using with a surge protector and controlling with a Mac

[danklim]

Hi i'm planning on controlling lights in a studio, its the first time i've ever looked into this smart home stuff. I have a surge protector with these things connected:
 
2 big photography lights
midi keyboard piano
3 ios charging cables
1 fcb1010 midi controller footpedal
 
Some questions:
 
1.What is the best device to use for this?
 
2. Is there any electrical/fire hazard risk from using a smart kind of device with the surge protector?
 
3., i would just put the device between the wall outlet and the surge protector , correct?
 
4. Are there any precautions/things i should make sure of before implementing the device?
 
5. I want to control the lights via keyboard shortcuts on a Mac.  what is the best solution for doing this ?
 

 

[ano]

Hi i'm planning on controlling lights in a studio, its the first time i've ever looked into this smart home stuff. I have a surge protector with these things connected:
 
2 big photography lights
midi keyboard piano
3 ios charging cables
1 fcb1010 midi controller footpedal
 
Some questions:
 
1.What is the best device to use for this?
 
2. Is there any electrical/fire hazard risk from using a smart kind of device with the surge protector?
 
3., i would just put the device between the wall outlet and the surge protector , correct?
 
4. Are there any precautions/things i should make sure of before implementing the device?
 
5. I want to control the lights via keyboard shortcuts on a Mac.  what is the best solution for doing this ?

Most applications like yours is really just defining what you want to do.  If you are really just turning on or off a few lights 10 feet away, do you really need anything involved? Most home automation software is for the home environment, and may not work in a commercial setting. Also, most works on a PC and not a Mac.  It seems what you need is just a few remote controlled lights. I would not look at "home automation" for this, I would look at studio lighting solutions which are probably cheaper and fit what you want better. I'd call B&H Photo, tell them what you want to do, and see what they suggest.  Trying to fit a square peg in a round hole is not the way to go.

 

[drvnbysound]

ano, 
 
I read this as wanting something like a controllable power strip, such as: http://www.digital-loggers.com/lpc7.html
 
But then, add in some capability to control via shortcuts... 
 
But, I certainly agree... if the OP is looking to "control studio lights" B&H would be the place I'd look too. Bought from them MANY times before  

 

[ano]

ano, 
 
I read this as wanting something like a controllable power strip, such as: http://www.digital-loggers.com/lpc7.html
 
But then, add in some capability to control via shortcuts... 
 
But, I certainly agree... if the OP is looking to "control studio lights" B&H would be the place I'd look too. Bought from them MANY times before

Yeah, even for a controllable powerstrip, unfortunately with a Mac, you don't have the options you have with a PC, and what you do have, in the long run, will be WAY more complex than you need to just remotely switch a powerstrip.  Like you could use a WeMo switch, but you'd probably need to log into their Kasa web site to switch it.

 

[cobra]

I'd ask more about what you want to do.  Generally, you need one control device per each light (or other device) you want to turn on and off.
 
Do you want to turn the two studio lights on/off one at a time?  Or is switching them both together ok?
 
Do you really want everything on your power strip to turn off together? (Studio lights, keyboard, and all your phone chargers off all at once?)
 
I had a friend ask me a similar question for a light in his tv room.  They really just wanted a remote switch.  I pointed them at Amazon and the simple Etekcity remotes (https://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Wireless-Electrical-Household-Appliances/dp/B0087EIDRS/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1488648887&sr=8-6&keywords=remote+switch)
 
If you want to control more devices, you can buy a remote and 3 pack of control receivers as well.
 
The only safety concern is that the switch has enough current carrying capacity for whatever you have plugged in to the power strip.  Or you can plug one switch in to each device to reduce the switch load and have control of individual devices.
 
As to using the Mac... how complex do you want to go and how much do you want to spend?  You can get some DMX control software and control all the lights in a studio/band setting that way...

 

[drvnbysound]

The strip I linked, can be controlled via web browser (IP of strip) so the Mac/PC discussion doesn't necessarily matter. Additionally, you can control individual outlets on the strip; so if you only want to turn off outlet 1, you can do that. 
 
We purchased a "new to us" home late summer of last year. While it was built in 2004, none of the rooms were wired for wall mounted TVs; no power / coax mounted higher up on walls. I'm currently planning to pull Romex from Arlington TV boxes, back to a central closet for power. I'll then likely source the power for the TVs from a power strip, such as the one linked above, which will be plugged into a UPS for battery backup. The idea being that if I want to kill power (or cycle) to a particular TV or device, I'll be able to do that. 
 
In my specific case, I use the eKeypad app for integration with my Elk panel. eKeypad also has native control of / integration with the strip I linked. Additionally, it has things like scheduling built in... so, if I want to do a "TV off" routine based on my son's bedtime I could do that native to the device itself. He's only 3 at this point, but later... if he's gotten into trouble for something and we've decided to restrict TV...  I could completely disable the power to the TV.  h34r:  :rofl: 

Having said all of that, if the OP is wanting to control the power of light (intensity) of the flash system... yeah, not going to happen with this - or any HA devices that I'm aware of. And I'll say that with a fair amount of certainty as I have multiple modern strobes and such of my own as a hardcore hobbyist photographer. I took this Behind The Scene (BTS) product shot of some mugs I made a couple of weeks ago:  

 

[homevisionsolutions]

Your idea is a good one, waiting for the result with final outcome.