Re: Trying to work with a CM11A under Linux

John, what I need is the following:

I need to find some IC, Chip, module, etc... which performs all the protocol/signal processing/... for transmitting control information over a line. At first I was proposing PLC, because I read something about X-10 and seemed OK. But now, I can assume using a dedicated line because I have an empty spare electrical tube along all the house.

I just want to have all the stuff X-10 does. I.e: Remote lamp/appliance switching, remote IR detection, automated house control from a computer, etc...

I will not make any commercial product. I just want to spend my time doing some useful installation at my own home.

I would like to find a small and cheap module/ic which I can fit in a reduced size PCB of my own with a microcontroller (programmed by me) to install in the wall switches and plugs. I can use SMD components.

What I said about using dipswitches an so on was: I would like to find a very simple to use IC, which, for example, would have some pins to select the station (ie 8 external dipswitches), 2 pins for the signal from the line, and some pins for the processed command, which I could feed to my microcontroller. I now I am asking for too much... but maybe someone knows something which seems to this.

I do not discard using the microcontroller itself to implement the whole protocol over a serial port, anyhow.

Regards and thanks to everyone for your replies!

Eduardo.

I looked into them and they seem to be toroidal transformers that are wired straight through instead of like the usual ransformers. I've often wondered if the cheap coax to cat5 baluns would work.

Brian, if I use TW-XXX I cannot embed it into the wall switch or plug, due to the huge size of the module. As I stated before, I can use a dedicated line, so I can avoid all the stuff about zero-crossing and so on. I have quite much experience on ATMega microcontrollers, also quite much on SGS-Thomson (ST-62XX) and some on PICs. I would need to find the simplest and smallest one having serial port and at least 12 IOs (8 for station ID dips), 2 for serial port, and 2 for command in/out...

Regards, Eduardo.

Thanks! But i have the latest version of ad-avare and have no spywere. I'm using it all the time.

U¿ytkownik "BruceR" napisa³ w wiadomo¶ci news:Jv9Qd.9823$ snipped-for-privacy@twister.socal.rr.com...

Ad-Aware apparently doesn't stop some of the latest spyware. About the best thing you can do is stop using Kazaa.

If you really want to use a file sharing program try to find Kaza K++. Its not easay to find but worth the trouble. Limewire is another good program. Get rid of Kaza either way!

I'd think this through some more.

1. House resale. X-10 stuff is pretty normal these days. X-10 outlets and switches wouldn't scare anyone away. I'd not buy a house that had DIY electrical components in it.

1. Legalities. Many areas have laws regarding what can be tied into the mains. Your widgets aren't going to be UL/CSA/whatever approved.

2. Liability. If the house catches on fire or someone gets hurt...

1. Insurance. If the house catches on fire you don't have any. If the insurance company even finds out you have a modified system and unapproved equipment, you don't have any.

Personally, I'd find another hobby or at least stick with X10/Leviton devices connected into the mains. I wouldn't be so worried about things that plug in, though even here I'd be using approved wall warts, if at all possible.

I'm using Kazaa Lite Resurection. I wrote that i was using some versions of Kazaa, Emule and winMx and I have problem. It doesn't depend on version It generally happen while using p2p program. For exaple on Emule it was even worst. But Ok, I'll try Limewire. U¿ytkownik "Brian" napisa³ w wiadomo¶ci news:OkiQd.47256$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr30.news.prodigy.com...

Not true. Most multizone systems do just that. What they *don't* always offer is the ability of in-room fine tuning of the sources. You can select the source and stop/start/fwd/rwd it. But only higher-end systems will allow selection of tracks/playlists from the keypads. Ask yourself if you can't make due with making playlist changes from a desktop or tablet PC or even Pocket PDA and leave the wall controls to simple stop/start and volume control. It's a LOT more expensive to 'do it all' on the wall plates themselves.

How controllable are the other zones from your interface? Can you affect both source AND volume control of the other zones? Or just source?

It would be very convenient to have direct PC control of not only source selection but also keypad volume control. Most systems don't seem to have a way to change the keypad output volume from anywhere other than the keypad itself (or it's IR input).

-Bill Kearney

A very good idea. Think seriously about how much need you have for different sources being played simultaneously in different zones. A bathroom adjacent to the master bedroom might not need to have a separate source but would certainly need a separate volume contol. Likewise an outside deck might also share the same source as the nearby entrance room (kitchen, dining room, etc).

Bear in mind that some systems can have more than one keypad connected to a given output zone. Russound's a-bus for example as well as some Niles setups. In many cases the keypads have their own amplifiers so you won't have impedance matching issues. Were you to drive more than one set of speakers from any one amplifier you'd certainly have to consider impedance matching, this is true regardless of what system you use.

So map what areas will truly need to have different source selectability and then recount the zones. Most systems have ways to daisy-chain more than one controller to support different zones. Sometimes just by passing the audio input from each zone over to other controllers. It's only the VERY expensive systems than allow complete multiplexing.

-Bill Kearney

Yes, well thanks for all the feedback. I might be able to join 2 or 3 of the separate audio zones, reducing the number a bit. If pressed, I might get it down to 12. But I was concerned about how to implement the joining of these areas. Can the areas be joined at the wiring closet? And can we then chose to change the joined areas in the future. In this new house its not clear what our usage patterns will be. (And with wife in Kuwait and a 2 yr old, I'd rather not predetermine anything that I dont' have to). I've heard folks mentioning impedence matching volume controls. I suppose this is supposed to present the same load to the amp. But how is volume or sound quality affected?

For those questioning the need for multi-source, I felt that if I have

4 people in the house (sometimes more / sometimes less). Each might like to choose their own source. Granted it's not perfect, everyone cannot play their favorite CD on a particular carousel at once. But I think this can be solved with peaceful negotiations.

Yes, well thanks for all the feedback. I might be able to join 2 or 3 of the separate audio zones, reducing the number a bit. If pressed, I might get it down to 12. But I was concerned about how to implement the joining of these areas. Can the areas be joined at the wiring closet? And can we then chose to change the joined areas in the future. In this new house its not clear what our usage patterns will be. (And with wife in Kuwait and a 2 yr old, I'd rather not predetermine anything that I dont' have to). I've heard folks mentioning impedence matching volume controls. I suppose this is supposed to present the same load to the amp. But how is volume or sound quality affected?

For those questioning the need for multi-source, I felt that if I have

4 people in the house (sometimes more / sometimes less). Each might like to choose their own source. Granted it's not perfect, everyone cannot play their favorite CD on a particular carousel at once. But I think this can be solved with peaceful negotiations. Mark

Hi Guys

I have a pair of KAT5 Modules which can be used for audio and video....

As far as being cheap ...to some people if it costs money its expensive ..to me these units are priced quite reasonable...and very popular in the Uk..ha Community..

Frank

wkearney99 wrote:

The first version was pretty simple and was mostly a proof-of-concept. The one I'm working on now does just about everything. It consists of a master controller that handles a lot of the higher level functions (periodic schedules, up to two user interfaces such as PC and HAI, etc.) and up to three slave controllers, one for each amp, which handle up to six zones each. The slaves are physically connected via Cat-5 cables and look like they are in series with each zone control cable. Thus, there are 6 RJ-45 connectors with cables running to each of the keypads, and 6 more RJ-45 connectors that connect with a short Cat-5 cable to the back of the MDS6. One more RJ-45 connector on the slave is an RS-422 link back to the master controller. Within the slave, the link between the keypad and the zone control input on the back of the MDS6 is just a pass-through. The slave monitors the three LED lines and the single IR signal line, so it tracks any commands that have been sent from the keypad to the MDS6. It can also inject any of these commands onto the IR signal line, just like a second keypad connected via a Y connector. So to answer your question above, the controller can send any command to any zone so you can control sources, volume and on/off. Further, the MDS6 protocol has a lot of unused IR codes. I have used some of them to implement additional commands. Just like you can train a learning remote from the keypad to control a zone from a handheld remote, you can use the IR emitter on the master control to train additional commands. This gives the ability to have, for example, a sleep timer similar to the way a sleep timer operates with a TV. Or, the ability to control multiple zones from a single location (via the remote and keypad). Additional features include:

1) Program scheduling - with the GUI running on the PC, you can enter programming schedules that are downloaded to the controller and run automatically. For example, set the bedroom zone to come on in the morning and wake up to music rather than an alarm clock. 2) Macro capability - Define a sequence of events (keypad operations) that are to be executed as a unit, such as set the volume to zero, switch to the desired source, turn the zone on and ramp the volume up to the desired level. 3) Flexible volume ramp rates - volume can slew up and down as fast as the MDS6 will allow or can be slowed down to roughly a minute from full off to full on. 4) Source scaling - the line level on sources is not always equal which means that when switching from one source to another the volume level in the zone will change. There is a value for each source that can be set which will allow the controller to automatically adjust the volume to compensate for these variations. 5) Zone scaling - the same keypad setting will give different audio levels depending on whether the speakers are in a large room or a small room. The controller works with the concept of a virtual volume, allowing you to set a scale factor for each zone. The controller then automatically adjusts the requested volume level for that zone. Thus, if a macro sets multiple zones to the same volume, you can go from zone to zone and the music sounds at the same level.

Dave

Yes, well thanks for all the feedback. I might be able to join 2 or 3 of the separate audio zones, reducing the number a bit. If pressed, I might get it down to 12. But I was concerned about how to implement the joining of these areas. Can the areas be joined at the wiring closet? And can we then chose to change the joined areas in the future. In this new house its not clear what our usage patterns will be. (And with wife in Kuwait and a 2 yr old, I'd rather not predetermine anything that I dont' have to). I've heard folks mentioning impedence matching volume controls. I suppose this is supposed to present the same load to the amp. But how is volume or sound quality affected?

For those questioning the need for multi-source, I felt that if I have

4 people in the house (sometimes more / sometimes less). Each might like to choose their own source. Granted it's not perfect, everyone cannot play their favorite CD on a particular carousel at once. But I think this can be solved with peaceful negotiations. Mark

Not good enough. You need to run at least two more spyware checkers, such as CWShredder and Spybot Search & Destroy. Run them all.

First remove the free version of Kazaa. If you want to avoid the spyware and still use Kazaa, buy the clean version. Or just pay for your music instead of stealing it. :-)

IMO, Microsoft ought to be pressuring these Kazaa idiots in a big way.

-John O

At high frequencies a balun might be a turn or two around a core, the TV baluns I've destroyed were like this. At audio freqs, it takes a lot more turns. I believe the cost trade-off is bandwidth. If you want high-quality audio, you need the better baluns. OTOH, A-Bus uses Cat5 straight up...no baluns at all.

-John O