TV on sensor

A

AlbuquTurkey

Member
At one point in my automation hobby I used a break out box. I found it to be less than reliable. But I was looking at the left over parts and was thinking I might be able to reuse some. The one I'm really intrested in using is the TV on sensor.

http://www.smarthome.com/8012.HTML

I was wondering if anyone knows what signal it is sending. It has a stereo 5mm plug on it so I suspect that it is +/-/signal from the end of the plug to the wire.
Does anyone know if this is right and what voltage it is expecting and is it sending an on/off or an analog signal and is it Voltage or a Current signal? I would assume it is expecting a 12V power since that is what was supplied to the BOB.

Second option if no one knows the above: Assuming it is 12 V how would I go about finding out if my assumptions are correct without destructive testing?
 
While I am not familiar with that product, I would also look at the CR Magnetics Current sensor, they are pretty reliable from what I can tell, and can monitor any device. Check the How-To section for an example install.
 
I'm going to do that method to monitor the whole houses usage this summer and will pick up a few other for off/on, but looking for a quick fix to an issue that I've had for a long time. I monitor the IR on/off of the TV and keep track of it that way but every now and then the power button is used. Then it's screwed up through automation. I was hoping to implement a fix with the unit that I've already got this weekend.

I've considered using the led light sensor method written up elsewhere but my TV does not have an led. I agree that the current transformer is the most accurate but it is not in do-able right now.
 
Sorry, I must have read it wrong, didn't realize you already had that part. I am sure someone else knows more about this and will help you soon. Let us know how it works out.
 
From what I remember from a thread a couple of years ago on the Adicon forum, the Digital BOB devices put out a +5v signal when On and 0v when Off. I don't know what the mini plug configuration is, however. If you still have the break out box itself then I would proceed as follows (with the power off): Plug in a stereo mini plug into two of the inputs, without the sleeves so that you can probe the connections. Now measure the resistance between each set of the same pins of the two different inputs. Two of them should give you close to 0 ohms. Those would be the power pins, while the one with some resistance would be the input signal of each plug. Now turn the power on and on one of the plugs, measure the voltage between the two power pins you just discovered. You should get +5 or +12 volts depending on the design. Now you know which pin is which and the voltage and polarity of the power.
 
Any results AlbuquTurkey? I am getting ready to do the same project and am considering going this route, but don't want to bother with the Digital Bob unit (since the TVs I want to monitor are all over the house). Did you figure out the details? Did it work for you? Any lessons learned you can share?
 
bfisher said:
Any results AlbuquTurkey? I am getting ready to do the same project and am considering going this route, but don't want to bother with the Digital Bob unit (since the TVs I want to monitor are all over the house). Did you figure out the details? Did it work for you? Any lessons learned you can share?
Click to expand...
bfisher,
I use the CR magnets mention all over the HS BB to monitor the status of my tv's. These things work perfectly and are lightning fast. I have one on my duaghters tv that speaks a message over the whole house audio if she turns her's on before homework is done. I also shut the kids TV's off if there is no motion in their rooms for 30 minutes.

See this thread:

http://board.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t...hlight=crmagnet
 
thanks guys - CR Magnetics website appears to be down - I'll have to check again later or find some alternate materials sources. Also, I'll have to make sure I can wire directly into my HVPro (I'm not using X10), but it appears I can. Thanks for the leads...
 
I used to use this thing but found it horribly unreliable and I can't remember what the signal was. I suspect it was a voltage because I think I had it connected to a Stargate analog input.

I got rid of mine when I discovered my TV had discreet on and off IR commands which makes commanding the TV much easier.

Dale
 
bfisher said:
thanks guys - CR Magnetics website appears to be down - I'll have to check again later or find some alternate materials sources. Also, I'll have to make sure I can wire directly into my HVPro (I'm not using X10), but it appears I can. Thanks for the leads...
Click to expand...
The CRMagnetic's site is down a lot and their storefront interface leaves a lot to be desired so if you can find their phone number I would recommend calling them. These coupled with a powerflash unit is the next best thing after discrete IR codes.
 
thanks everybody - CRMag site is back up, and I see the recommended sensor. I'll be working on this project very soon. thanks for your help
 
Sorry been out of town - VACATIONjava script:emoticon(':)')
smilie

I ended up going with the CRMag. I put it at the panel on the curcuit that the entertainment system is on. Monitor it for a sudden increase - TV turned on and then monitor it for a decrease of 75% of the amps that the TV uses. With that information I turn on/off the amp and DBS units. My system is easier than most high end systems since I have only one TV in the house. With more TVs off a single source you would have to put more logic into the turning off the amp and DBS.

Never could get a good reliable signal from that BOB monitoring probe.
 
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