Homeowner Forum / Home Automation / April 2005

Newbe question:
I have a KT7 socket A  motherboard that I am running Win 98SE with. I
want to upgrade without buying new motherboard. Current processor is
Athlon 750 mhz.. Want to upgrade so I can dump win 98SE and be able to

Wondering if this is the right group to ask questions about automatic
sprinkler system control unit repair?

I am just curious. With just software and the coresponding remote
codes for each device, can I use my laptop as a central remote? It is
a new Toshiba A70.  I program in VB, Java and C so I thought it might
be a good learning project to undertake if it is possible.

Although I believe X10 Powerflash Interfaces are designed for
momentary closures, I would like to use them for sustained closures,
with toggle switches.  Therefore, my question is, would it cause any
harm and/or cause an Interface to draw any electricity if the

I am looking to control some electro magnetic locks, I would like to be able
to monitor them to see if they are locked or not.
I was not sure if X10 is the best way to do this, what other (cheep) ways
can this be done?

I have started getting lots of bad spam
I realize I should not have used my real email
would you be able to purge all my posts please; they all contain my email

I have wired my newly built house with cat 6 cable; several in each
main room for AV and data. However, I was reading on one of these
forums some months ago that cat5 or 6 could be used, fairly
succesfully, as speaker wire - quality isn't too much of an issue, as

Anyone know of a pcmcia ZigBee card available
Thanx

Depending on the dimming level, my incandescent bulbs squeal at different
pitches.  Now that there are a dozen of them in the house, the place sounds
like a bit of a choir... Are some bulbs better for dimming applications, or
should I just turn up the music?

I'm looking for sensors (movement, noise. etc)that plug directly to my
Windows XP PC USB?
Is there any?
Thanks.

All,
What are some of the best web sites to get daily news on Home
Automation equipment,software, vendors and new products that are
hitting the market?

Does anyone know where I can find a simple power outage alarm?
I am looking fo a simple commercial unit that will plug into an outlet
and if the power goes out, it will start chiming.
Jim

I've been a X-10 User for *MANY* (20? 25??) years. My first "kit", that
I bought at SEARS, included a BSR Ultrasonic Command Console. [Whoa! :D
]
[Mr Rogers {bless his heart (as now done by Robin Williams)}: 'Can you

I recently acquired the Crestron CP2-E from a local dealer.
I would like to access Crestron FTP site (ftp.crestron.com) in order
to donwload software and updates (my dealer cannot help me).
Access to the server is restricted to Crestron dealer, consultant,

I've been thinking of trying to make a coin operated tv to limit its
use by the kids, or at least compell us to think about how much tv we
watch.  I've got full spousal backing on this, so it occured to me that
I could use an x10 controller hooked up to our pc to do this, with some