Single-gang Vol&Lighting?
- Thread starter IVB
- Start date
BraveSirRobbin
Moderator
I guess I'm not sure what you are asking. Are you saying you want volume control AND light control in the SAME single box? Not sure you can do this as you are combining low and high voltage wiring in the same box.
If you are asking for a single gang volume control to place next to the existing switch's single gang box, you could use something like THIS (detailed specs HERE).
If you are asking for a single gang volume control to place next to the existing switch's single gang box, you could use something like THIS (detailed specs HERE).
Not only does tbe code not allow this (for the most part) you would probably have a problem with noise.
If I remember correctly the code allows the mixing of Class 1 and Class 2 wiring if all of the conductors are rated for the highest potential involved. When you have a device in the box (such as a volume control in your case) you would need to have a barrier as well.
I THINK that Leviton came out with something a few years back that had a similar situation. They designed a Cordless Telephone power supply in a single gang box along with telco. So you have 120 V mains, Class 2 with 6, 9, or 12 Vdc, and telco all in one single gang box with a wallplate for mounting the phone on the wall. By having appropiate barriers, appropiate wiring, and very specific installation instructions they complied with the NEC.
I am no expert on this subject. I would be very careful with this.
If I remember correctly the code allows the mixing of Class 1 and Class 2 wiring if all of the conductors are rated for the highest potential involved. When you have a device in the box (such as a volume control in your case) you would need to have a barrier as well.
I THINK that Leviton came out with something a few years back that had a similar situation. They designed a Cordless Telephone power supply in a single gang box along with telco. So you have 120 V mains, Class 2 with 6, 9, or 12 Vdc, and telco all in one single gang box with a wallplate for mounting the phone on the wall. By having appropiate barriers, appropiate wiring, and very specific installation instructions they complied with the NEC.
I am no expert on this subject. I would be very careful with this.
WayneW
Senior Member
If mixing high and low voltage is so tricky, how do you install a Relay-In-A-Box? http://www.functionaldevices.com/
By having all of the conductors rated for the highest voltage involved and maintaining seperation of circuits etc.
But with a potentiometer or other controller you need to make sure that you do not have mains wiring come into physical contact with the low voltage circuit board etc. You can use potting etc. to help maintain the seperation of circuits. The example I gave was 3 in 1 box (mains, Class 2, and telco). Thats including a switching power supply all in a single gang box which in my opinion is not easy(I did see a sample of it a few years ago and it was TIGHT).
Like with the new INSTEON Switches that have a plastic barrier between the mains and the low voltage circuit board. There noise is not so much a factor. With Audio it would be. Right?
You can do it but I would not reccomend doing it unless you have the appropiate background in the electrical code etc. and an understanding of everything involved.
But with a potentiometer or other controller you need to make sure that you do not have mains wiring come into physical contact with the low voltage circuit board etc. You can use potting etc. to help maintain the seperation of circuits. The example I gave was 3 in 1 box (mains, Class 2, and telco). Thats including a switching power supply all in a single gang box which in my opinion is not easy(I did see a sample of it a few years ago and it was TIGHT).
Like with the new INSTEON Switches that have a plastic barrier between the mains and the low voltage circuit board. There noise is not so much a factor. With Audio it would be. Right?
You can do it but I would not reccomend doing it unless you have the appropiate background in the electrical code etc. and an understanding of everything involved.
jwilson56
Senior Member
Personally I located all my zone audio equipment and use a touch screen interface to control volume as well as choose the music.
http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?showto...&hl=now+playing
John
http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?showto...&hl=now+playing
John
IVB
Senior Member
my issue is that if the phone rings, my wife wants a fast way to turn the music down. She doesn't want to fumble through screens. Reaching over and turning a physical switch is pretty dang easy.
To retrain her to go to the touchscreen, etc., will take some doing. She already does that for the HTPC and the wifi tablet with no issues, but it takes her a few seconds.
To retrain her to go to the touchscreen, etc., will take some doing. She already does that for the HTPC and the wifi tablet with no issues, but it takes her a few seconds.
upstatemike
Senior Member
Why not use a loop detector and have the music mute whenever the phone goes off-hook?
depending on how you're distributing your music you could use an X-10 remote or stick a switch to control volume and mute your speakers.
I have a speaker in my kitchen that I control with a palm pad that changes the volume/mutes the receiver that powers it.
Just to clarify, here's a crude diagram.
Palm Pad -> X-10 RF Interface -> HTPC -> Girder -> USB-UIRT (IR Control at this point) -> Receiver
If you have a piece of hardware like a Ocelot that supports X-10 and IR you would use that in place of the HTPC, Girder, and USB-UIRT.
It all depends on how you're doing your zoned audio though.
I have a speaker in my kitchen that I control with a palm pad that changes the volume/mutes the receiver that powers it.
Just to clarify, here's a crude diagram.
Palm Pad -> X-10 RF Interface -> HTPC -> Girder -> USB-UIRT (IR Control at this point) -> Receiver
If you have a piece of hardware like a Ocelot that supports X-10 and IR you would use that in place of the HTPC, Girder, and USB-UIRT.
It all depends on how you're doing your zoned audio though.
IVB
Senior Member
Thanks to all for the response - hopefully i'm not contradicting myself with each post I make - i'm still mentally iterating through my design, and what would work best for me.
I just got a ZPR68 for the zoned audio, and am using CQC to control it all. I'm trying to determine the appropriate h/w that I should use to interact with CQC for audio in the kitchen.
If it were just the phone, a specific solution like mute-on-call would work. There's an open-ended # of times she'd want to quickly turn down volume [i.e., no off-hook loop detector for screaming 2yr old]. My issue with the tiny little redrad single-gang LCD displays is that while they may work fine for lights on/off, audio up/down/mute, they won't work for audio selection. I'd need an alternate solution for that, and I don't want 2 LCD wallmount displays.
I wish RedRadio UTMA would have 7" monitors; those 10" and 12" are gigantic, far too big for our kitchen. That might be a happy medium, where I can design a UI with big huge mute buttons that are easy to lunge at and press when it's needed quickly.
I just got a ZPR68 for the zoned audio, and am using CQC to control it all. I'm trying to determine the appropriate h/w that I should use to interact with CQC for audio in the kitchen.
If it were just the phone, a specific solution like mute-on-call would work. There's an open-ended # of times she'd want to quickly turn down volume [i.e., no off-hook loop detector for screaming 2yr old]. My issue with the tiny little redrad single-gang LCD displays is that while they may work fine for lights on/off, audio up/down/mute, they won't work for audio selection. I'd need an alternate solution for that, and I don't want 2 LCD wallmount displays.
I wish RedRadio UTMA would have 7" monitors; those 10" and 12" are gigantic, far too big for our kitchen. That might be a happy medium, where I can design a UI with big huge mute buttons that are easy to lunge at and press when it's needed quickly.
markthomas
Active Member
Why not? I think I've seen some screenshots of a Rad/IO display with an audio selection screen, complete with album cover art.IVB said:
jwilson56
Senior Member
I have my system setup to 'pause' all the current playing zones when the phone rings. It was an easy VBscript line addition to the WAFNetcallerID script that runs. It mutes the music then announces the CID information via Text To Speech. One of the coolest features of my home automation. I am working on a way to have the music un-pause when the phone is hung up.
I also have this working via a simple Palmpad also.
John
I also have this working via a simple Palmpad also.
John
IVB
Senior Member
1) Ok, I just found out CQC has a CLID driver which I could use to have a simple pause-on-ring model. And, I may have the ability to automatically un-pause when the phone is hung up. As the bar is so low for me to do this, I'm going to look into that.
But, this doesn't solve all my issues as there'll be other times when I want to pause/mute the stereo. So I still have my need for that, and lack of desire to have 2 wallmount LCDs [single-gang & 7"]
Here's the DVD screen (can't find where I put the CD screen]; doesn't seem so bad on a laptop monitor, but imagine the screen being 3' away and trying to focus on those tiny-a$$ fonts. I had to hold the phone 8" away to see this stuff. I could make it bigger, but still, I personally prefer a larger screen.
And, the zone master screen.
But, this doesn't solve all my issues as there'll be other times when I want to pause/mute the stereo. So I still have my need for that, and lack of desire to have 2 wallmount LCDs [single-gang & 7"]
personal preference, really. I actually have a 240x320 cellphone PDA that I can use to control everything, but it's a b**** to pick a particular song out of the 400 in my selection.
Here's the DVD screen (can't find where I put the CD screen]; doesn't seem so bad on a laptop monitor, but imagine the screen being 3' away and trying to focus on those tiny-a$$ fonts. I had to hold the phone 8" away to see this stuff. I could make it bigger, but still, I personally prefer a larger screen.
And, the zone master screen.