# Off-Topic Discussion > The Lounge > Tech Talk >  >  Home Automation Systems

## Ynot

Who gets off on these?

I&#39;m playing around with CQC, at the moment

http://www.charmedquark.com/

You&#39;ll probably know that I&#39;ve got a huge DVD repository stored on my file server at home
4TB of storage, at the mo
with approx. 1000 hours of movies and TV serials to date, together with an unimaginable amount of mp3&#39;s

I&#39;m starting to expand this system, into a complete home automation system

currently fiddling with a few things, from simple stuff, like dimming lights and turning various appliances on / off with remote, to more complicated event driven scenarios like
- door bell rings
- Is there a movie playing?
- If yes, pause movie, and overlay video feed from outdoor camera on screen

So, anyone else into these things?

*edit*
Nice thread on CQC forums
http://www.charmedquark.com/vb_forum...ead.php?t=1429

this is someone elses system, not mine

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## MSG

That is awesome.

How does one run it/wire it? is it run off a computer? how does the computer connect to the appliances and stuff?

this sounds like a fun project, when (if) I get a house I&#39;ll be sure to make sure to do this

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## Ynot

> That is awesome.
> 
> How does one run it/wire it? is it run off a computer? how does the computer connect to the appliances and stuff?
> 
> this sounds like a fun project, when (if) I get a house I&#39;ll be sure to make sure to do this
> [/b]



Devices connect in a variety of ways
most common are serial (newer stuff via usb)

in terms of the lighting, have a look CQC&#39;s tutorial under "Learn"
and also, here
http://www.charmedquark.com/vb_forum/showt...ighlight=lights

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## Jess

If I had this, I&#39;d get off on it.

When I have a house I&#39;ll pay you to come set it up Ynot.  ::movingmrgreen::

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## PenguinLord13

You must be freaking loaded? (no offense, though that isn&#39;t a bad thing anyways, but some rich people take offence at being called rich...) That is really cool. My dad actually works for a company producing a remote that basically controls all your house systems and stuff through WIFI. Really cool stuff. When I get rich and have nothing to do, I&#39;ll definitely do that. By the way, how did you accumulate so much movies and stuff, 4 TB, that&#39;s insane. How is it stored?

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## Ynot

> You must be freaking loaded? (no offense, though that isn&#39;t a bad thing anyways, but some rich people take offence at being called rich...) That is really cool. My dad actually works for a company producing a remote that basically controls all your house systems and stuff through WIFI. Really cool stuff. When I get rich and have nothing to do, I&#39;ll definitely do that.
> [/b]



  ::?:  
loaded&#39;s a relative term
I work
pulling £500 out my arse ain&#39;t too hard





> By the way, how did you accumulate so much movies and stuff, 4 TB, that&#39;s insane. How is it stored?
> [/b]



it&#39;s on a raid-5 array (total 9 x 500Gb hard disks)

how did I get the movies?
mixture of Bit-Torrent, and Blockbusters

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## Seeker

Some of you already know, I work in the industrial automation industry.  Our product offerings start at the home market and scale up all the way through huge operations such as paper mills and petrochemical.

That said, I understand what you are doing and think it is pretty cool.  Have you looked into using Zigbee to control your devices?  It&#39;s pretty neat.

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## Ne-yo

> Some of you already know, I work in the industrial automation industry.  Our product offerings start at the home market and scale up all the way through huge operations such as paper mills and petrochemical.
> 
> That said, I understand what you are doing and think it is pretty cool.  Have you looked into using Zigbee to control your devices?  It&#39;s pretty neat.
> [/b]



My neighbor was telling me he was using Zigbee so I decieded to check it out and was extremely impressed. I mean the range is damn near a mile and his transmitting speed, Forget about it. It&#39;s consistently fast. It&#39;s definitely an awesome module. A very wise investment for sure.

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## PenguinLord13

> How did I get the movies?
> mixture of Bit-Torrent, and Blockbusters
> [/b]



That explains everything  :smiley: . I was worried you bought them all or something. That would be rather stupid.

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## Ynot

> That explains everything . I was worried you bought them all or something. That would be rather stupid.
> [/b]



no need to worry about me

I was pirating video tapes while you were still playing with Lego

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## PenguinLord13

> I was pirating video tapes while you were still playing with Lego
> [/b]



That&#39;s very possible  :wink2: 

I&#39;m wondering though, how is the automation controlled? Do you have some kind of mega remote to control everything, or is it an LCD panel on the wall controlling stuff? Also, sorry I jumped to the conclusion of you being rich (even if you are, I don&#39;t know, it&#39;s none of my buisiness), it&#39;s just that the two people I know with such systems are filthy rich, so I made assumptions.

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## Ynot

> That&#39;s very possible 
> 
> I&#39;m wondering though, how is the automation controlled? Do you have some kind of mega remote to control everything, or is it an LCD panel on the wall controlling stuff? Also, sorry I jumped to the conclusion of you being rich (even if you are, I don&#39;t know, it&#39;s none of my buisiness), it&#39;s just that the two people I know with such systems are filthy rich, so I made assumptions.
> [/b]



lol, no worries, mate
the secret to being rich is not to spend anything
ever

how is it controlled
via software, controlled by remote
see my first post for a link to the CQC forum
it&#39;s got a heap of screenshots

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## PenguinLord13

Ahh wtf? I downloaded it off the internet (the trial) to see what it looks like, but then I couldn&#39;t actually log into it (something about the admin user setup), and I can&#39;t delete it&#33; How do I uninstall it, it&#39;s not in the add/remove programs, and I don&#39;t see a uninstall button.

EDIT:
never mind, I went into the program files ->CQC->bin thing and found the uninstaller.

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## codycarson

A very good option would be a company called Mile High Automation. They make an integrated system called Home Automation Platinum Package: Whole-House Solution which is sold in almost every where and is very popular.
It's got:

    * Omni Pro II Home Automation Controller
    * 1 Touch Screen
    * 2 LCD Keypads
    * 6-Zones of Audio
    * 17 Automated Light Switches
    * 20 Security Contacts
    * 2 Thermostats
    * Computer Control Software
    * Complete Programming & Support


You can start with just the alarm system and grow it to a fully functional home automation system.

spam link removed



Cheers
Cody

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## slayer

Well...since this was bumped and it's very similar to a question I want to ask....I'll just ask it here!

Anyone know what those things are called that you set up in your house and it talks to you?

I remember watching this technology thing along time ago and this one guy had something in his house that would tell him to wake up, ask him some questions, and what not.

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## thegnome54

> Anyone know what those things are called that you set up in your house and it talks to you?
> 
> I remember watching this technology thing along time ago and this one guy had something in his house that would tell him to wake up, ask him some questions, and what not.



http://www.mailorderbrides.com/

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## Taosaur

> http://www.mailorderbrides.com/



XD

Careful, slayer might go for it if he can get them to wear cat ears.

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## slayer

> XD
> 
> Careful, slayer might go for it if he can get them to wear cat ears.



I love how you guys learn me so well  ::D:

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## mini0991

About twelve years ago we use to have a simple X10 home automation system that controlled the lights and also acted as a security system. It kicked ass. One remote controlled almost every light in the house.

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## JET73L

I love these technology-house things. I intend to rig something up to the first house or apartment I own (not rent), if it's not already built in. It'd be wicked awesome for parties, pranks, etc. and scaring tresspassers so bad they'd never return.

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## slayer

I want to do that to a whole apartment building. So I could stand at a distance, press some buttons, and make cool designs with the lights!

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## ExoByte

http://www.break.com/index/tetriswindows.html

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/728424/building_tetris/

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