From: tompkins@pete.tti.com (Tompkins)
Subject: Re: Home Automation
Organization: Transaction Technology Inc.
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 00:16:15 GMT

There are quite a few home automation oriented catalogs out there.
But the first thing to do is subscribe to "Electronic House" magazine.
This is a bi-monthly.  It is inexpensive ($12.00 or so a year, I
think).  It has some informative articles, and a lot of advertising
for places you might not otherwise run accross.

Several places come to mind, but since I'm doing this from memory, I
have varying amount of information on them.

Home Automation Laboratory in Atlanta, Georgia.  Telephone
1-800-HOME-LAB.  Probably the most complete single source for computer
interfaced devices I have seen.  The have the obligatory X-10 and
Leviton stuff, as well as much more advanced stuff, including a
computer program to run it all.  I can speak highly for the programs
(Dynasty is its name) device interfaces, but unfortunately the user
interface is terrible.  But on the plus side, they are willing to work
to develop interfaces (though all I have gotten so far is an ability
to call a TSR from a Dynasty application passing an argument and
returning one.)  Their prioducts range from analog and digital I/O,
inflatable furnace dampers, 256 channel spread spectrum receiver and the
corresponding transmitters (for alarm applications), 2-way X-10 and
2-way infra-red and a lot more.  Everything I mentioned above talks to
a PC by a serial port (or an optional bus interface for the A/D
stuff).  A good catalog: I have no complaints (except my spread
spectrum receiver quit working the other day, but I'm confident
they'll take care of it.

Home Control Concepts, San Diego CA.  They have an 800 number that I
don't know.  Far smaller than Home Aut. Labs, but sometimes a little
cheaper.  Mostly X-10 stuff, both the standard stuff, Leviton stuff,
as well as 2-way.

Sumar (?) in San Jose (or somewhere in the 408 area code).  This is,
without a doubt, the most thorough X-10 catalog I have seen.  I don't
recall their number, but it is a 408 number.

I'm sure I know of others, but the best place is Electronic House.
Several months ago, they had their annual issue that lists all the
players in the industry, ranging from installer to manufacturers:
X-10 stuff to high end audio/video, security, and everything in
between.  This issue is worth trying to chase down (It was probably
about June or July).

A word of warning: it isn't cheap!.  I've spent over $1000 (not
counting the computer), and all I have so far is two-way X-10
controlling a lot of lights, spread spectrum (with a very small number
of transmitters ($50-$150 each), and A/D hardware sufficient for my
sprinklers, zoning my heating system and installing full security.
What's left:

1.  actually buying the dampers to zone the heating ($1500 for my large
house lots of zones, probably more like $500-600 for a smaller house).

2.  audio/video control: you can spend any amount of money here
(literally into the thousands), but there are a few things you can do
cheaply.  I am primarily interested in frame grabbing pictures of
people aproaching my gate using a low cost DAK monochrome frame
grabber.  But hardware is readily available to tie the whole system
into a multi zoned audio system.  (Again, you'll go through hundred if
not thousands of dollars, exclusive of the audio gear)

3.  UPS interface to provide a graceful shutdown.

4.  interface to telephone system (again HAL offers several options,
here).

and I could go on and on and on.

Pete Tompkins
tompkins@tti.com