CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

emdawgz1 · Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 7949

When i was in the Custom HT business, i was trained and actually programmed a couple of AMX/Panja systems. Recently I have been working on a opportunity to do some consulting in this area. I'd have to go to the AMX training course (again) at my expense, but i'd also be in a position to do more on my own. I'm really looking to expand my own business, but i'm not sure that this business is going to grow in the next few years.

Does anyone here use this tech? Any thoughts?

ecrabb · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 8:02 pm Post subject:

John, there's a few guys here that have some Crestron equipment. There are a couple of threads about programming them. Crestron seems to be more DIY-friendly than is AMX. That can be bad or good depending on whether you're an owner or a service provider.

I have an AMX Axxcent3 controller and a couple of touch panels that I still need to set up in my system. I used to do some contract work for a large virtual reality systems integrator here in Iowa, and I did enough dabbling for them, and I have enough code and projects laying around, that I think I'll be OK doing my own programming.

I think automation and control is going to do nothing BUT continue to grow in the coming years. The only problem I see is that it's become increasingly difficult to do this stuff as any kind of "one-man" show because of the technical expertise required by the level of integration. Everything is going IP, and lots of stuff is talking to each other now. The automation system talks to the security system, talks to the HVAC system, talks to the lighting controller, etc. etc. etc. They aren't just "system control" anymore - they're "building automation systems".

Of course, as the market has changed and expanded, there are other players, too. It used to be just AMX and Crestron in A/V installations. They're now working with a lot of other companies and playing with the big boys like Cisco, Siemens, Honeywell and Johnson Controls.

All that said, I think any education you can give yourself can do you nothing but good - especially if it's a field in which you're particularly interested.

Oh, and I'm certainly not an industry pro or anything - I'm just sort of stating how I see things.

I thought you were getting your law degree! Wink

SC

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 8:33 pm Post subject:

emdawgz1 · Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 7949

ecrabb · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 10:47 pm Post subject:

30K. Ouch. OK. I see where you're coming from.

Well, I guess before I dropped a big chunk of change on the AMX certification, I'd ask around and see if there were some folks I could get some work out of. You used to work for an installer, right? Do you have a few contacts you can ring up to see what the market is like and whether they can use you? Or, are you thinking, those people would all be, in effect, competitors?

Don't most integrators use there own standard code-base (with tweaks, obviously) so that they don't have to reinvent the wheel on every job? Seems like that would make it a pretty difficult gig to try to jump into "freelance" - are are you thinking of contracting for somebody?

What are you doing now?

SC

emdawgz1 · Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 7949

faradayblue · Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 1:43 pm Post subject:

I've been into the home theater hobby for approximately 10 years now. As a hobbiest I always wanted to have a control system so that my wife and kids could turn the ht system on or off by pushing a single button. I'm now on my second crt projector, 3rd surround processor, 4th video processor, 3rd power amplifier system, 2nd surround speaker system. When I need to make a choice of where to spend my money - control systems are always at the bottom of the priority list.

There is also the home audio hobby - going strong for 25 years and at least on the 5th generation of hardware.

I believe the key word is hobby! I still want a control system - but there is always some other piece of kit I'd rather spend my money on. The best piece of equipment I've purchased so far that ties the home audio and video together is a Lexicon MC-12.

John S · Joined: 01 Jun 2008 Posts: 25

Here in the Washington,DC area I have come across several homes with automation controls; some as simple as just lighting controls, others have full blown whole house automation controls. The whole house controls seem to be used in the extreme high end homes. From there it goes down in various forms to just the simple lighting controls. This type of whole house automation does not seem to be disapearing in this area, it just isn't common here because of the costs involved. The number of installers in this area does not seem to be very plentiful because of how inveolved the process is.

I have gathered some AMX/PANJA peices that I am hoping to incorporate into my HT to make the operation much simpler for the family. I don't know if this is possible without expensive programing by someone else. What are your thoughts on doing this since you have experience with the AMX/PANJA equipment. Am I biting off more than I think?

emdawgz1 · Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 7949

futrhse · Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 11:36 pm Post subject: Custom Automation hardware

John S:

I was heavily involved in HT and custom automation systems from 1992-2007 and I found that you could integrate just about any piece of HT hardware into Automation systems if you use the STARGATE product from JDS technologies. <<<<< www.jdstechnologies.com >>>>> it offers not only X-10, (256 aaddresses) but A-10 capabilites (4096 discreet addresses) along with dedicated digital, analogue, relay, temp, IR, security, INPUT/OUTPUT connectivity along with video VOIP, telco, water control, A/V and much more allowing you to just about integrate anything into it's Automation environment.

Lately they have advanced the STARGATE processor further by adding IP connectivity so you can now monitor and make changes ON THE FLY to the home or residence from a PC located anywhere in the world as long as you can get to the WWW as STARGATE now has it's own IP address capabilites for WAN remote control. It has the most robust feature set I've ever encountered. So AMX, ELAN VIA, Crestron and other IR/RF controllers are a snap to tie to this system for "overlord" control.

STARGATE is a PC based processor that is used as a FEP to drive existing hardware and automation devices. Its program must reside in a PC BUT the PC does not have to be on 24/7 and is only used to program STARGATE, and download/offload the program to STARGATE therefore NOT tying up the PC resource except for programming initially.

Typical cost for this unit is about $995-1495/ dependent on how fancy you want it to be and it's all upgradeable and scalable.

This is an extraordinary product for what you are doing.

Hope this helps

Regards,

G Bell
Future House

drice1234 · Joined: 07 Oct 2006 Posts: 1309 Location: Allen, Texas

Below is a link to an article about Home Automation from one of my trade magazines. We have some land in Colorado and a few years ago I had looked into opening up a home low voltage business in the area to provide this as well as other type of low voltage services. There was just not enough building going on in the area.

http://www.isc365.com/Big_Gains_Expected_in_Home_Automation_Market.aspx?utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Content1Oct08

jkv · Joined: 17 Aug 2006 Posts: 34

I have two Crestron processors in my home; 1 to control the house and the other to control the HT. These two processors are connected to each other via a serial connection.

What is connected to my main system? Two Lutron RF lighting processors, HAI alarm panel, 9 HAI tstats, sprinkler system, 2 am/fm tuners, Arrakis CD server (which currently provides 8 zones of distributed audio), retractable awning over the deck and 8 touchpanels throughout the house. It also has an ethernet connection for stuff like weather, news and stocks.

The HT Crestron processor has a table top touch panel and a RF touch panel for the UI. It controls an Escient DVDM-100/Sony DVP-CX777ES DVD player, a Toshiba DVD player, Denon 5800 amp, CD player, Dwin HD700 projector, Dwin TS2 and a HD tuner.

The system has been installed going on 8 years now and I am constantly "tweaking" it. Works great, everyone loves it...the house runs itself...... Very Happy

emdawgz1 · Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 7949

jkv · Joined: 17 Aug 2006 Posts: 34

Kevin D · Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 63

stefuel · Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 12:36 am Post subject:

The best thing I have added to my HT is the Crestron system. It allows mostly one touch operation for complicated macros. I have it designed to be so simple that my autistic child can turn the theater on, select a source and decide what he wants to watch. Even the dumb blonde next door has no problem navigating the various touch screens and she can get lost in her own house Laughing

It started out as just the HT but has bloomed into a security and irrigation controller as well. Next will be lights and HVAC. There's really no end to what you can do with Crestron if you're willing to put in the time and effort.