Ingo's Homevision®-based Home Automation System

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History of my system:

1/2/97	Ordered from Worthington today:  Homevision TV Sniffer (Probe only) Buffalo Electronics PS-100 Amplified IR Connecting Block, Xantech power supply, three Xantech dual mini emitters Two Leviton 6400 Wall Transmitters Two dual floodlight motion detectors Late that evening a message on my answering machine told me there was a mistake in my credit card number. Darn - I was expecting it the next day.
1/3/97	Talked with Richard at Worthington - they wrote my credit card number down wrong. He graciously offered to ship it overnight with Saturday delivery - at his cost to make up for the error.
1/4/97	Received all the parts at 11am on a Saturday. I'm psyched!  I highly recommend Worthington - they're reliable, very helpful, and they have the best prices. Richard Scholl really knows his stuff.  I had already downloaded and installed the software from Worthington's Web site and already had printed and read the manual, so I was ready to go. By late this evening I had already configured it for all my X-10 hardware and enough IR to run the TV and receiver.
1/7/97	Perfected (maybe) my TV Menu interface. Through the IR interface, Homevision now keeps track of if I'm watching TV with the internal tuner, or if I'm watching a Laserdisc via the video input.  If I'm watching TV, it opens the PIP window for the Homevision display.  If I'm watching a video input, it knows to just superimpose the text on the screen.
1/8/97	Added "Feed Fish" macro.  My daughter can now select a menu item off the TV screen which turns off the Aquarium filter and turns on the aquarium lamp. Then an hour later the filter turns back on.
1/10/97	Created and advertised new homevision-users mailing-list to fascilitate the exchange of information and ideas.  To subscribe, send a message to majordomo@Warren.MentorG.com with the following in the BODY of the message:  subscribe homevision-users
1/18/97	Finally installed the first Leviton 6400 Wall Controller. I placed its addresses so it would control two lights directly, with the third for Homevision Home/Away notification.
1/23/97	Received my new Marantz RC-2000 remote control. Started programming buttons to send specific IR commands to Homevision, with each one labeled on the LCD screen. It really makes it easier to use than having to remember that mute turns on the lights.  Here's a scan of an RC2000 advertisement (290K).
2/15/97	Can't quite get my CompCo TVSniffer probe to work properly. It's too sensitive - it thinks the TV is coming on in the middle of the night. Maybe it's sensing the refrigerator in the next room?  Looks like I'm going to have to try something else.
3/15/97	Fixed the TVSniffer problem by adding a simple debounce routine: if the state of the digital input changes, I just load a timer with 15 seconds and start it. When the timer expires, I call the routine to actually change the "TV Power" state variable.
5/??/97	Bought 3 Makita Drapery motors from Electronic Goldmine for $10/each. Now I have to find a way to control them (IR) and something to hook them up to, since they didn't come with the drapery tracks or the remote.
7/16/97	Uploaded Homevision IR file Makita.zip to control Makita motor.
11/13/97	I'd been updating my pages on my PC, but never uploaded them.  Now my hard drive crashed and I had to go back to what was already published.  I added this page to the WebRing (at bottom).

The Homevision not only does full two-way X10 control and has 24 digital input/outputs, but it also has full two-way IR and built-in video output!

Things I will control:

• Home Theater

I want to be able to press one button on my IR remote and have the system switch on my TV, receiver, and laserdisc player; put everything on the proper input; close the drapes; darken the room; and start the show. Using the built-in IR and X-10 circuitry of the HomeVision system, I should be able to control almost every device and light from my remote control.
• Lights (Duh!)

This one's fairly obvious. It includes motion sensors to turn lights on and off for convenience and energy savings. All controlled via X10 by the HomeVision system.
• Reminders

A reminder system sounds pretty pathetic, but I'm tired of forgetting to take out the garbage or feeding the fish until after I've gone to bed. But I don't want some reminder that reminds me even when I've done what I needed already. So the plan is to put a button near the item that I can hit when I've completed the task - that way the system will only display "Take out the Trash" if it's Thursday night after 8pm only if I didn't hit the "I've taken out the trash" button that day.
• Security

I already have a security system in my house, but it would be nice to integrate that into the home control system for additional functions, that way I can add deterent functions, such as turning on the sprinklers when motion is detected near the doors and windows - before they're broken into.
• Phone

I hate being interupted by a phone call when I'm watching a movie - and that's always what happens. But once I link in a Vive Caller ID unit, I'll be able to selectively ignore people. When the phone rings, it will be able to superimpose the caller's name and number onto the TV screen using the HomeVision's built-in video circuitry. Not only that, it can ignore certain people at certain times or when I've put the system into certain modes, but ring others through.
• HVAC

Setback thermostats are getting powerful, but I don't want to have to tell ten different devices that I'm out - I'd rather hit one button on my way out the door, and let the automation turn back the thermostat, arm the security system, and put the lights into live-mode.
• LCD Panels

I plan to place LCD panels strategically throughout the house to help simplify automation for my family. Right now the plan is to use Basic Stamps for this function, networked together via an RS-485 network.

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Links to Home Automation sites (I'll organize these soon...):

• HomeVision @ Worthington

• Other Homevision users:
• Kerry Parker
• Home Automation Magazines I read:
• Home Automator
• HTInews

• Where I shop
1. Worthington Distribution
2. Home Automation Systems - On-Line Catalog
3. ASI Home Automation Product Guide

• Caller ID
• Vive
• The Identifier Multi-Line Caller ID for Computer Telephony Applications Caller ID
• Hardware Caller ID Computer Telephony Caller ID

• Audio/Video Distribution
• John Sevinsky's Homebrewed A/V/IR Distribution system

• Speech Recognition and Synthesis
• Speech Recognition - Speech Toys
• lotec
• Speech Synthesis / Recognition
• Q5.5: Speech Synthesis Software/Hardware
• comp.speech WWW site
 
• Lots of random links having something to do with home automation.
• HomeTeam
• WWW Home Page for comp.home.automation
• Newsgroup: comp.home.automation
• PHOAKS: Resources for comp.home.automation
• Home Automation Index
• Audio/Video Control and more
• Zig's Amazing IR Remote Control Page
• Leviton Manufacturing - Home Page
• X-10 USA: Home Page
• SBT Automation
• Yahoo - Entertainment:Home and Garden:Home Automation
• Yahoo! - Business and Economy:Companies:Home and Garden:Home Automation
• Wayne's Bookmarks and Favorite Sites
• Home Automation
• HomeTech:Products:Whole-House:Marrick
• Dan's HA System
• Dan's Home Automation Index
• Niles Audio Corporation, Inc.
• The Winter's House
• ASI Home Automation Product Guide
• High Tech Garage Sale Home Page
• APPLIED DIGITAL, INC.
• FreeBSD Home Automation
• Parallax, Inc. -- BASIC Stamp Products
• Basic Stamp 2 Applications
• List of Stamp Applications (LOSA)
• Stamp Applications
• HTI New - Home Automation Newsletter
• Electronics on the Web - Title Page