Bucko's Blog

The final piece of my system has been finished. The multizone audio amp proved a real bugger getting it on-line. But now I have it running with RS-232 comm for remote control. The big change was retiring my SQ Blaster remote system for the iRule remote platform. Without a doubt, iRule is the final solution for remote controls to date. In fact I am now a d...

I have been looking to find a reliable total house remote package. Up to now, the SQ Blaster was my weapon of choice. it actually does a good job, but it does crash from time to time. I more or less solved this by having the SQ reboot itself every 24 hrs. All in all it is the best thing out there for total remote control of just about anything...........u...

All systems are go. I am at the final stages of my HA project. Today my 6 zone whole house sound system will arrive and over the next few days I will get it installed. Welcome to the first smart house built in China! To summarize, my HA main components comprise the following.... Elk M1 Gold security system with XEP, 2 PS212's, M1TWA, MXVOR, M1XS...

 I needed to find a way to set up my Elk so it would be able to do it's system announcements and also play my custom Elk 124 sounds through the same speakers. I also needed have complete  control of quiet times and speaker selection for sounds. My set up here is up and working great. I get no sound issues such as pops, cut offs, hiss or de...

 My Chinese work team.   About 50% of the wire reaching my server room.   3rd Floor wires going down...   That's how you route wall wires!   1st floor data runs  3/27/13- They have run all my wires now and today I go on site to test and approve this end of things. I had to train all these guys about running data since it is just not done i...

I just returned from another trip to Shenzhen for more goodies for my project.Found these mono stable lighted switches to make my wall switches for the Z Wave lighting. They cost $3 each. Then I bought these LED downlights and had them custom made for my whole house. They are 21v 7w warm ceiling mount with swivel heads. They cost me $7 each. Then for und...

Like most of you, getting the M1 to actually work sending email is a royal PITA! But after many many hours of frustration, I finally figured it out. I read and tried everything people have done here with limited success. I got to the point it would work for a few days, then mysteriously stop. Or if I reboot the system, it would start again OR after reboot...

I got this valve here in China for my water control. It is well built and has a small footprint. If loss of power, it will just remain at the whatever state it currently is in. I use a 12Vdc wall wart to power it. Using 2 relays off my M1RB allows me to control it's open and close state. So with constant power it uses 350ma and goes to 410ma while it is...

Here is my setup hooked up in my work room. Now I am testing and programming everything prior to installing.

I just returned from Shenzhen, China. Here is where the worlds largest electronics wholesale market is located. It is a 1 square km section where everything electronic can be found.  Everything is bought in bulk and buyers from all over the world are here on a daily basis to supply their factories. They can make anything you need, duplicate anything per 1...