Recent content by Techvet

Yes, the UPB marked has shrunk in the past few years. As I recall, there were two big players - PCS and SAI, with HAI and Web Mountain in the mix as well. I think most of their HAI UPB stuff was actually made by PCS, but with tweaked firmware?? You are correct about the demise of HAI. HAI...

I'll cast another vote in favor of UPB. I played with X10 in a mountain cabin and found that it was very frustrating. We built a new house in 2007 and I did all of the low voltage wiring. I knew I did not want any more of X10 and had read lots of positive stuff on UPB. I initally started...

Didn't see this mentioned, but my alarm system turns on every light in the house when it goes into alarm mode. Between 16 System Sensor smokes, two system sirens and every light in the house coming on, no one can sleep through a fire alarm. And... no burglar would dare hang around long...

I have a RCS CS48 HA controller as the base of my system. I have 4 of their LCD keypads throughout the house and can access any light, any thermostat, the security system, the garage doors from any keypad. It is highly capable when it comes programming language (perhaps one of the best out...

I have had experience with two of these RCS units and can offer some input. The TU16 has several close cousins in the RCS line-up. The TXB16, the TU16, and the TZ16 are all pretty much the same unit with different communication interfaces X10, UPB and ZWave respectively. The TZ40 is very...

I'll offer that some of the 'value' may be determined by the intended use of the house. My primary home is located in the mountains of western NC, a popular spot for 2nd homes. Folks that buy a second home may be more interested in the HA angle beause they want to manage and/or keep tabs on...

A MediaSmart Server will work nicely as a SageTV Server. I have a EX495 doing that and much more now and am VERY pleased with it's performance. It has NEVER skipped a beat. I personally do not run HD streams, mainly because of the space required to store a HD movie. All of my content is...

I ran into the same thing with one of my Home Theater setups. I had pulled 3 Cat5e cables (2 data, 1 phone) and found I actually needed 4. I found these splitters: Cat5e Splitters. I bought a couple of pair and they work great, just plug them in and go.

I'm a bit late to the discussion, but I have a HP MediaSmart Server (MSS) that runs WHS. As others have posted,WHS is a pretty neat set-up. My HA is based around a CommStar CS48. I know, it's not necessarily cutting edge and there is an ongoing concern about it's future. which indeed looks a...

I've watched this tread and the other related ones and have a couple of questions about the Brultech devices. Question 1: I have 400 AMP service to my home (2 - 200 AMP panels that are literally side by side.) Can a single Brultech device be used to monitor both panels and can we get a...

My observations have been that the water holds its heat pretty well for up to 24 hours. Getting it back up to temp takes no time and probably uses a bit less gas than just letting it run all day. But... mine doesn't run that much anyway, so I don't bother shutting it down during the day...

FWIW, my new water LP gas water heater with the electric t-stat ran about $850-900 last year for a 50 gal tank - probably be a bit more now. It'd be hard to justify ditching a 2 year old heater, but with propane prices nearing $2.75-$3.00/gal this past winter it might be easier to justify. By...

I was on the hot water heater quest about a year ago while we were finishing our new home and sort of looked for a similar item, albeit one with an IP addressable thermostat. In the end, I could not find one. Seems that IP addressability is not high on the 'must have list' for water heater...

Unfortunately I don't live anywhere near a frys, but if someone could pick some of these up for me I'd be forever greatful... I'd also be happy to pay you a bit for your time and gas. I'm particularly interested in the switches, but I'd also take a few of the remotes and the lamp and appliance...

There have been some past posts about the HAL branded UPB items that were manufactured by SAI. Well, it appears that Fry's is clearing out the remainder of their stock. A couple of months back the US11-30W equivalent switches were cleared out at $5.95 each. Now they are clearing out the...