Planning a complete system, any upcoming labor day deals/coupons out there?

But I need to figure out some of that before I start dropping cable runs, since I am hoping not to have to redo them as often as you have yours, IVB... :)

Yeah, to paraphrase a wise man, i think my ease of running new wires is a a blessing. And a curse.

You'll get a kick out of what I did last Friday at 8:00am (was working from home, had already spent an hour doing real work stuff).

I decided that the wiring for one CCTV, two NuVo keypads, and the outdoor patio speakers was in too "visible" a location, as it was done before i put in conduit between the attic & the basement. I re-ran 3 wire runs just cuz it was easy, only took an hour, was back online for work @9am. And now it's all cleanly run, after being re-freaking done :-)

Between my initial wiring stupidity/not planning it out, and all the nonsense software chatter in this thread (of which i'm also guilty of), I think we've conclusively proven that anybody can spin any given piece of software to be the perfect answer for you. Stop reading up about software, start planning your equipment & functionality needs, plan out the wiring, post the diagrams either here or on the CQC forums (those guys live to give feedback on wiring designs as well as anything else).

When all your wiring is done and you're actually ready to do something with a PC, the answer will likely be self-evident. Either one of the packages will evolve, or you'll absorb enough by osmosis to realize which community suits you best. In the end, the community is what will help you achieve your goals as no one is born with the knowledge on how to do this, so finding the one that fits your style is key.
 
But I need to figure out some of that before I start dropping cable runs, since I am hoping not to have to redo them as often as you have yours, IVB... :)

Yeah, to paraphrase a wise man, i think my ease of running new wires is a a blessing. And a curse.

You'll get a kick out of what I did last Friday at 8:00am (was working from home, had already spent an hour doing real work stuff).

I decided that the wiring for one CCTV, two NuVo keypads, and the outdoor patio speakers was in too "visible" a location, as it was done before i put in conduit between the attic & the basement. I re-ran 3 wire runs just cuz it was easy, only took an hour, was back online for work @9am. And now it's all cleanly run, after being re-freaking done :-)

Between my initial wiring stupidity/not planning it out, and all the nonsense software chatter in this thread (of which i'm also guilty of), I think we've conclusively proven that anybody can spin any given piece of software to be the perfect answer for you. Stop reading up about software, start planning your equipment & functionality needs, plan out the wiring, post the diagrams either here or on the CQC forums (those guys live to give feedback on wiring designs as well as anything else).

When all your wiring is done and you're actually ready to do something with a PC, the answer will likely be self-evident. Either one of the packages will evolve, or you'll absorb enough by osmosis to realize which community suits you best. In the end, the community is what will help you achieve your goals as no one is born with the knowledge on how to do this, so finding the one that fits your style is key.

Being a computer guy, I can't help but not think about the software. What I am probably going to end up with is something freeware to begin, so I can try to figure our what I like and don't like. I'm not planning to have all the hardware I could need right from the get go, so its going to be an organic growth, and with that whatever software I use will end up being the same. I can see my path ahead being similar to yours. Also, my personality leads me to always want the "thing" with the most/best features. That way I'm prepared for anything down the road.
 
Being a computer guy, I can't help but not think about the software. What I am probably going to end up with is something freeware to begin, so I can try to figure our what I like and don't like. I'm not planning to have all the hardware I could need right from the get go, so its going to be an organic growth, and with that whatever software I use will end up being the same. I can see my path ahead being similar to yours. Also, my personality leads me to always want the "thing" with the most/best features. That way I'm prepared for anything down the road.

Speaking as someone a few years down that road, I'm sorry to hear that :-) Just be ready to waste $$ on mistaken software & hardware, hopefully between the forums and other channels you'll avoid some traps the rest of us have fallen victim to.

Seriously though, most folks don't realize that my path was that too; i started with Girder 3.1 (the last freeware version) to do the home-theater-automation. When I moved into HA is when I looked around and eval'ed the packages, and bought equipment appropriately. I have wasted TONS of money on the wrong hardware solutions, or software that ended up being silly.

Regardless of what package you choose, you may want to join the CQC User Group Webinars. The next on is 8/30, at 8:30am PST. You may gain some insight about how to setup your system, and you'd just have to substitute how to use whatever sw you're using for what we're doing.

BTW, the CQC Buy/Sell forum is also a great place to look for hw/sw. Folks are constantly tweaking their setups and buying/selling stuff in order to right-size their solutions to their needs. I've sold stuff like Autopatch video switchers, Xantech audio switchers, network switches, etc etc, to other folks as our situations evolved. Tons better than flea-bay, much more trusted. The Buy/Sell forum here is good too.
 
Being a computer guy, I can't help but not think about the software. What I am probably going to end up with is something freeware to begin, so I can try to figure our what I like and don't like. I'm not planning to have all the hardware I could need right from the get go, so its going to be an organic growth, and with that whatever software I use will end up being the same. I can see my path ahead being similar to yours. Also, my personality leads me to always want the "thing" with the most/best features. That way I'm prepared for anything down the road.


If you want to start out with Free software first, try Premise Home Control. Premise supports lots of good hardware that you can still use if you decide to move on to CQC or Main Lobby later, you can find the Premise forum on this website. Premise was a full blown commercial Software that Motorola decided it did not want to support any more.
 
back to the original question....anybody know of any major promotions/deal coming up?

I am also in the market for an ELK / CQC / Nuvo combo.... eeekkk...better check the bank account first...
 
I'm not aware of any upcoming specials but the Hot Deals section is usually where Cocooners post them.

... I am probably going to end up with is something freeware to begin, so I can try to figure our what I like and don't like. I'm not planning to have all the hardware I could need right from the get go, so its going to be an organic growth, ...

I'm going to hazard a guess that you've described how most HA DIYers take up this hobby ... it starts with curiousity and zero dollars and evolves into an unhealthy obsession. :)

Whatever software you choose, be prepared to spend a lot of time learning how to master it. I spent over a year using MisterHouse (free) before I switched to Premise (free).

If you feel that time spent with a discarded application is time wasted, then you should go with a high-end product immediately.
 
In addition to the regular CTer deals in the banner I offer discounts on complete systems. I'll think about adding something for labor day.


Also I'm an ex-BTVer, ditch it and go with SageTV it's worlds more powerful and really is fully integrated! :)
 
I'm not aware of any upcoming specials but the Hot Deals section is usually where Cocooners post them.

... I am probably going to end up with is something freeware to begin, so I can try to figure our what I like and don't like. I'm not planning to have all the hardware I could need right from the get go, so its going to be an organic growth, ...

I'm going to hazard a guess that you've described how most HA DIYers take up this hobby ... it starts with curiousity and zero dollars and evolves into an unhealthy obsession. :)

Whatever software you choose, be prepared to spend a lot of time learning how to master it. I spent over a year using MisterHouse (free) before I switched to Premise (free).

If you feel that time spent with a discarded application is time wasted, then you should go with a high-end product immediately.

What a coincidence, since I just received my ebay order of a bunch of x10 devices last night, so I downloaded MisterHouse and started poking at it.
 
If you plan to do anything serious with it, join the mailing list (or use Nabble) and be prepared to learn a lot of Perl. :)

Misterhouse works, has a strong following, supports a very broad range of equipment, and is free. Be aware (beware?) that MisterHouse's architecture is a loop. Not exactly a sophisticated design, but the user-community has done impressive things with it.

When the documentation talks about a "pass" they mean one iteration of all of MisterHouse's code. Whatever Perl code you write is inserted (automatically) into the loop. Check how much CPU the Perl interpreter uses and you'll find it is significant (> 25%).

Most HA apps use an event-based architecture, not a loop, and don't consume 25% of the CPU while 'standing still'. Not a dealbreaker but when you ask yourself '25%? What the heck is doing?' the answer is a whole lot of nothing. It is chewing through a gazillion lines of Perl in each pass through the loop, looking for something to do.
 
If you plan to do anything serious with it, join the mailing list (or use Nabble) and be prepared to learn a lot of Perl. :)

Misterhouse works, has a strong following, supports a very broad range of equipment, and is free. Be aware (beware?) that MisterHouse's architecture is a loop. Not exactly a sophisticated design, but the user-community has done impressive things with it.

As a software developer I am one step ahead, and since I started dabbling in Perl about 10 years ago, I am two steps ahead. Just from what I've seen though, I can see how lots of people might be scared away from Misterhouse after installing it. It's not obvious how to set it up and use. And yes, I would agree that event driven is better than loops, but I don't think it'll matter for now.
 
... It's not obvious how to set it up and use. ...

That made me smile. :)

Just about every module's behaviour is governed by a set of parameters that are not formally documented anywhere except in the module's source code. That's setting the bar awfully high for new users. But, with 10 years of Perl under your belt, I think you'll have few problems.
 
back to the original question....anybody know of any major promotions/deal coming up?

I am also in the market for an ELK / CQC / Nuvo combo.... eeekkk...better check the bank account first...

I'm always looking for suggestions for specials. You wanted one on a combo package?
 
back to the original question....anybody know of any major promotions/deal coming up?

I am also in the market for an ELK / CQC / Nuvo combo.... eeekkk...better check the bank account first...

I'm always looking for suggestions for specials. You wanted one on a combo package?

Also, in addition to specials on starter kits, how about one for existing Elk M1 Gold users. Say database hub (retro or Cat5), Serial Port Expander, Ethernet Interface, & a Zone Expansion Card package! :) These are items most users would get in addition to the standard system. :P
 
back to the original question....anybody know of any major promotions/deal coming up?

I am also in the market for an ELK / CQC / Nuvo combo.... eeekkk...better check the bank account first...

I'm always looking for suggestions for specials. You wanted one on a combo package?

Martin, I'm hoping to get an Elk M1 Gold soon (and misc pieces to go with it), and would love a good deal. One that'd probably make everyone happy is a % off total order. Maybe the more the total is, the higher the % off?
 
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