Reboot

Scratch that last post. Stop!

Enough with the excruciatingly detailed technical gobbledygook of AC and DC.

No, that wasn't the British heavy metal rock group of the 70s.

Time to speed it up.

I got rid of the unreliable and primitive X-10 system. It only worked on one phase of my 2-phase electrical wiring. So some devices would respond to the control buttons, some wouldn't. Yes, kids, buttons. There were no smartphones, apps or the Internet. There were barely home computers for most people that did much of anything anyway. So I used a little control box with buttons to control 16 channels/devices/groups. It could switch on/off or dim/brighten each, or all on/all off. That was it, basically! Later it had a primitive computer interface with simple software.

It was just okay. No. It sucked compared to today's systems, but that's all I could afford compared to the kilobuck Crestron and AMX touchscreen systems meant for Wall Street tycoons only.

My first Home Automation System: X-10

In the mid to late 80s I started using the first popular and affordable home automation system, called X-10. It was sold both by Radio Shack and directly from the manufacturer and other mail order houses.

Now comes the foundation education. For those with no knowledge of electrical basics, you really need to know this. Everything in technology has to be learned in a progression of steps. You can't do it out of order, or you'll be completely confused. For those who know this stuff, I apologize, you can skip ahead of it to what you really need to know.

Electric power comes in two forms:

DC or Direct Current which is the same as what comes out of a battery. It's a continuous voltage. Either it's on, or it's off. (Volts is a way of measuring electrical potential or force. Kind of like water pressure in a pipe before it's released)

AC is Alternating Current. In the USA this is what's supplied to your house. The electric current is turned on and off 60 times per second. Without getting too complicated, the voltage actually goes to positive, then to zero volts, down to negative volts back up to that zero crossing point and once again to a positive level. Over time it averages out to 120 volts AC, 60 times per second or cycles per/sec. It's expressed in Hertz (named after the physicist, Heinrich Hertz) or Hz. So our electrical power in the home is 120 VAC 60 Hz.

To be continued....

Direction for my blog

I don't know who's going to read this, I'm just starting out blogging, but you have to begin somewhere. I'm interested in a lot of things that enrich my life: the arts including music, film, literature, visual arts, etc. At the same time science and technology hold an equal interest, I'm consumed with both. To me there's no separation, I guess you could call me a Renaissance man, to use the cliche, and I'm not trying to come off as bombastic.

I want to share with those who want to come along on my musings/semi-tutorial/log in personal tech for the home: What I've done in the past, what I'm doing now and what's coming out new, just about everyday.

I love gadgets, yes for their own sake, but after a while one gets tired of the novelty. They have to serve a purpose, do SOMETHING, enhance our lives.

So first things first. If you're going to talk about or use any kind of technology, you've got to know not just the basics, but you've got to get the real fundamentals right, in order to master it.

I'll get back to where I left off in my 1st post on X-10, which was my first experience with home automation. I'll explain how it worked and the actual electrical principles behind it. I'll try to keep it simple, but for those who still have trouble understanding, I'll be glad to respond to questions & break it all down for you.

That's all for now.

The Gadgeteer

Start:

This is the beginning of my first blog. I've been a gadget freak for as long as I can remember, maybe since I was 4. Back in the early 60's I had a toy called Mr. Machine. It was a battery powered or mechanical (can't remember which) robot with a clear body. You could see all the inner workings, gears, levers, etc. It had walking movement as its main feature. The robot was meant to be taken apart and put back together. I disassembled the toy and had a lot of difficulties getting it back together. Very frustrating to a little kid. 

This blog will start to cover in a rambling way the convergence of all the trends in the connected home/Internet of Things: the past, present, and future. 

All from my personal experiences and blending in what I see, hear and read. I'm going to connect the dots, see what's next.

I won't lay out my background and interests in depth just yet, but they're wide-ranging.

I first started with home automation control using the line of X-10 products in the mid-80's for controlling lighting and some components of my audio system.

More to follow: