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Does anybody know whether (unofficially) a Samsung Android phone with NFC can spoof a card and be "read" by the M1PR (Elk's proximity-card reader)? I know you can spoof *some* rfid cards (at least, if your phone's rooted and you aren't depending upon the official API to do it *grin*), but I...

Does anybody make a single-gang variant of divided electrical boxes that provides an enclosed, code-compliant electrical box big enough for exactly one (proprietary) outlet that's ~2/3 the height of a "normal" single-gang box, with room for a pair of side-by-side LV keystones in the other third...

I'm helping a friend to plan his new bathroom lighting controls, and I'm running into a brick wall because the ideal controls don't seem to exist. Basically, his bathroom is going to have 6 can lights forming 3 zones (walk-in shower, above the sink & toilet, above the open area), as well as a...

I'm almost done rewiring my alarm system. The new wiring configuration shares almost no wires with the original. Back when I first bought the house, I wasn't able to run wires between the first and second floor, and between the front and rear of the first floor, so I just hijacked the house's...

I know that Elk officially says that GE 500-series detectors that aren't on its (tiny) list of certified smoke detectors aren't compatible with the M1, and that mixing different models isn't allowed...but is there any real engineering reason (as opposed to regulatory "anything not officially...

My frustration at the moment is off the scale. I know what I want to buy, but can't find it *anywhere*. I ran a 3/4" and 1/2" conduit behind the kitchen cabinets (well, more like *through* them). The ends are poking out of the wall in the laundry room. Inside the wall, above them, are 4 more...

(mods: feel free to delete this, or at least change the topic to "Phone menu flakiness") This post was originally about how X10 modules are assigned light IDs by the voice menu (it appears that G1 = 97, G2=98, and so on). However, I have a new problem... the M1G's phone module seems to be...

I have an X-10 appliance module (2-pin, DIP microcontroller inside) that I bought to switch the power for a Foscam IP camera (when my Elk M1 gets armed in 'away' mode, it sends an 'on' command via the x10 interface; when it's disarmed, it sends an 'off' command). The problem is, the module sends...

I'm looking for some cameras to wire in, since (for the time being, at least) I still have easy access to the area behind and above the walls/ceiling of most of my second floor. They're not for security... they're to reassure me that my cats are OK whenever I have to go away for a couple of...

I'm pulling my last wires before getting ready to hang the new drywall, and making my final "wish list" for future projects. I only HAVE to have a single smoke detector, but I wouldn't mind adding a few more if it wouldn't end up being enormously more expensive. I know that it's trivially easy...

Is it ever legal under NEC to run power wires through BLUE (not orange) ENT conduit ("smurf tube") that's dedicated to that use (ie, NOT shared with low-voltage wires)? I spent a really frustrating hour at Home Depot this afternoon trying to buy conduit to use for power wiring. Frustrating...

I'm not sure whether it's a regional or nationwide thing, but if you think you might have even the *slightest* use for 16/4 in-wall plenum-rated speaker wire, check out the "cut wire" section at your local Home Depot stores. I just bought ~170 feet (all they had), and got change back from a...

I'm trying to create something resembling a formal wiring diagram for my bathroom so I'll be able to come up with a coherent shopping list for things like wire, boxes, etc... and have some future idea how it's all physically routed once the walls are covered up again and all I have to go by are...

Suppose I buy one of Simply Automated's switches, and configure it with a single half-height paddle occupying the top half, and two quarter-sized paddles occupying the lower half. Are their paddles lame and unergonomic like X10's paddle switches, where it's really just a spring-loaded...

Does anybody make a bathroom fan + light controller that 1) Supports two switch locations (ie, 3-way) 2) Lets you use one switch/button to toggle the on/off state of the bathroom light, and intelligently changes the state of the exhaust fan to follow. For example: light and fan off: turns on...

Is there any cheap ("cheap" = < $50 or so) and easy ("easy" = "takes less than 4 hours to check 8 cables") to test the cables in a bundle of pulled cat5 for damage? I'm rapidly nearing the point where repairing or replacing a damaged cat5 cable I've buried in the wall or ceiling is going to be...

I'm going to be using Pass & Seymour jumbo unbreakable Decora-style light-almond outlets and faceplates in my newly-remodeled living room. HOWEVER, I'm stuck with one of the switches, which needs to be a "double decora" style switch (two switches with the formfactor of a single decora paddle). I...

Up until about 4 days ago, I had my DLP TV on the "clean" side of a floor-to-ceiling plastic sheet, but noticed more drywall dust than I felt comfortable with collecting on the case, so I completely covered it with a plastic sheet taped down to the floor (not airtight, though). Last night, I...

The title says it all... is AWG16 wire good enough to feed surround speakers approximately 40-60 wire-feet away from the amp? Or am I likely to really, REALLY regret not having spent roughly twice as much on AWG14 wire? Power-wise, let's just say the most the speaker at the other end will EVER...

For anyone who's been following my living room redecoration/remodeling project, here's a pic of my living room at its worst low point... Wednesday morning, before I ripped off the upper drywall, biohazard barrier still in place: Here's my living room as of around 10pm Thursday... new power...