Here we go.. Part II
Posted by Satsu, Feb 18 2009, 05:34 PM
With a deep breath I'm about to place my order for the Elk System. Whew...... Yeah I'm really nervous about this purchase. Someone please tell me it gets cheaper from here.
1. (1) EN4250 Enclosure, 42", with Door, Premium Line, Accepts any OnQ, Channel Vision or Structured Cabling Products (Brand) Telecom, Video, Data or Automation Module with universal mounting holes, dual j-box knockouts and larger top openings (26lbs.)
2. (1) ELK-M1GK Automation Controller, M1G (gold )Includes, M1 Controller, Transformer, LCD keypad (KP Style), 8Ah battery, speaker, & RJ31X set (Enclosure ordered Seperately) (14lbs.)
3. (1) ELK-M1XSP Automation Serial Interface, Serial port expander & thermostat/Lighting Interface, Gender changer not included (if needed). (1lbs.) "Interface for the Aprilaire 8870"
4. (1) ELK-M1XEP Automation Interface, Ethernet Port, Allows operation of the M1 system from the web or Lan - Uses Browser type interface. Also supports programming via ethernet. (1lbs.) "Allows communication with the CQC Server"
5. (1) R1125T-N Switch, Door/Window, Recessed, 3/8" Stubby N/C, with 3/8" Rare Earth Magnet,1/2" Gap, w Terminals - Use as replacement for R1125, 1125TW, R1125TW, SOLD AS 10 PACK, Normally Closed (0.2lbs.)
6. (5) 5820A-W Sensor, Glassbreak, Shatterpro II, Recessed, fits 3/4" Round hole (0.5lbs.)
7. (2) 104-13 Sensor, Heat Detector, 135F, Fixed Temperature/Rate-of-Rise (1.2lbs.) "Kitchen/attached dining room"
8. (1) 104-14 Sensor, Heat Detector, 194F, Fixed Temperature/Rate-of-Rise (0.6lbs.) "Attic"
9. (3) 521BXT Sensor, Smoke Detector, 2-Wire Photoelectric, 6-24 VDC, Smart Dual Fixed/Rate of Rise Heats, with Clean Me Feature (0.8lbs.) "bed rooms"
10. (7) PI6000 Sensor, PIR, 40'x40 Range - Pet Immune, Passive Infra Red, Pet Immune for Smaller Pets (1.4lbs.)
11. (1) 22/2-500-C-W Stranded, 2C/22 ga, 500ft coil pack. Bare copper conductors, PVC w/sun resistance, ripcord and sequential footage marking. (4lbs.)
12. (1) ELK-M1KP Automation Keypad, LCD, 32 Characters, Alphanumeric, For the Elk M1 and Elk EZ8 (1lbs.) "Extra keypad for the back door"
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I would like to thank Tony Stewart "Number20" from SetNetPro.com for his patience on the phone with him for about an hour and went through every piece ensuring I didn't buy something incompatible and advised on sensors.
Also have the Aprilaire from Ebay coming in soon. Patch panel arrived from Ebay yesterday. Still need to pick up an additional roll of Cat5E.
In the beginning...
Posted by Satsu, Feb 14 2009, 06:25 PM
Well here we go, phase 1.
Trying my best to plan this out and I welcome any comments or suggestions as I hope to do this with minimal failure 
What I have right now that is related to home automation.
1. CQC Home Automation full license. I am absolutely enamored with this product btw. I have had it roughly over a year and haven't even begun to use it to it's full potential. Something I plan on remedying through 2009.
2. Denon 3806 reciever. I like this device considerably. It provides 3 seperate controllable zones, 2 of them are powered. It is also rs-232 controllable and allows for 2 way communication. The first thing I did was plug this into my HTPC and let CQC controll it.
3. 24 port gigabit network. While everything possible is networked "multiple pc's, servers, laptops" across the house, I wouldn't say it's exactly pretty. I suffer from a rather low WAF score on this one. While she loves the functionality of it, the appearence is less than to be desired. What I have is a large storage box by my pc with the cable modem, router, 24 port gig switch and WAP stuffed in it. Then cables dragged all over the house across the edge of the floor. Somehow it went from "temporary" to "when the hell is this going to get finished!" from the wife.
4. SageTV media center, 2 clients. I have yet to get this integrated into CQC, still trying to work that out.
5. Multiple pc's, laptops, 1 dedicated Dell GX270 that houses the CQC server. A custom built "by me" HTPC which houses the SageTV Media Center, roughly 2 TB of total storage capacity, 250 gigs of music and a small but growing ripped DVD collection.
What I would like to accomplish in 2009:
1. Elk-M1G system. I've read many good things about the Elk system on both Cocoontech and CQC forums. I'm sold on it. What I don't know is what accessories I should be getting with it. What additional boards do I need? What do I need to add in to enable lighting? HVAC control? What door/window/glass breakers should I be looking at? Motion Detectors as well, there seems to be different classes of them, some better for security, some better for home automation. I'm leaning more towards home automation scale since I live out in the country on a tiny 2 acre plot. I'm more likely to have the sensor set off by spiders crawling on it and deer in the front yard. I have a few feelers out to the dealers that participate on Cocoontech and am hoping for some good feed back.
2. HVAC. I'm leaning towards an Aprilaire 8870 and currently bidding on one on ebay right now. Again, I'm not sure if I need an additional ELK board or not to interface it, still a little fuzzy on how things plug into the Elk.
3. Lighting. The pole says everyone is going with Insteon, but I like the idea of Onq/ALC. Again, I have a small one story house with lots of easy attic access. Since I'm about to run the wire for the network, I don't think it would be that much more difficult to run extra drops to the light switches. If the only thing I have to do is install a new ALC light switch and run a cat5 to it, then I'm sold. Re doing HV wiring for the house is absolutely not something I want to tackle. On a side note, I will probably have the Elk control the lighting, and CQC control the Elk. If nothing else it's a proven concept and one less thing I have to worry about if/when I sell the house.
4. MultiMedia. Oddly enough, this has cost me the most frustration. I'm a computer geek by trade, but have really struggled with multi source, multi zone, multi media distribution and how people control it. I have gotten much better at it, but only after reading extensively here on Cocoontech and the Charmed Quark "CQC" forums. I don't think I'll ever be done tinkering with this category, but I hope to have some very clear goals accomplished in 2009:
4A: HD SageTV. The main concern is displaying in the Living Room and Kitchen at the same time. We often putter around the kitchen during shows etc, and one of us often misses something due to no display and muffled audio in the kitchen. The kitchen is just in the other room so you can always hear that something is going on, just not clearly without cranking it up in the living room. So whatever solution I put in, it has to be *synched* in both rooms. If not, the echo will drive us nuts. I'm thinking a pc in the kitchen with a 19 flat panel monitor and sage client on it, combined with the htpc in the living room powering the 47 inch tv, and an Hauppauge HDPVR 250 powering both. I *hope* that this will work. I'll experiment with this and let everyone know how it goes.
4B: Integrating SageTV, DVD collection, DVD ripping, DVD Profiling, Live tv control and Music collection all into CQC. There are so many different clients and ways of doing this that I am honestly confused.
5. Finish wiring my network. I've purchases a Leviton Cat5E 24 port patch panel off of ebay and all various tools, crimpers, jacks, plates etc from Lowes last Friday "Feb 13th". Plan on doing the install in roughly 2 weeks after the rest of the gear arrives. Also still trying to work out where I'm going to mount all this stuff. I originally thought the hallway closet would be ideal, but after measuring the swing open network rack I was going to use, I just don't think it's going to fit well. I better figure it out quick though
There is more I'm sure, but that's a good start.
All tips, suggestions etc are more than welcome.
on Here we go.. Part II