and determine whether it works reliably for you. > What I want to do is to control a lamp (and later a thermostat) from > Linux or Android via WiFi. When you are comfortable with the above, work your way up to this using: http://code.google.com/p/open-zwave/ The list archives and the wiki has recommendations for computer Z-Wave interfaces. I haven't had time to implement the Linux side of my Z-Wave setup, but hope to do it in the coming year. I'd like to build a dedicated home automation server on a router platform. -Tom _______________________________________________ Hardwarehacking mailing list [email protected] http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/hardwarehacking
