Messages

46

Users / Re: Home Automation Protocols (X10, Insteon, Zwave, ...)

« on: January 28, 2008, 02:32:01 pm »

What the .. I was just browsing the contents on the Elekhomica page and suddenly -- the catalog's gone!

Loi, I hope they're only doing this so nobody can order those products before 15:00 anymore (then they'll have to send it the same day)

Guess I'll have to wait a day longer 

I really hope to use orbiters extensively, and no other devices (although I am curious what that crystal scene controller looks like )

Something bugs me about that "phase coupling" thing though, every phase coupler is for 1 phase or 3 phases.. but doesn't every regular home have 2 phases? So, is a coupler still needed then

(Soo much to discover! Sorry, I know this isn't a forum regarding Home Automation, but still ...

47

Users / Re: Home Automation Protocols (X10, Insteon, Zwave, ...)

« on: January 28, 2008, 01:43:07 pm »

Ah .. Hmm, well, when it does come out it'll probably take a while before some shop nearby sells it, so I'll go with PLCbus then. (In fact, I think I'll order them today, hehe)

And nothing's really lost, is there? When Insteon does come along I can always use them side by side. (I'm only planning on doing a few rooms now, I'll always have a less-important use for an "inferior" format, hehe

48

Users / Re: Fiire Station 2.2" Review/Specs

« on: January 28, 2008, 12:49:14 pm »

Errr, sorry for yet another ignorant post (Hehe. I'm still below 10 posts, I'm allowed to ask stupid questions, no?

But can't you just install the regular LMCE MD?

The FiireStation isn't a locked computer, is it?

Err, does the regular LMCE MD support mythtv (with a tv tuner on the core?)

49

Users / Re: Home Automation Protocols (X10, Insteon, Zwave, ...)

« on: January 28, 2008, 08:33:56 am »

Ah, I see!
That sounds quite nice, actually.

I've heard they plan on releasing Europe-compatible devices mid-2007; so it could be worth the wait for Europe? (As the cost doesn't seem to differ much compared to PLCBus devices...)

Patience isn't one of my strong points though, hehe.

50

Users / Re: Home Automation Protocols (X10, Insteon, Zwave, ...)

« on: January 27, 2008, 10:07:35 pm »

Ah, that's a nice webshop. I was worried about the different types of sockets (I didn't even know Holland's sockets differ from the ones in Belgium) but luckily (and I actually just realized this just now, loi) our appliances support both sockets.

I'll follow that thread religiously. It's been quite an interesting read so far, actually.

I really like the openness of PLCbus, as opposed to Zwave's closed source model. (And it's wireless, meh..)

Why is Insteon more sophisticated, anyway? Sure, it has that EZbridge-possibility ...

Anyway, thanks for all the help so far!

51

Users / Re: Home Automation Protocols (X10, Insteon, Zwave, ...)

« on: January 27, 2008, 09:35:07 pm »

PLC-Bus?

Hah, looks a lot like Insteon, indeed... It's kinda hard to find a decent seller for it, apparantly.

But, euhm, does LMCE really support it? (I only see 4 protocols in the wiki: X10, EIB, Insteon & ZWAVE)

And, correct me if I'm wrong, I thought the latest Zwave producs didn't support linux anymore.

52

Users / Home Automation Protocols (X10, Insteon, Zwave, ...)

« on: January 27, 2008, 09:13:50 pm »

I'm currently *drowning* in all these different technologies... I thought X10 was the way to go, 'till I read a lot of reports of it being too slow and too unreliable.

I live in Europe, in Belgium, and although I got excited when I read all about Insteon, I also read it's only available for American electrical networks? Then I don't really know what to do, actually...

X10 is so old, it's universally supported but also outdated. Insteon is compatible with X10 but it's not available here (right?). I don't know what to think about all the others, I read that Zwave is too proprietary to use it reliably, and the "wireless only" thing kinda puts me of, actually (having a big house, you'd probably need a lot of signal boosting-devices)

Does anyone else in here have a good European Home Automation solution?

53

Feature requests & roadmap / Re: tux droid as remote or more ?

« on: January 27, 2008, 05:09:02 pm »

Oh, how nice!
It makes me think of Nabaztag, only cheaper, more functional, open-source, ... Very cool, indeed! (I guess I'll have 2 rabbits and 1 penguin from now on )

I always thought Nabaztag needed a battery-solution, it is a shame that Tux Droid doesn't have WiFi though, how far does that other wireless thing go?

54

Users / Re: Multiple cable tvs / thin clients

« on: January 26, 2008, 04:48:06 pm »

Well, as trossman kinda said, every tuner can only catch 1 signal at a time! So multiple tuners are the only way to go, I fear...

I don't know how this works with DVB tuner cards, though, they can also catch only 1 channel at a time, I believe, but how does it work? DVB, as the name says so itself, is a broadcast and, since it's digital, why does it need to "tune" to anything? Isn't all the data there already? Shouldn't that be able to watch more channels at once?

I believe set top boxes are pure evil, you have no control over *anything* whatsoever! They're the only kind you can find in backwater Belgium, though. Every digital tv provider makes you use their box (except TV Vlaanderen, but it's a satellite provider, and I don't want to put a dish in my bakyard.)

55

Users / Re: "Wireless" core?

« on: January 26, 2008, 04:39:56 pm »

Oh well, I spent a good hour trying to push the cat cable behind the wall, luckily I could sometimes see the cable through cracks where the wall meets the floor (it's not finished yet ) and eventually got it squeezed through a very small opening at the end (aah, all the jokes that could be made here...) So I got my cable to the core!

For the record, I didn't want to connect the core wirelessly to all the other devices, just to the router. Then I wanted to connect the core, through a switch, with the MDs... But that far-fetched idea won't be necessary, thank god!

56

Users / "Wireless" core?

« on: January 25, 2008, 11:03:54 pm »

I was looking for something like LinuxMCE for a very long time and I discovered it today... Now, I always dreamt of an integrated media system and all, but never really thought a lot about the network itself, the cabling and such ...

To keep a long story short, could I make the core connect to the router wirelessly (to get an internet connection) and connect all my MDs to the core through utp cables? (I can't get a wire from the core to my router because, just a FEW days ago, I did some wall-changing things and stuffed the router away there (thinking I'd never need cables again.. ugh)

Err, or is this idea completely stupid? How is the wireless future for linuxMCE looking, anyway?