[mythtv-users] Home Automation + MythTV/Linux

[Dave Oxley]

David Whyte wrote:
> On Thu, Aug 7, 2008 at 7:19 PM, Dave Oxley <dave at daveoxley.co.uk> wrote:
>   
>> I have C-Bus in my new house. It's very cool. The light switches, movement
>> sensors, light sensors etc are cabled in a loop with Cat-5 and individual
>> (or pairs) of lights are on there own circuit that come back to a central
>> point. A single switch can be programmed to control a single or multiple
>> lighting circuits. Although proprietary I've installed the C-Gate
>> application on my server which will allow me (I haven't bought the
>> Ethernet/C-Bus bridge yet) to control and reprogram any lights via telnet
>> commands. From this point it should be easy to write a script controlled by
>> lirc or a plugin for MythTV.
>>
>>     
>
> Hi Dave,
>
> Getting OT here but, I am assuming that C-Gate is for Linux right?
> Are you in AU?  What was the cost of C-Bus like?  I heard you spend
> somewhere in the region of $30K for a normal C-Bus set-up.
>   
Sorry for the late reply! C-Gate is Java and therefore runs on Linux. 
Other than loading up the file that the Electrician gave me on a USB 
stick I've not done much with it; I'm waiting until I've got some more 
cash and get the Ethernet/C-Bus bridge. I am in AU; I emigrated here 
about 3 years ago, hence the .co.uk email address ;) The cost for the 
C-Bus setup was $12k above the quote without, but yes, in total I spent 
$32k on the Electrician excluding light fittings of which there was 
~130! To save money I went for a minimal C-Bus install that I will 
expand in the future which is essential because of the different cabling 
required for the lighting. I didn't go for any of the video distribution 
available; instead I've fully Ethernet cabled the house and distribute 
audio and video with MythTV and put various cabling ducts in for the 
future. Also all phones in the house are VOIP with Asterisk routing 
to/from multiple suppliers and also receiving Telstra calls and faxes. 
Very cool setup and very fun!

Cheers,
Dave.