Pete's R&D Build Thread

Posted on
Fri Oct 23, 2015 4:26 pm
petematheson offline
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Pete's R&D Build Thread

So i thought I would start putting everything into one thread, both for me to keep track of - and to share my results!

To cut a long story short, I've discovered an awesome tax benefit that UK companies can get for Research and Development. Considering that I run an IT business - home automation quite easily falls under R&D - thus my journey begins, or rather continues from my very basic implementation that I've already got to.


Nest Protect Installation Difficulty: Easy | Installation Time: 10 Minutes
http://forums.indigodomo.com/viewtopic.php?f=133&t=14912&start=15#p104188
Philips Hue Installation Difficulty: Easy | Installation Time: 20 Minutes
http://forums.indigodomo.com/viewtopic.php?f=133&t=14912&start=15#p104188
Global Cache iTach (Wireless Model) Installation Difficulty: Medium | Installation Time: 2 Hours and climbing
http://forums.indigodomo.com/viewtopic.php?f=133&t=14912&start=15#p104188
Fibaro Motion Sensors Installation Difficulty: Easy | Installation Time: 5 Minutes
http://forums.indigodomo.com/viewtopic.php?f=133&t=14912&start=15#p104188
StellaZ TRV's Installation Difficulty: Easy | Installation Time: 5 Minutes each (if you already have TRV's fitted, otherwise you have to drain the system)
viewtopic.php?f=133&t=14912&p=104240#p104240
TKB UK Plug Sockets Installation Difficulty: Piss-Easy | Installation Time: 1 Minute
viewtopic.php?f=133&t=14912&p=104240#p104240
DSC Wireless Contact Installation Difficulty: Easy | Installation Time: 30 Minutes
viewtopic.php?f=133&t=14912&p=105393#p105393
Loop Gas & Electric Monitors Installation Difficulty: Easy | Installation Time: 30 Minutes
viewtopic.php?f=133&t=14912&p=105393#p105393
Honeywell EvoHome Installation Difficulty: Medium | Installation Time: 2 Hours
viewtopic.php?f=133&t=14912&p=105393#p105393
Last edited by petematheson on Wed Nov 11, 2015 5:46 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Posted on
Fri Oct 23, 2015 4:34 pm
petematheson offline
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Location: Southampton, UK

Re: Pete's R&D Build Thread

Current state of play:

Mac Mini (Connected directly to 1x TV for Plex)
Latest version of Indigo (Always kept up to date)
Plex Media Center
Z-Wave USB Dongle


Devices currently managed by Indigo
DSC Alarm Panel with misc sensors around the house. PIR's, Door Sensors etc..
Envision Module to link DSC alarm into Indigo
Fibaro Motion Sensors
Fibaro Dimmer Modules
TKB / POPP UK Plugs
Onkyo AV Receiver
Sonos Play 1's
Plex Clients (1x TV, 1x running locally on the Mac Mini)
Nest Thermostat
Last edited by petematheson on Fri Oct 23, 2015 5:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Posted on
Fri Oct 23, 2015 4:46 pm
petematheson offline
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Joined: Sep 14, 2014
Location: Southampton, UK

Re: Pete's R&D Build Thread

First purchases :lol:

Some of the boxes were earlier purchases - but thought it fun to see how much money I've wasted on Apple kit... call me a fanboy if you want to.

New purchases:
21.5" Apple 4K iMac (family machine)
15" Retina Macbook Pro (for me - for work)
Apple Watch

5s has gone now
Older 13" Macbook is the wife's (second hand) and about to die
iPad mini I use for work, but may look at a full sized iPad for control panel pages.
We both have iPhone 6 Plus's
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Posted on
Fri Oct 23, 2015 4:51 pm
petematheson offline
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Pete's R&D Build Thread

Stuff that should be arriving in the next few days:

Stella-Z TRV's - For key radiators around the house
Globalcache iTach Wifi IR transmitter - to control my Media stuff.
Z-Wave TKB Socket - Misc - probably for Christmas tree lights or something in future
Nest Protect - One to play with, need another 2 to replace all existing units
Fibaro Motion Sensors (for temperature monitoring in rooms with TRV's)
Philips Hue starter kit & extra bulbs - for those hard to wire-in fibaro dimmer areas
Fibaro RBGW Controllers
LED strip lights - Wanted to play with LED lighting in the Kitchen, maybe the stairs / landing / hallway for emergency or nighttime lighting. Maybe outside, not decided yet.
1x PoE Switch and 1 non-PoE switch - to connect all this stuff up properly and to prepare for PoE CCTV cameras in the near future.
Navetas Gas & Electric Meter - on a free trial at the moment

Going to be fun playing with this stuff!

Posted on
Sat Oct 24, 2015 2:00 am
durosity offline
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Re: Pete's R&D Build Thread

Wow! Mucho envious! Out of interest what cctv cameras were you looking at?


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Posted on
Sat Oct 24, 2015 5:12 am
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Re: Pete's R&D Build Thread

At the moment, Hikvision - a security company I know demo'd them to me and the quality is amazing.
That said, their web interface is pretty shocking - I haven't looked into the best Indigo friendly software yet, but my understanding is that they're all pretty open to any model of cameras.

I'm thinking PoE cameras - since it's easier for me to wire ethernet around the house than it will be for me to figure out (or pay an electrician) to run power cable to where I want the cameras.

Posted on
Sat Oct 24, 2015 5:16 am
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Re: Pete's R&D Build Thread

First arrivals today
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Posted on
Sat Oct 24, 2015 7:00 am
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Re: Pete's R&D Build Thread

Second delivery
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Posted on
Sat Oct 24, 2015 7:22 am
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Re: Pete's R&D Build Thread

It's gadget porn!

I would be jealous, but this stuff wouldn't be compatible with my system anyway. :D
Dave

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Posted on
Sat Oct 24, 2015 7:46 am
durosity offline
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Re: Pete's R&D Build Thread

petematheson wrote:
At the moment, Hikvision - a security company I know demo'd them to me and the quality is amazing.
That said, their web interface is pretty shocking - I haven't looked into the best Indigo friendly software yet, but my understanding is that they're all pretty open to any model of cameras.

I'm thinking PoE cameras - since it's easier for me to wire ethernet around the house than it will be for me to figure out (or pay an electrician) to run power cable to where I want the cameras.


Yeah, plus if you hook up your POE switch to a UPS they can keep going if the power goes out!

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Posted on
Sat Oct 24, 2015 8:30 am
howartp offline
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Re: Pete's R&D Build Thread

DaveL17 wrote:
It's gadget porn!

I would be jealous, but this stuff wouldn't be compatible with my system anyway. :D
Dave

It is with mine :-(

Durosity - shall we ditch our current jobs and set up our own IT business?


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Posted on
Sat Oct 24, 2015 8:30 am
howartp offline
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Re: Pete's R&D Build Thread

DaveL17 wrote:
It's gadget porn!

I would be jealous, but this stuff wouldn't be compatible with my system anyway. :D
Dave

It is with mine :-(

Durosity - shall we ditch our current jobs and set up our own IT business?


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Posted on
Sat Oct 24, 2015 11:53 am
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Re: Pete's R&D Build Thread

howartp wrote:
Durosity - shall we ditch our current jobs and set up our own IT business?


Good idea.. Only problem is I'd need to start knowing things instead of faking knowledge. Tell you what, I'll be the face of the organisation, you can be the brains.


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Posted on
Sat Oct 24, 2015 11:53 am
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Re: Pete's R&D Build Thread

You're on! ;-)


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Posted on
Sat Oct 24, 2015 12:44 pm
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Pete's R&D Build Thread

Considering how horrible I'm finding work right now... It's almost tempting!


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