Homeowner Forum / Home Automation / October 2003

I have some of the multi-button smart switches from smarthome, and
want to have a button for sprinkler-disable.  That is, the status lamp
on the button is ON when the connection is open, and vice-versa.
Turning ON the "rain" switch would interrupt the 'common' lead of the

Anyone have success with electronic aids for pest control?
Even though we're in the city in mid-Michigan, we have a generous
supply of squirrels (red, black, brown, gray), chipmunks,
mice, bats, racoons and maybe a few other varieties

I'm trying to interface a PIC 16F877 (w/ 4MHz Crystal) with my CM11A
X10 Powerline Transceiver. However, I haven't got it to work with
PicBasic
Pro. Does know of an example program in PicBasic Pro that's published

I live in a 2 story home about 2000 sq. ft.  I recently started having
problems communicating with all outlets in the house.  I can move the
CM11A from one outlet to the other and get one or the other to work.  
I have tried 2 different CM11As with the same result.  

I got a cool setup where I have a PLC controlling the garage door, the
garbage disposal and the doors (for security).
The only thing is I expect to make changes all the time to the PLC and
it's getting old havig to replace hard-coded values.  It would be neat

I just installed a Kwikset Remote Keyless Entry lock
(http://www.kwikset.com/website/asp/kw_pdp_listcategoryproducts.asp?
category=Remote+Keyless+Entry) on my front door. It comes with a
separate remote keypad, like the automatic garage doors systems have,

Has anyone tried out the new Plug-in Signal Booster (P/N 4827) from
SmartHome?   Looks too good - and I would prefer not to spend the $100 if it
doesn't actually work as advertised.....
I've always had intermittent problems with one of my wall switches near the

Are there non-windows based programs available to control an X10
infrastructure?
Background:
I have an 'obsolete' PC (286) available, waiting for a job .... I could

Somebody's ripping off our daily paper -- but not every day.  We live in a
rural area and the newspaper box is near the road at the end of the
driveway, some 100 yards from the house.  And it's been driving me nuts for
over a year.

Ok, I'm starting to think down the road of trying to go whole hog with touch
screens and integration.  Here's my ideal picture, noting that I don't
expect it to be doable yet, I'm just curious as to how close I can get right
now:

Newbie here -
I want to work up to some fairly complex scripting for operating pool and
home shop equipment.  After reading all the posts here for a month I can't
determine whether I need only a low-end controller, a medium controller, or

X10 Webmasters wanted
I have reverse engineered the X10 Ninja pan n' tilt remote and its
protocol.  I have its schematic and sample code to send recieve the
commands to the unit.  I would like to find a few x10 webmasters that

Is there anything out there that enables one to control line-voltage
thermostats for baseboard electric heat in the home?  Would like to use a PC
to control temperature in each room and be able to turn back all rooms at
night and during day when no one is home.

I am looking for a device that can be used to raise a light fixture up
from behind a wall when the light is switched on and will lower the
light behind a wall when the fixture is switched off. Any one have an
idea of what I can use for this?

I'm currently re-designing parts of my home automation system.
I found some interesting schematics about a "people" detector,
called the BIK sensor (look for it via Google)
The problem with PIR sensors is that they can only detect "moving"