Lyndhurst Garden House

Lyndhurst Garden House
Lyndhurst Garden House

Monday, April 21, 2014

Recent Home Upgrades

In reverse chronological order, starting from the last thing done on Sunday April 20.



1.  Installed new bedroom light switch at doorway.  Uses an Insteon Remote Switch, with intuitive up and down operation just like a real Decora switch.  I've never had a working doorway switch, and until now it was necessary to walk into the darkened room and fiddle with a tiny remote control by the bedside to get the light to turn on.  (I could also use a keypad switch in the adjacent computer room, but it was impossible to explain to friends, and not always convenient either.)  Last year I inquired of electrician John Jones as to what it would cost to install a light switch by door.  I never got an answer, I suspect it would have cost at least $700 because of numerous technical difficulties with the location and the need to put in an all new outlet box to go with the switch box as well as doing lots of drywall cutting and repair.  But installation of a battery powered remote switch was easily done by me starting late on Sunday night.  The original home builder put a switch box in an inconvenient location inside the room, and as it turns out it could not control anything useful in the room, including the ceiling fan, for technical reasons, except a distant outlet that I preferred to have unswitched.

2.  Adjusted and successfully tested Swann security camera DVR for the first time.  After I installed it two years ago, I had never successfully tested playback on the Swann DVR (a successful test would be catching some known event, such as me opening the gate).  After several initial unsuccessful attempts back then, I figured that if it ever became a serious issue, I would somehow be able to get the recordings off the hard drive, even if I hadn't done so before.  But that wasn't a reassuring idea.  Every now and then I would try again, but kept running into roadblocks in the awful user interface.  But this Sunday, after replacing the hard drive, I finally figured it out, and I also figured out that since I am recording from all 3 cameras 24/7, the Motion Detection feature actually makes recorded events harder to find.  While recording is done normally in 30 minute blocks, if motion is detected, it interrupts the normal recording block and makes a special "alarm" recording just after each motion event (which could be trivial, such as wind blowing the rose bush).  Then, after a few minutes recording to a special alarm segment, it resumes recording to a normal segment.  So the recordings were broken up into an endless series of separate little files.  If you really are recording 24/7 like me, the best thing to do is turn all motion detection off, which I finally did, otherwise you have to identify endless alarm and non-alarm segments within the desired interval and play back each one separately (the DVR does not merge separate recorded segments for playback--a huge misfeature IMO).  After turning all motion detection off, I was able to scroll through a 30 minute "no alarms" recording segment and see myself opening the gate.  I also set the DVR clock for exact time.  My unit is, by my personal choice, not connected to any computer networks--if I were to do that it would set time automatically.  But somehow, despite having been disconnected for more than a week, and untouched for years, it still did at least have the date correct.

3.  Got Swann DVR installed and operating over TV network and with remote control instead of mouse and computer monitor.  For some reason, the Swann control menus do not, by default, appear in the VGA output device.  Instead, they show only in the video output, unless you specially enable menus in the VGA output.  Anyway, rather than continuing trying to buck the system, I decided to go along and connected the video output of the Swann DVR.  I connected the Swann to an unused input of one of my DVR/DVDR's and watched it from two different TV's in the house.  And now the remote control operates like it should.



4.  Installed and formatted new hard drive in Swann security camera DVR.  I installed the new very quiet and cool Western Digital Green hard drive I discussed earlier in this blog--which sounded like a vast improvement over the original hot and noisy hard drive.  But then, I was then discouraged to find out that the previous hard drive was also a Western Digital Green drive!  But the new one seems to be very much better, fortunately: very quiet and cool as advertised.  I suspect the old one has had serious issues for a long time, possibly since I bought it, and wasn't living up to it's allegedly Green status.  The earliest version of the Western Digital Green drives may have had a misfeature in constantly trying to repark the heads.  My original drive was making a shrieking noise for at least the last year as if the bearing was about to go out--but I thought it was a noisy fan (which the DVR doesn't even have).  It had been the loudest thing in the kitchen, and now it's the quietest, in fact I can't hear it at all above the sound of the fans in my other three DVR's.  UPDATE: after a few days, I've started noticing the hard drive noise again.  It doesn't make a whine like some old (or new) hard drives, but a kind of bumping sound when the head seeks.  I think this is exaggerated by the way Swann (or actually, the original OEM manufacturer) mounts the hard drive upside down.  The label inside the DVR insists that you mount the drive this way, and the right handed SATA connector only lets you mount the drive that way.  I think the reasoning was that the circuit board of the drive is the hottest part, so mounting the drive upside down lets the heat escape better.  But I've already made adjustments for the heat with the holes in the case on top and bottom, and the newer version Western Digital Green drive does run much cooler anyway.  So I've ordered a new left handed SATA cable which will permit me to mount the drive the normal way, with circuit board on the bottom.  I might also apply some electrical tape underneath the drive where the fins are in back to help absorb the noise from head seeking.  Once I started hearing the head seeking noises, the unit is now clearly noisier than the two other DVR's in the kitchen, which make zero head seeking noise.



5.  Modified Swann security camera DVR chassis for cooler operation (so the next hard drive will hopefully last more than 2 years).  I was planning to cut a big hole in the bottom of the case with a chassis punch.  But that would have required drilling a larger hole than I felt comfortable doing with all the circuitry still in place.  So instead I nibbled a couple of existing holes in the bottom into one much bigger hole, using a chassis nibbler, right underneath the most critical part of the hard drive.  And I did drill three holes in the top cover above where the hard drive would be mounted.  And I added 3/4 inch feet to the bottom of the chassis to allow more air to flow upwards into the chassis.  And I mounted the hard drive as far up from the bottom of the case as it would go (whereas the factory had done the reverse).  The result was a success, though I can't say for sure how much difference my chassis changes made, because I also replaced the hard drive itself--which may have made most of the difference.  But with the modified chassis, and the new hard drive, the chassis is running about 15 degrees cooler than before.  It barely gets to 87 degrees F now, which is about 10 degrees above ambient.  Running at a low temperature like that is how I've kept my Amiga hard drives running for 20 years.

6.  Gave Queen's Room the dog test.  Friend came over on Saturday night with her big and imperfectly trained dog.  We watched most of a movie in the Kitchen, only occasionally having to advise the dog to get away from stuff.  Dog did start sniffing cord of vaporizer (and especially the plug, which I figured might soon be chewed off) which had been left on the floor so I moved it up to cabinet.  Then, with 20 minutes remaining in the movie, we moved to Queen's room and lay down in bed to watch rest of the movie.  The dog remained well behaved in the Queen's Room mostly (only twice trying to jump up into bed), and did no damage to anything, even after a couple hours of our napping in bed.  Of course I had spent a week preparing making sure there was nothing on the floor to be chewed.



7.  Potted new plants by front door and planted rosemary near driveway.  (Many thanks to friend who enjoys doing these things and insisted on doing it this weekend.)



8.  Installed new six outlet adapter in Kitchen so that coffee maker can still be plugged in where I have lots of technology stuff also plugged in.  Actually, because of the large size of special power supplies and Insteon modem, I can only use 4 outlets even with the 6 outlet adapter.  But that still permits the crucial one "extra" outlet for actual kitchen appliances--in particular the essential coffee maker.  With additional rewiring (hard to contemplate) I could make it two extra outlets.  (This screw on outlet adapter was ordered online with rush shipping and installed just in time to be ready for a contemplated overnight stay.  None of the ones sold in local stores had screw on capability for added security.  One doesn't want outlet adapter power home automation system to fall out of outlet.)

9.   Got SL1000 Dust Cover packed in original packing (stored for about a month in Lyndhurst) and picked up by UPS.



10.  Removed LP records and drawer junk from Queen's room.  (And brought home laptop so that Queen's Room now has a useable computer.)



11.  Mounted door bumper in Queen's Room (and removed junk video on floor that was serving that purpose).




12.   Installed new ISY994i home controller, linked my new Insteon devices and controllers to it, and set up some initial timer programs.  (In above picture, the ISY994i has a bright blue light.  Most of the other stuff visible relates to household A/V networking.)

13.  Mowed front.



11.  Installed new Insteon home automation devices replacing unreliable X10 devices and X10 timer controller (for the first week, used the Mac program Indigo, but decided to replace that with a more serious hardware based ISY994i controller).



Friday, April 18, 2014

Ways to access the ISY 4.1.2 User Interface


6. IMPORTANT Once upgrade is completed and ISY reboots, use any of the following methods to access your ISY's Admin Console:
a. http://your.isy.ipaddress (or http://isy if you have Windows) - Java Applet
b. http://your.isy.ip.address/admin.jnlp - Java application
c. http://isy.universal-devices.com/994i/4.1.2 - Java Applet
d. http://isy.universal-devices.com/994i/4.1.2/admin.jnlp - Java application
MAC 10.6.x Users: 
e. http://isy.universal-devices.com/994i/4 ... min16.jnlp

Friday, April 11, 2014

Security DVR

My Swann security camera DVR8-2600 quit operating some time ago.  I just checked this week, so I don't know how long it had not been working.  The hard drive light was not blinking.  When I switched to view it on my kitchen monitor, I saw the video channels working, but every few minutes it would reboot, show a Swann copyright screen, show the video pictures and an outdated time stamp, and then reboot again.

This is apparently what happens when the hard drive fails.  Though I had used the unit for not quite 2 years, it was actually almost 3 years since purchase (it took me a year to get around to getting it installed with the first camera, which was done by electrician).  So, no warranty, but it should not have failed so fast IMO.  I have working hard drives 20 years old (!), though I'd say mtbf is less than half that.

The unit was always noisy and was noticeably hot when I removed it.  I was thinking it had a stuck fan.  But open the unit up, and it has no fan.  The only thing making all that noise all along had been the hard drive.  Noisy hard drives are usually on the way out.  So this one was pretty bad from the moment I got it.

Here is a great table showing the noise levels of different recent hard drives.  Ignore the fact that it's part of a review of a Seagate drive, the Environmental Characteristics table (which probably appears in all their reviews) is the important thing.  It shows on top for quiet and low energy consumption (low heat, which obviously this DVR needs) are the new Western Digital Green drives.  It turns out that Western Digital makes different lines for different purposes, and the Green drives are for quietest and coolest, useful in media storage devices, for example.  The quietest model shown in the (unfortunately old but not yet updated) table is the WD20EARS 2T.  That is an old model you pay a hefty price for now if you can find it new at all.  It's not necessarily a good thing to buy old model drive, in my experience, as it may already have started wearing out from shelf jockeying.  The newer model, said by others to be even quieter, is the WD20EZRX.  So that's what I ordered today, from newegg.


Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Smartphones are NOT the best home controllers

More and more home automation systems are pushing smartphones as home controllers.  This has absolutely no appeal for me.

Dedicated home controllers are more convenient because you do not first have to open and/or authenticate your smartphone.  Though I have only the minimum swipe-to-open on my Android phone (and it's actually a pain, not just any swipe will do, I often have to swipe 2 or 3 times, and sometimes more, to get it to actually open).  Then, you have to scroll to your home control application, and open it.  Finally you may have to navigate to get to the particular room or device you actually want to control.

And I should also mention, though perhaps it's just me, that before any of that you actually have to find your smartphone.  And sometimes that is a considerable challenge.

Dedicated home controllers, by contrast, are usually best just left in a convenient spot to control the things you want to control in that room.  Therefore the controls are localized to the room, and always available in the right place, ready to go, with often as little as one button push to start some action.

I was very saddened to find out that Sonos had discontinued making any handheld controllers.  It was the cool color LCD screened Sonos remote that brought me to choose Sonos in the first place.  Thankfully I picked up a nice controller on eBay.


Moving on to Insteon and Indigo

Keeping my X10 home control and automation system working has become like bailing water from an increasingly leaky ship.  Long ago I added a phase bridge, and since then I've had to add more and more line filters, and still it gets flakier and flakier.  So it was long past it's dump date, and many alternatives are now available.  I've chosen to go with Insteon home control devices and the Indigo home control program which is one of the few to run on Mac.

Nevertheless, there also appears to me to be a conspiracy between Indigo and Insteon, and I am mad about it.  I've just obtained Indigo, to work with my Insteon 2413U usb interface connected to my Kitchen mac (the computer I actually use, most of the time).  Indigo supports X10 nominally, as does the 2413U.  The problem is that Indigo does not support any mode of any device which transmits X10 RF signals.  Notably Indigo does not support the CM17a "firecracker" interface.  Nor does it support the RF transmitter mode of the CM15 Pro.  If Indigo did support a transmitter, then the natural way to get the X10 signal out of a computer rich environment (and especially the kitchen, where I use my Mac) would not be through the noisy power line, but through RF broadcast and picked up by one or more X10 TM751 receivers or the like, which could be located close to (or even be) the X10 modules they are controlling.  So the modern use of X10 is based more on RF transmission than power line transmission.  THAT is what actually works nowadays.  And Indigo doesn't support it, and the only discussion I've found of this rather significant support deficit is where in a support forum where somebody is clearly trying to use the CM15 Pro as a transmitter, and it isn't going anywhere, and the Indigo staff says nothing useful.  Reading the fine print, which is hard to find, and you see that Indigo supports only the RF receiver mode of the CM15 Pro.  Indigo does support X10 RF input, which would be an interesting way of continuing to use X10 RF remotes like the HR12A if I wanted to bother with it by creating macros.  The reason why I didn't switch to Insteon 10 years ago was that Insteon had nothing comparable to the X10 HR12A, and despite finally adding the RF Mini Remotes sometime in the past 10 years, they still don't.  The HR12A has 18 (!) buttons, nominally on/off for 8 devices and dim which could be applied to any of them.  The best that Insteon has ever done is the Mini Remote which has 8 buttons, equivalent to less than half of the HR12A, though those buttons can be assigned to any "scene" and are not locked into particular device codes or dimmer usage.  I've ordered a couple of Insteon Mini Remotes, in the 8 scene and 4 scene versions (they both have 8 assignable buttons so are essentially the same except for markings) so I can't say this yet definitively, but according to reviews they are not as physically robust as the old HR12A (which are like original AT&T phones from the 1970's, you can drop them on a hard floor and only the tacky label protector breaks off).  The Insteon Mini Remotes are lightweight and cheap looking and yet rather expensive at $44.99 apiece.  I recall paying around $9 for my 18 button HR12A's, a more than 10x better value per button.

It may have been good for Insteon that I didn't switch 10 years ago.  If I had done so, I almost certainly would have quickly switched to Zwave or something else.  Back then Insteon was still pushing mostly single band power line devices that are little or no better than X10 devices and may be worse.  Boy have they gotten bad reviews!  I can say the 2414U I tried to use last year was completely hopeless.  But now Insteon is going dual band with everything, which is the way Insteon should always have been from the beginning.  Except of course that the Mini Remotes are RF only, which is fine.  Before the Mini Remotes, Insteon controllers were big and bulky and required power line connection.  I had my fill of big bulky controllers requiring power line connection with the original X10 controllers in the 1980's and am not going back.  (The old X10 plug-in controllers also required two button pushes for every operation, a significant challenge with the tiny and poorly arranged buttons they had.  Before line noise prevented X10 from working hardly at all, the lousy interface design of X10 devices should have killed it.  But there wasn't much competition in the bottom price ranges of home automation.  And X10 is still cheaper than any alternative.)  I kept waiting for Insteon to come out with a small battery powered RF remote, and then fell asleep waiting before they actually did.

Anyway, Indigo appears to be the best of current Mac offerings, and I'm going with it despite their being part of the Insteon conspiracy to increasingly unsupport X10 by unsupporting modern X10 usage.

And Insteon appears to me to have a better system than Zwave.  Insteon is said by some to have better range.  It is (now) dual band, which is a significant plus because not every device is well situated to receive RF.  Insteon turns every device into a transmitter as part of it's mesh system.  Zwave transmission follows a precomputed path of devices.  This is similar to the differences in early networking systems.  The free wheeling ethernet (similar in some respects to Insteon) won that contest handily, and not just because it doesn't require pre-computation, though that is a big plus too.

So despite my whining, I've bought 8 Insteon dual band modules, one dimmer SwitchLink, and two Mini Remotes.  Add that I already have two professionally installed Insteon Keypadlinks, a 2413U, and Indigo.  And it was about time.

Long ago I quit adding new features to my X10 home control system because even what I had wasn't working very well, and most new devices I tried to add didn't work at all.  Now I hope to get back on the playing field, adding new devices and automation as new ideas occur to me.