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Home Automation is the wave of the future!
There are lots of gadgets available today and more are available all the
time. For those of us with existing houses, X-10 power line modulation
control is the way to go, with no wires to run. There are also new RF Spread
Spectrum systems available with keypads, motion detectors. These are more
resistant to interference and noise than existing X-10 RF stuff. There
are new RF/IR integrated HA systems that will expedite installation - the
Vaux/Marc system is one, with a remote console that has everything imaginable
on it. IR can be piggybacked onto existing coaxial TV cable for distribution
around the home. Home control can be done with standalone processors that
have been available for awhile (Enerlogic, HomeBase, JDS), or a PC can
be used all the time, utilizing the timesharing capabilities of Windows.
The latest emphasis on energy-saving PCs, as well as the need for FAX capabilities
makes it more reasonable to leave the computer on full time now. The sound
card manufacturers are all coming out with voice recognition and digitization
software to go with their boards, and it all works great running under
Windows. Dragon Dictate has fairly
reasonable prices. New home construction or remodeling opens the door to
all kinds of possibilities, including fiber optic LANs, like those of ECHELON's
LONWORKS. I saw an color LCD touchscreen/LONWORKS system at the home automation
convention in Dallas the spring of 1994. It looked great! It also had very
intriguing keypads for around the house, with 6 little LCD screen/buttons
that were totally flexible and definable.
Pictures and Descriptions of some Home Automation
Equipment:
(this is just a sample of what is available)
I have been gathering links, news,
files, and sources of home automation stuff :
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