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Home automation gadgets for free
mamadrum writes "Firecracker is giving (today only) away a starter kit of PC controlled home automation relays and software. It uses a wireless connection between the PC serial port and an outlet, then modulates control signals on the house AC wiring. Seems to be an example of "give away the razors and charge for the blades" since you only get one relay. Still, adding relays is cheaper than opening up my walls to put in 10baseT. Old tech but decent price. "It's 5.90 for the shipping. Anyone played with this before?
Ack, forgot to mention something. This unit is almost certainly not compatible with any of the linux software, because the older two units did not have serial pass-through on them. I have a CP290 unit which works, and was the predecessor to this one. The protocols changed between the CP290 and the one before that, so it probably happened this time, if not at least to support how ever its doing the "passthrough"
And speaking of the CM11A and discounts, it appears that they are offering their ActiveHome kit for $50 (normally $130).
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Timur Tabi
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I'd add two more problems to the list:
3) Your neighbor can control your stuff if you're hanging off the same transformer on the pole. Happens all the time in apartments, and I lived in a house once that was wired that way. I've never had a neighbor with X10 units, but I had a friend who did.
4) No set levels for dim and bright
#4 confused me when I first got it. The modules keep TWO states, on/off and brightness. So a 20% dim followed by an OFF then an ON won't turn the unit to full brightness, only to 20%. Changes are relative too, so two requests to set the brightness to 20 in a row end up at 40% not 20%. This means to make sure a light is at a preset level you have to send an OFF, then a command to turn the unit down the max amount -- even if its not all the way up -- then a brighten to the correct level followed by an ON.
Once you've got it figured out its not that tough, and the Windows software seems to do it automatically, but if you're using heyu or something you need to take that into account yourself.
See, this scares me a bit. I have so many problems/crashes/concerns on my non-networked PC at home. I couldn't imagine have a house that is networked as such.
It reminds me of Bill Gates' house. I was told it is almost fully automated running on WinNT. I hear that it has periods of non-functioning. Granted that is WinNT, but still, I would hate to have my dishwasher or shower crash..
-Clump
My coworker told me about this deal weeks ago. I gave in and got one. I was expecting it to take a long time to process my order, but to my surprise I received it in only a few days. It is fun to play with, so I think I got my $5 worth.
The little remote works well, and you can download the Windows software from their web site. The software worked fine for me, but I had to put it in "Compatibility Mode."
I'd definately like to see a Linux version of the software that I could run from cron. I could have it turn on my Lava Lamp automatically! I don't do alot with serial port programming, but I can't imagine this would take much effort.
There are many X10 control proggies despite what other people have been posting. You can control your house with a Linux box. See freshmeat.
I bought one of these sets during the ZDNet offer a few weeks ago. Here's what you get:
My experiences: I've only used the computer interface for pure novelty value. But then, I live in an apartment where I can walk to any appliance in the apartment almost as quick as I can load the program. Also, most of the electrical stuff in my apartment is either stuff I don't want to switch at the socket, or lighting from convenient wall switches. For the most part, I only really use the handheld remote and a lamp dimmer which is currently hooked up to a lamp in a hard-to-reach corner. I like the kit for that, but don't think I would have spent any more than the $6 S&H that I did.
On the other hand, my dad is more heavily into the X-10 stuff. At his house, he's replaced several wall switches for ceiling lights with X-10 wall switches. He has a more advanced controller package and software (again, Windows-only) which does have timer functions, macros, etc. Although the software allows him to program the controller, the controller itself operates independently of the computer and will continue timer functions, etc. wehn the computer is off. He used to use the old mechanical timed switches to make the house look occupied on vactions; now he uses this Firecracker stuff.
Warning: The special $6 Firecracker deal may be only for new customers. My dad, who had bought their stuff before, ordered a set. He just got his credit card bill, and had been charged $20. I don't know if this was a clerical error, or whether the that's the price for existing customers. Still, that's less than he'd pay for an extra lamp module and appliance module.
From what I understand, X-10 is just one supplier of these home automation gizmos. They sell several types of wall modules, switches, and controllers, as well as security equipment. They also have stuff for letting you control your computer from your TV. I know Radio Shack sells compatible gear, and I'm sure someone has written Linux controller software for some of the existing control units.
Anyway, I may get some more of their home automation stuff in the future (a keychain remote to turn on the lights before I go in might be nice). Which is the point: this deal is just to give you a taste of their products. This new computer module seems to have more novelty value than anything else, but the remote control and switches aren't bad.
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is that it's unreliable. If you live in a *new house* then you can expect everything to be fine&dandy. If you live in an *old* house or (far worse) an apartment, you can kiss your X10 reliability goodbye. As X10 uses the AC wiring to transmit signals, it's reliant on every wall socket being ultimately connected to every other wall socket via a reasonably clean power system. Many apartments and old homes have either multiple circut breakers or a bizarre power setup that doesn't work well with X10. Where I live now X10 doesn't work at all basically. That said, I've heard of farmers using X10 to control stuff out in fields from their home, so YMMV.
Shipping - The final product arrived in a very timely manner. I was surprised at the short turn around time of less than 1 week.
Packaging - Lots of bubble wrap. The $6 is worth it just for the finger strengthening exercise.
HW Product quality -
- (+) The stuff looks like it will last for a while. The miniature button on the lamp module for switching the appliance on/off was a great inclusion. The X10 modules I used to wire staging lights back in my college days didn't have this and it is definitely a good feature.
- (-) The remote takes (4) AAA batteries. The Firecracker serial interface uses a though-port design that I use to inline with my external modem for my laptop, and when I use the software to actually control something it ends up killing my internet connection.
SW Product quality - download and install were no problem. It's basically a Win 9x GUI front end version of the remote control. It is home control through clicking buttons AND NOT home automation with scheduled tasks or event driven interaction.While I'm happy with the bang for the buck ratio (!/$) I'm having trouble figuring out how to use this with any practicality given my rather basic lifestyle. If I plug a reading light in, do I really want to use a remote to turn it on or off, or hit a button on the lamp module rather than turning it on or off by the built in switch?
What I really need is a timed power supply for my bedside lamp. When I fall asleep reading a geek book in bed, I dislike seeing it on when I get up the next morning. Has anyone implemented a direly needed solution to some home control problem with the FireCracker kit?
-- "In a time of drastic change it is the learners who survive; the 'learned' find themselves fully equipped to live in
You can have 16 different "channels" (A-P), with 16 different devices on each channel (1-16) for up to 256 different devices. The transponder/appliance module acts as device 1 on whatever channel you pick, so you can't have multiple transponders on one channel. Within the 256-device limit described above, you can use as many lamp modules, on one or multiple channels, as you want. You can have as many remotes as you want; a remote is set for a given channel, but you can switch channels fairly easily (just turn a dial with a screwdriver or paperclip). Same thing for the computer module. So, there isn't that much advantage to getting multiple kits; if you want a bunch of lamp and/or (non-transceiver) appliance modules, X10 offers much better deals.
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>they spam you daily with their new offers.
Boy, that's for sure. I never even bought anything, and they sent me at least one love letter a day about some fantastic offer they had. Took me a month of asking before they took me off their list. (ugh)
I'm still very interested in doing something with this at some point. I just won't ever give x10.com an e-mail address ever again.
If you want software and information about Linux Home Automation (HA) please check out my pages http://members.home.net/ncherry or http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/lig htsey/52. The software, documentation and link are just a collection of the stuff I've found over the years. It should work with other flavors of unix. I have some other links to HA pages. If you find any interesting Unix/Linux HA projects, software, or documentation please email with the info and I'll add it to the pages.
I've noticed quite a few errant statements about Linux HA and X10. First the X10 technology has been around since the early 70's (which explains it's weird protocol). X10 is a lot like running a Unix operating system (if you just want to sit back and not know much about it I wouldn't recommend it). X10's customer support is weak and their documentation is poor. For the best source of info on HA (and X10 in particular) check out comp.home.automation. Now that I've said all these bad things about X10 I'll add that I use it and I can make it work pretty well. Mine runs correctly 99% of the time and last 1% is probably my fault. This doesn't include when I'm playing with software (which may tend to crash the system from time to time when you're experimenting with new coding ideas).
I've been using X10 with Linux for over 10 years and I have it working pretty well. The only thing that we're really missing is a good GUI to make the software collections easier to use. I currently have 5 devices under X10 control at all times (and at Christmas time I have a lot more). The reason for so few is that I'm working on the rest of the house and I haven't a need for more just yet. I have quite a few more devices I'll begin controlling when the time is appropriate. X10 is not the key technology in HA. But it is useful and when used with other technologies can be very nice. Steve Ciarcia (editor of Circuit Cellar Ink and a great many Byte magazine articles) has a fully automated home (he uses a custom controller which can be purchased ( HCS II).
I hope this is enough to whet some peoples appetite for the HA field.
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Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry@home.net
http://members.home.net/ncherry (Text only)
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/lig htsey/52 (Graphics GB)
Neil Cherry - Linux Smart Homes For Dummies
Posted by !ErrorBookmarkNotDefined:
This appears to be a variation of X10 technology. I've been using X10 around the house for some time, and it's quite nice. Most hardware stores carry X10 modules (e.g. switch controls, motion sensors, etc.), so it's easy to upgrade. I run this all through linux with a custom module (have a look at the OReilly book "Writing Linux Device Drivers"--it's cut and paste to make your own kernel module.) You can find out more about x10 at: www.x10.com Beware: DO NOT join their mailing list. It's an absolute fire hose of spam. At least one message per day. Just visit their page every so often for updates.
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Computers are useless. They can only give answers.
http://mlug.missouri.edu/~tymm/. Probably others will work too, if it's basically standard X10.
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First, if you already have X10 equipment - BUY THIS NOW. It's about $100 worth of stuff for $6 (and they spent $3.20 for shipping).
If you don't have X10 already, it's a cheap way to see if you want to use this equipment. If you don't like it, you're only out $6 (instead of about $40 for the active home starter kit).
X10 has been around for years and provides for home automation via the AC line (as previously described). You have 16 house codes and each house code has 16 numbers within it, which provides for 256 devices per house. While there isn't software for the firecracker yet (it translates RS-232 -> RF and works rather nice from my laptop), there *is* software for the ActiveHome Kit (the CM11a?) that works just fine under Linux.
Heyu and xtend are two great software packages for this.
I got mine today (what a coincidence!) and I can't even use the thing. Why? Because the serial adapter is huge. It hits the case of my computer and won't go in. If I try it in my laptop, I can get it in, but it pops out if I want to put the laptop down on the desk. Very impractical. I could buy an extension cord, but I'm not going to do that for this little novelty. It just seems they should have thought that part out a little more thoroughly.
This isn't a big sale... X10.com seems to always have one of their intro kits on sale for next to nothing. And once you order, they spam you daily with their new offers. Check out Smarthome for some similarly great deals, a better interface, less spam, and more honest promotions. Another good place is Worthington.
Check out this thread at AnandTech for some more opinions! Some people said that the Firecracker is not really home automation, but rather like a remote control... You need ActiveHome or something to get real automation (timers, etc.).
Of course, you may want to buy from Smarthome after you get the intro kit from X10.
-Dodja
The firecracker (CM17A) is not the same thing as the CM11A! It uses a protocol that depends on toggling the wires such as DTR. The CM11A uses a serial protocol where you send and recieve bytes from it. Most of the software for Linux such as heyu, x10d, ... do not currently work with the CM17A. There are early versions of programs that do work (eg. bottle rocket) but they are still very new.
The difference between Canada and the USA is that in Canada healthcare is a right and gun ownership is a privilege.
NOT all X10 controllers work under Linux. A bunch of people posted on here about how there is X10 control software, and didn't mention that each one is controller-specific.
This is also NOT a good deal. This is perhaps $40 worth of stuff for $6. They often have deals for $50 that include a dozen or so control modules, and you certainly can't do much with just one. You're going to spend more money buying more modules than buying one of their other "deals".
That said, I'm going to buy one because I don't have a good hand-held controller. I've been using X10 stuff with one of their older control units that actually does work with Linux for several years. Let me repeat again, the linux software may not work with this unit.
You can do some pretty slick stuff with it though. The multi-remote that came with the package I bought works with one of my TV's and VCR's -- and I have perl scripts that are triggered by X10 events to check my voicemail, bring my network link up and down, and stuff like that. Nice webpage on a secure server lets me control the important things like all the halogen lights and my coffee pot, to keep from burnin my place down.
The coffee pot is the most useful. At noon at work when I can't remember if I shut it off I can call into my (also linux driven) voicemail, punch in a pass code and get to an IVR prompt that lets me control the X10 devices in my house (air conditioners, lights, coffee pot, and the three of the PCs on my network so I can turn them on, punch in the "connect to internet" code, and get files off them from remote...)
If you really want to play with home automation (and X10 is OLD technology, most new automated homes use MUCH higher tech stuff these days -- this is poor man's home automation) get one of their larger packages. As I said mine was around $50 or something, and included the computer interface, infared remote, keychain remote, motion sensor (computer tells me if I've got e-mail when I walk into the room), like six or eight light units, two or three appliance units, and a wall switch.