Homeowner Forum / Home Automation / March 2006

To make a long story short, I've had much success using X-10 for
lighting control. Although I have a smaller house, I have made sparing
use of Leviton plug-in filters (I forget the model number) for the
electrical devices I have that tend to attenuate the X-10 signals. I

Is there a digital answering machine/voice mail system that can be
programmed via a PC (e.g upload voice prompt), but can answer the phone even
when the PC is off? I want the good sound quality so callers cannot tell
right away it is a recording, just like commercial voice mail. ...

I need to find a way to replace my remote since it has stopped working.
The garage door opener is so old that i can't find the same brand
remote. I have purchased two universal remotes, one didn't work, the
second one (outside keypad) worked for 1 month.

2 CM11s programmed the same in different parts of the house?  Or 2
transceiver modules?  Thanks

I'm an end user simply programing my system from the OmniTouch.
I wrote two programs that did the following.
  if zone1 is not ready then thermostat1 turns off.
  if zone1 is ready then thermostat1 turn on.

Just got a new home with an OnQ panel and completely lost as to how to
connect the router and cable modem to the OnQ system in order to access
internet connection from every room. I've tried calling OnQ and the
builder and none were helpful.

What's available for actually transmitting an RF channel 3 signal, say,
about 10 feet?
As in, push a signal from belowdecks on a boat up to a portable television.
That is, to a TV that's got nothing other than it's regular RF tuner.  No

The projects I'm working on will all require a +5 regulated supply so I've
been looking for one that I know is X-10 friendly to recommend.
    http://www.circuitspecialists.com/level.itml/icOid/8615
These are slender types that do not block adjacent outlets on a powerstrip.

I've just acquired an "in wall" amplifier primarily intended for use in
classroom situations, but I am intending to try it as part of my whole
house audio project.
It's a Nuvo NV-Wa30.

Elk Products, Inc. announces the receipt of UL and ULC approvals on the
M1 Security And Automation Controller.
These approvals include:
United States Approvals -

I would like to set up my cable box to distribute the signal back to a
central panel (already wired) and out to other TVs.  I do understand
that it will be distributing a single channel and all TVs will be
controlled by the single cable box.

I see that many of the home automation discussions center around
temperatire control.  I have used programmable thermostats for quite a
while, and find that they pretty much meet all my needs...unless I am
overlooking something.  If you have incorporated your themostats into

Here is the intended use :
Someone is 'keying' my car (often) when I park in my son's school
neighborhood and walk him to class.  I want to video the 'perp' in the
act with a camera running in the car.

I've read that the number of times an EEPROM can be
rewritten before it fails can be fairly low (~1000)
for some older EEPROMs.
Can anyone familiar with the EEPROM chip in the

I'm in the early stages of planning a HA system for a house we're going to
build in about 2 years. I'm  a DIY kinda guy and am planning to use a
touchscreen pc to control security, heating/cooling, solar water heating,
landscape watering etc. We're not real big on audio/video, so ...