Submission by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it - For a while I've been looking at how to get Caller ID info into a PC. So many modems appear to offer it but every one I could get my hands on doesn't actually support UK Caller ID. The options seemed to be buy a new analogue modem known to work or buy a dedicated unit (like a Meteor) - Both of which seemed overkill and likely to cost over £70/£80 for a decent modem and well over that for a Meteor. Then Jon Payne posted to the UKHA_D mailing list details of a circuit he'd designed which took the raw output from the CID decoder chip on a BT CID unit and converted it to RS232, ready for a PC...

Submission by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it - After moving into Orchard House, we soon realised how much you take little things for granted. In our previous house the Central Heating Controller had been in the kitchen and both my Wife and I frequently made use of the "+1 Hr" buttons for both Heating and Hot Water. In Orchard House however, the controller was upstairs inside the airing cupboard. Now it's not a big house, but that was still more of a walk than I thought was strictly necessary ;-) I considered relocating the Controller, but there were no easy cable runs for the Mains cables required. Having recently installed a Comfort alarm, I'd been considering what I could use the Digital Outputs for. Slowly I managed to put 2 and 2 together and get close to 4. I'd install some relays that could control the Heating (240V) on the Comfort Outputs (12V). A 12V cable from Comfort into the airing cupboard was much easier....

Submission by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it - "xAP is an open protocol intended to support the integration of telemetry and control devices primarily within the home - it is the glue that supports the interconnectivity of Home Automation devices." - so begins the www.xapautomation .org website...

Submission by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it - With all the talk of wireless keyboards and mice on UKHA_D I thought I'd try a set to see what all the fuss is about. I decided on the Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop; this is stated as suitable for Windows (98, ME, NT, 2000 & XP) and Mac (OS 8.6-9.x, 10.1, but not 10.0) computers. So what was in the box...?

Submission by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it - I imagine that I began my first experiments in home automation in the same way as most people, with a vague idea about how cool remote controlled scene lighting would be. A few quick searches on the web led to the discovery of X-10, and the realisation that all I would need to start would be a lamp module, a wall switch, an Infra-red (IR) to X-10 converter such as the IR7243 and a remote control It quickly became apparent that the affordable learning remote controls were nowhere near cool enough to do justice to remote controlled lighting, which really only left the touch-screen remotes...

One of the most basic elements of any system that uses X10 as part of it's control solution is the LM12, or lamp module. The fact that it's a cheap and often comes as part of a starter pack means that, along with the AM12, it's a common peice of kit in any HA beginners arsenal.