Mac controllable lighting

[Clay]

I'm working on automating my lights in my home theatre, in which a Mac is the center. Do neither of the UPB or ZWave USB sticks work on a MAC? I really want something that can be controlled by Applescript, so that I can control it with Remote Buddy. The only way that I have been able to even think of a work around is to install an elk, connect it to the Mac via serial, hook the lights to the elk, and run serial port commands via Applescript.

Even though I do plan on adding an Elk sometime, I'm not quite ready to invest the time in something that may not even work, so I'm wondering if anyone here has any suggestions.

Clay

 

[gregjsmith]

Wayne Dalton announced a Zwave Mac compatible system. I think there are guys using ELK with a Mac using Serial Bridge, I would check out the Perceptive Automation forums.

http://www.cepro.com/article/first_z_wave_...the_mac_debuts/
http://www.perceptiveautomation.com/phpBB2...cda76eb791130f4

 

[intozwave]

Houseport - WBUSB-10 MAC was annouced at the end of January of this year - it was in their Home Controls Catalog in May - looked for it on their site can't find and can't find it anyplace else except 3 or 4 trade articles on the web.

 

[mdiehl]

Houseport - WBUSB-10 MAC was annouced at the end of January of this year - it was in their Home Controls Catalog in May - looked for it on their site can't find and can't find it anyplace else except 3 or 4 trade articles on the web.

HousePort, Vizia Foyer, etc. seem to have vanished into "vaporware land"...

 

[Clay]

Yeah, you guys pretty much confirmed what I've discovered, that all of the Mac based solutions exist as press releases only. It's to bad, I would love to be able to control my theatre lights. Oh well.

Clay

 

[paulw11]

Hi,

I think you should be able to do this, but some assembly is required.

This serial Z-Wave interface from Leviton seems to be the best option. It has a documented protocol and you should be able to connect it to a USB serial port dongle like those made by Keyspan.

You would then need to use something like the Applescript Serial Port Extension to send the appropriate strings.

Paul

 

[Clay]

That's exactly what I'm looking for! Thanks for the info.

Clay

 

[DavidL]

I thought there was a MAC HA system out there....isn't there one in the HA comparison spreadsheet?

My brother wrote one for his MAC using apple script (years and years ago). Complete HA system including VR and control over a Litetouch lighting system The Litetouch boys at EHX were kinda suprised

Anyway, no Windows PCs in the home? You could use that as the controller PC with one of many available Win HA apps and use browser access from the MAC for UI.

 

[mdiehl]

I thought there was a MAC HA system out there....isn't there one in the HA comparison spreadsheet?

My brother wrote one for his MAC using apple script (years and years ago). Complete HA system including VR and control over a Litetouch lighting system The Litetouch boys at EHX were kinda suprised

Anyway, no Windows PCs in the home? You could use that as the controller PC with one of many available Win HA apps and use browser access from the MAC for UI.

"Indigo" for the Mac is there. Supports X-10 and Insteon, but unfortunately no Z-Wave support...

 

[pkoslow]

"Indigo" for the Mac is there. Supports X-10 and Insteon, but unfortunately no Z-Wave support...

Even if Indigo supported UPB or Z-Wave, I don't think it's a good fit for what the original poster is looking to do with his home theater room?

I can vouch for Indigo though in case someone is looking for an Insteon whole-house solution that runs on Mac. I'm not a Mac guy by any stretch, but I do have a customer that's running Indigo to control approx 80 exterior lights and 3 fountains on the property of a $12M home. It works really well, easy to use, no fuss, I was impressed!

Cheers,
Paul

 

[aehusted]

"Indigo" for the Mac is there. Supports X-10 and Insteon, but unfortunately no Z-Wave support...

I use Indigo myself with Insteon devices and am quite happy with it. I plan on integrating it with my Elk M1G at some point using a Keyspan serial adapter, hopefully before the end of this year. It integrates very well with applescript. This was part of my attraction to it, being an applescript junkie of sorts. Right now, I control things in Indigo remotely using both X10 wireless and IRTrans.