Step by step

In our exciting previous episode of The Never Ending Adventures of Rusted Rin Tin Tin Cup our intrepid hero ... Okay so this isn't a 1930's radio soap series. But last week I did bring the updated Smart Home Demo Board to CDL. Unfortunately all the previous week's work was for naught as I forgot to add the default fallback IP address to the DHCPCD setup. I also forgot to enable the serial port on the Raspberry Pi. So there was no accessing it. Everything was working but I couldn't access anything. :-(

I've now added the default fallback IP and enabled the serial port. So I should be able to demo that on Monday night (yea!). I'll try to get HASS loaded as I will eventually need to demonstrate that at TCF. So far HASS eludes me and I'm finding it very frustrating to get started with.

I now have the correct WiFi information for the Pi to the AP. I still need to work on the DHCPCD for the Etherenet and the WiFi. The Ethernet doesn't start up like I hoped. Once that's done I can connect my laptop and the Pi to the Demo board's AP and really do a proper demonstration. I do have access to the Pi via the Demo board AP and the serial console. So all is not lost. :-)

Some future projects are:

• More work on the Demo and the presentation
• Talkie Toaster - which will be used during the TCF presentation
• Jetson Nano AI - I've not quite figured this one out yet so it's for learning now
• Z-Wave Thermostat - This will actually be installed in the CDL building
• ESP32 Touch switches - WiFi to MQTT to Node-Red. Basically WiFi wall switches

Neat technology!

So I'm having a very good week, I've apparently won over $90 Billion in European Lotto (from several different countries) and now that I have a home, car and wife I apparently need a big chicken (I didn't know Viagra would make chickens grow!?!). ;-) Also it seems that the Nigerian upper-class are all dieing off and leaving there money untouched. Since I have such an honest face they're asking me to help them (good thing I won all that money, now I can be very philanthropic and earn money too).

Note: I work for AT&T in the labs so I'm giving, what I think, is my honest opinion keep in mind that I work for the company whose products I'm touting. Also note that I am not speaking for AT&T here. Just thought you aught to know.

Anyway, more to the point. I had been giving Google's Android (Open Handset Alliance) a lot of thought and easily realized that the 'cell phone' is going to be the gateway to remote access to your home. AT&T Wireless recently came out with a way to remotely monitor you home. The service is called AT&T Remote Monitoring service. It provides a way for you to remotely monitor your home through your cell phone. I expect to see more services being provided to the consumers with more home automation and security being tied to remote access to you home (via video, audio and application access). And why would consumers being interested in this? Well it I'd like to know when my fire alarm goes off, or a security alarm or any number of other things. I'd guess that a number of security services provide something of this nature (if they don't they should!). As a DIY'r I could easily have my Misterhouse system send me an SMS message. I'd then access my home's camera system from my cell phone and look around or I can pull up my home's layout from Misterhouse and see what went off (fire, security, etc).

To that extent I got to drool as my friend Joe (he has the neatest toys!) showed me his latest. Joe picked up a nice Pantech Duo (Windows Mobile CE) with the AT&T Wireless data plan at the Black Friday Sale ($99 US for the phone)! He then proceeded to demonstrated accessing his Slingbox over the 3G (and Edge) networks (we have a micro-cell in our building and we know where the edges of the zones are - remember we're labs folks we're supposed to know this stuff ;-). The TV program played real nice over the 3G network, over the edge network it dropped a little bit because Joe didn't tuned the stream for the smaller bandwidth. He also displayed his cameras (lovely view) and he was able to access his home server. This was the kind of stuff I expect to see out of Android and the Open Handset Alliance. But please note, you have to make sure you purchase the correct data service to support you communications needs.

PS: To the folks who have contacted me about various home automation questions, keep 'em coming and I answer as quickly as I can. I've been surprised at the number of inqueries about HA I've been getting (I get about 10 messages a day on the subject). I think the next blog entry I post will be about the forums that are available.

Free time, kind of ...

Finally, I finished a rather nasty semester and an overlapping busy time at work. Most of this was my own doing, I could have handled the issues better. At the beginning of the semester I wasn't proactive (sounds like a marketing term) with the handling of my tuition hence hence its handling was botched (my tuition was paid late). Then my books arrived late and further problems were experienced getting my lab supplies even later. The end result was that I started from 3 to 5 weeks late. Since I'm taking online courses at Pace University time management is very important. With the help of my professors (they were very lenient on due dates) I was able to eventually catch up. I was lucky this semester because one course was on material I know well (networking). The other was very interesting but difficult course (Telecommunications II). By the final week I managed to catch up but I needed to take a couple weeks vacation to do it. I received an A in both courses and put a lot of work into getting those grades. Moral to the story is that I need to manage the tuition and assignment schedule better. Don't leave things to the last minute!

Enough about why I've been too busy to do anything with HA. I haven't been totally without some HA research. On the hardware side I ordered a MSP430 USB Stick Development Tool and ez430 MSP430F2012 Target Board (includes 3 boards). The F2012 chip doesn't have a UART but does support SPI and I2C along with ADC and is low power. It has 2K of flash and 128 bytes of RAM. This should be an interesting chip to play with. I've played with the PIC's and the 8051 family. I'm very comfortable with the 8051 family, it's an easy chip to use (C or assembler). The 12 or 14 bit PIC is a difficult chip when using assembler. I'm more comfortable with it when using C or BASIC. The nice thing about PICs is that the selection is flexible and when they were first introduced the tools and information were easy to get. The first MCU I was introduced to was the 6801, though the first CPU was the 6502. I really liked the Motorola chips (the 6809 is still my favorite chip) but eventually so did the Automotive industry and just couldn't get them in small quantities anymore. I've not used a DSP before so this should be interesting. Of course it has more capabilities than your average MCU so I have a bit of learning to do. Of course I have the GCC MSP430 tools for Linux. There are rpms to install the compiler on Fedora but I'll need to compile the compiler suite for Ubuntu. Oh, in case your wondering I have plenty of other boards (like the ZX40a or the s180 used on the HCS II) that I'm not mentioning because I'm that far behind. :-)

On the software side I've purchased 2 books on Perl (Intermediate Perl and the out of print - Learning Perl Objects, References, and Modules ). I'm hoping that this will help with Mr. House and Insteon. I'm very tired of not having my HA up and running (my X10 is not operational at this point, see Everyone Loves Mystery for details). I need to get a module built for to support the Insteon PLC and the Insteon modules. Right now I have 2 dead RS232 PLCs and 2 USB PLCs. I hope that the Insteon folks will take them back otherwise I'll only be able to use the USB PLC. That will require a new module to support the USB HID interface. I'm not sure I'm up to that much of a challenge at this point (a USB OO module and an Insteon OO modules).

PS: I again have a working X10 setup! It turns out the the power strip with my laser printer on it is the cause. In the past I have removed the power from the printer but this time I removed the entire strip. POW! The X10 is now operational. I'll have to check the power usage of the laser printer and see if I can get a filter that will work with it.

It's here, half way (the DSM320)!

So yesterday a package lands at my front door (actually the package looked like something landed on it) and I don't think it's the post office's fault as the package was over stuffed. I opened the box and found all the bits and bobs for the D-Link DSM320, Well what bits and bobs there were. There were no cables, manuals, or CD. The manuals and CD are not a problem as I downloaded those the other day from D-Link. The remote, WiFi antenna were there and so was the DSM3200. But the most surprising thing was that the power cord is not for US use (ARGH!). I searched the Internet for European plugs and found that it's a Australia/New Zealand 3112 without ground pin. I checked the power supply and it can handle anything from 110 - 230Vac and 50/60 Hz. That means a zip cord for now (2 insulated alligator clips on a standard AC cord). So I will not being doing business with this company again! I just hope this thing works. So it's off to Radio Shack. Thankfully, there's one nearby that still has some of the electronic parts and a manual switch box. I've got to hook up an XBox, Tivo, VCR, funky little game system (another toy D gave me), external connect from my digital camera and the DSM320 to the TV. Wonder were I'm going to put the Myth box when I get around to building that. :-)

Update: I built a zip cord and made sure the line goes to line and neutral to neutral (otherwise I could cause an electrocution hazard). I was able to bring up the wired network connection, configure the device and play music (I have nothing else on my server yet). I'm now fighting with wiring it into an existing TV/Tivo setup. I want to put a VCR in between (so I can wire everything else through the auxiliary input of the VCR). So far that isn't working very well.

PPS: It turns out I didn't properly read the Amazon ad for the DSM320, it did clearly state that the unit was purchased in Australia/New Zealand, my bad. In the end I do have a working unit so I shouldn't complain. :-)

Home Automation and miscellaneous updates

In a previous blog entry (Everyone loves a mystery!), I lamented at the state of my home automation. Most of it didn't work and that which did, didn't follow any logic as to why it did or didn't work. Well I've a little further progress on this subject. Today I was trying out Mark Gilmore's ECS (http://www.omnipotencesoftware.com/) software with my Insteon USB PLC. After some time of fighting with the PLC (it's behavior didn't follow the Insteon documentation, grrr). Anyway I had some of my Insteon working and I had some of the X10 working (more than previous) but it managed to get worse as the day progressed right back to the previous odd behavior. What I have discovered is that the signal is partially getting out. The first half of the command seems strong enough at about 4V. But the second half is getting garbled or not being sent at all. While the X10 looks valid the command D1 D1 DO N DON gets sent as D1 D1 B5. As the day progressed the Insteon went from working to not working also. The Insteon PLC is now flickering, not blinking, like traffic is being sent. This pretty much keeps the PLC from sending anything. The T1103 mostly works but that seems to be it.

My next course of action is the start tearing everything out and add one thing at a time until the network fails. I have a feeling that the problem may be related to the cheap Geek Squad UPS units I have. They're behind filters but I still suspect them.

I've also sent quite a bit of time updating my web pages. Between school, work and family there's not much left over. They're a mess! There is no logical format of the directories and a lot of material is hidden deep in subdirectories. I've begun reorganizing the site in the hopes of a more logical flow and less wasted space (duplicate material). So you may find some of the links broken from time to time. I'll try to repair them as quickly as possible. Please report any broken links to the outside world. I haven't run my link check program in a long time and I'm sure there are more than a few bad links. I hope to get that program up and running in the next week or so.

Update:

I received an email from Robert Stephens (Founder and Chief Inspector, The Geek Squad), he wanted to know if he could help with any problems with the UPS (GS-685U) that I have. I guess I need to be a little more clear about the problem. Here's how I replied to Robert:

Stephens, Robert (GeekSquad) wrote:

> Neil,
>
> I saw your blog post.  The Geek Squad is very concerned about quality.
> Can you tell me more about your concerns of the UPS?  If there is any
> quality issue, I'll be sure to take care of it for you.

Pardon my choice of words. I didn't mean to infer that the GS UPS was the problem. I doubt you are familiar with X10. X10 is a power line carrier protocol. It uses the power line to talk to X10 modules. One of the problems is that any electrical device on the line can lower the impedance (resistance) and eat X10 signals. This is what is happening in my setup. I have filters on the power line to the UPS. The filter is supposed to raise the impedance to the point where X10 signals just pass by the UPS. At one point last week (when I wrote the blog entry) I had removed the UPS and filter from my power lines, tested the X10 and found it working. But a couple of hours later that turned out to be less likely. The problems returned and I again removed the UPS from the power line only to find that X10 problems remained. X10 tends to be fickle and right now is causing me no end of problems.

BTW, Robert has home automation and is familiar with X10. He also said that he is looking/pushing Best Buy into offereing home automation. Cool! A local place to purchase HA equipment! In the mean time, my GS-685U has saved my bacon 3 times so far in the last few months, thank you! I'm looking into getting a few more small units for my Tivo and a few other devices. I also have to lodge a complaint with my power utility to see if there is a problem with the area's power or whether the problem is local to my home. This has nothing to do with my X10 problems just the quality of my power. A few year ago the utility did have to come out and tighten the drop. Maybe there is a further problem with the drop and it needs to be replaced.

As you can see my X10 problems still persist (grrr)! Maybe this weekend I'll get to tearing apart the X10 network and see if I can resolve this issue once and for all!

Ti-i-i-me's not on my side ...

Well time is short and I haven't much of it. Seems I need to go back to school if I want to advance in my job. So it's off to school I go. Meanwhile my mind wanders to all my HA projects and a few other things. I'm currently working on a Farmpark project (more on that at a later date), Dave Houston's Rozetta HA controller, the HCS project, my normal HA pages (links right), and a nagging X10 problem where I can reach the X10 devices on opposite phase from my PLC's but can't reach the X10 modules on the same phase as the PLC's. To make matter worse the signal appear strong (4.5V on the ESM1). So I have no working X10 at home. ARGH! So for those of you who try to contact me please be patient. I'm not ignoring you I'm just swamped. I'll figure out some kind of schedule and get things working again. Just a little bit slower.