Smart Home IO

When putting together a smart home it can be very easy to skimp on the important stuff that can really enhance your smart home system like the quality of the wiring you are using. There can be a huge gap in cabling costs when it comes to options for your house. It is highly recommended to not just go with the cheapest cables and cabling as you get what you pay for as they say. Having a base line of quality to your smart home cabling infrastructure goes a long way when bringing your system together. Check out the company Audioquest for a look into the variety and options available to you and your smart home wiring needs. Audioquest has a high focus on audio quality including analog and digital cables to suit all the connection varieties you will need.

The newly released Sonos 6.3 system update brings new features to the Sonos eco system further advancing the application and streaming audio service. Now with the new iPhone 6s or 6s plus you are able to gently press the Sonos app icon from the home screen of your phone to get access to the short cut menu. The shortcut menu allows you to play and resume what you last listened to, choose a favorite from your starred favorites and/or search your Sonos system for music. The update also gives the Rhapsody streaming service a higher quality audio stream enriching and enhancing the sound With the new Sonos update you are able to now control the music from your iPhone or iPad lock screen. This gives easy access to changing the track or station, play and pause quickly and also the ability to adjust the volume on the fly. Sonos has also given the ability for the app to be shared via the split view and slide over Apple service. Finally with this updat

You are in need of a change of TV service because you are unhappy with what you are being provided with for the price you pay so you make the call to the satellite company. You place your order to switch over your TV services and an appointment is made for the following week. Finally the day arrives for your appointment and you wait until the third hour of your four hour time slot and right at lunch time the technician has arrived. He happens to be driving a personal vehicle with a magnet sign on the side of his vehicle which says authorized contractor, thats odd but ok. The installation seems to be going fine and you eventually get picture on all the TV's you have in your home which was the main goal for switching over your services. After a small tutorial and a show and tell on the new features of the system the technician has you sign for a job complete and he proceeds to the next job never to be heard from again. The next day you happen to go to your where your cable

Having a nice outdoor space is what many homeowners dream of having and what better way to fill the space than a TV outdoors. An outdoor TV can be a great thing but it is highly advised to keep it protected from the outside elements. A simple TV cover can greatly protect your TV from dust, wind, debris, rain and snow which can increase the longevity of your TV for many years to come.

When creating a Smart Home it is very important to pay attention to the small details of your system. The difference between a "good" system and a "great" system are those little details when bringing all the elements of your home together. As you can see in the picture above even a small detail like the color choice of a keypad, volume control and  Lutron Pico remote can have a negative effect on the appearance outcome of the controls on your walls. The correct color choice in this situation could have helped blend all the wall controls together more harmoniously helping the aesthetics of the space in the house.  Paying attention to the little details when creating and installing a smart home or even simply installing a smart home device like the Nest device is very important and is what separates the great from the good.

If you are looking to update the firmware version of your Crestron MC3 processor the first step is to download the corresponding .puf file from the Crestron website. This can be found under the MC3 processor product page under the resources tab and scroll down to software and firmware title. Once the latest version of firmware has been downloaded to your computer simply double click the above icon to open up the package update tool. Upon launching the tool it will immediately take you to the Crestron address book utility where you will either reference the address entry for the processor you are wanting to update or you can create a new entry entering in the IP address of the processor on the local area network. After you have connected to the processor from the address book entry page the updater tool will search and suggest what updates are available for your processor. Put a check mark next to all elements that you would like to updat

When building a smart home you will definitely need a space to fit the necessary equipment for your integrated system. A rack enclosure is the best possible way to achieve an organized space to bring your components together. Including a rack into your project allows for orderly wiring to and from your electronics and also allows the equipment to be serviceable down the road when issues/problems arise or you decide to make changes to your system. Equipment racks come in many forms to fit many different spaces and applications.  There are racks that can go inside of built cabinetry that have pull out rails built in, racks on casters that stand on the floor that can be wheeled around and racks that are built up from the ground that have external stand and rails to be able to pull the equipment rack out for access. When designing a smart home it is imperative to plan for where your equipment will reside and to take the necessary steps to house your equipment in a p

Heat generated from electronic equipment can greatly damage the components especially if you have many devices housed in the same location. If an equipment rack enclosure is used to better manage the wiring and location of all the devices you have for your smart home then dealing with the heat form the rack is very important. The heat generated from all the devices builds the heat in the space which is usually a closet or space that is seals the heat raising the operating temperature of all the devices. When the operating temperature is higher than normal your devices longevity suffer wearing the components prematurely.  The best option for you to cool your smart home components is to install and purchase a ductless mini split air conditioning system as seen below. This air system allows you to only cool your equipment closet without over running your air conditioning for your whole home system to overcompensate for the heat. The climate conditioning these units provide w

Smart home wiring management is a very important part of your smart home system especially if you have contracted a company to do this for your home. The wiring of your home is the back bone of your system and if it is done incorrectly it can lead to issues down the road including communication and reliability issues of your system. A good general rule of thumb when assessing the wiring quality of your home is if the wires look messy and unorganized then you can bet that they are and the quality of work is not where is should be to deliver a great system which is why you ultimately hired a professional. The quality of your smart home is only as good as your wiring permits.  A quality and organized wiring job can significantly reduce your service costs maintaining the system and especially important if changes are made to your system down the road. Labeling of your smart home wires are equally important to reduce time spent determining where and what various wires are for.

myCrestron cloud power in a new service offered by the smart home automation company Crestron to accompany their recent IP based control system. The idea behind myCrestron  cloud power is for the smart home company to pair all their existing Crestron Pyng systems together in one space to monitor and effectively show them in the cloud with a centralized dashboard. The system dashboard will be able to alert you if a system is having an issue and with the automatic logs the Pyng system sends to the cloud. The Crestron true blue support team will also be able to help you that much easier compared to a traditional Crestron control system. Crestron also poses the idea to generate recurring revenue with the new myCrestron system. This could be in the form of a monthly system monitoring service that you could now offer to your client if you did not have an existing system in place for this service feature.  This new service will be a benefit to the clients you serve allowin

To wire Crestron Cresnet properly you are suggested to use Crestron's standard Cresnet cabling which consists of 4 conductors to operate correctly. You will need a small flat head screw driver called a tweeker to unscrew the 4 small screws of the green phoenix connector to be able to insert your stripped back wire ends.  The Red wire is for the power of the Cresnet communication bus which is 24VAC.  The White wire is the Y communication of the RS-485 bus which is the positive side of communication pair.  The Blue wire is the Z communication of the RS-485 bus and this is the negative side of the bus pair.  Finally the Black wire is the ground side of the power pair to complete the Cresnet connections and wiring.  Once the wires are inserted into the Pheonix connector you will use your tweeker screw driver to fasten the wire to the phoenix connector as seen below in the picture to be able to connect whichever device you are hooking up.  Crestron Cre

A rusty satellite dish is the antithesis of proper smart home preventative maintenance for any electronics system. Whether you are maintaining your TV, receiver, bluray player or amplifier, consistent attention to each device is crucial in keeping the equipment running smoothly and clean for years to come. Each electronic device can benefit from dusting and cleaning to help prolong the life of the gear. See below for a link to air dusting gas cans that can greatly prolong the life of your electronics. When dirt and dust collect of your electrical equipment it makes it run harder and hotter which can greatly shorter the life of your gear. A simple periodic dusting can help tremendously with how your equipment performs and ages through the years.

We all have experienced the feeling of "what happened, it's not turning on". If you have anything from a computer to a CD player that flat out just stopped working you are very likely dealing with a broken and dead power supply. This would be especially true if you did not have your piece of electronic equipment hooked up to a surge protector or better yet a power conditioner. Check the power supply with a voltage meter to help see if it does not read to specification if you have a piece of electronic gear that is not cooperating or flat out dead and unresponsive. The power supply is usually one of the most likely elements of a electronic device to go out and cause problems for you and your setup/system. A voltage meter cannot detect all issues with a power supply so a good rule of thumb is if the unit does not show any signs of life test it with a new power supply to help see if you can bring your electronic equipment back to life. The best practice to help com

Smart Home wall clutter can happen very easily to a home when an automation system design has failed to take into account the ascetics of the home. This wall clutter phenomenon especially happens when you have too many different contractors implementing electronics within your household. Most of the time when this happens the electronic elements within your home do not play well together and for many create unnecessary devices and switches and thermostats and touch panels that clog up your wall space and look with drywall acne throughout your home. With the advent of the iPad and pairing this with a well designed and implemented home automation control system, placing the tablet on an inductive charging dock it is a nice way to prevent wall clutter for your smart home. Keep your walls clean and free of electronic clutter by consulting and talking with your contractor or builder and demanding that you have one cohesive system that can limit the dials and switches on your w

Heat kills electronics especially when they are improperly installed and stacked one on top of the other. Electronics in general do not like heat and when it rises with no spacing for air flow the components heat builds off of each other creating a hot damaging environment for the more and more intricate devices we use. To help combat this problem properly space electronics with the help of equipment rack enclosures. Moving the hot air out and away from the equipment is a great first step in maintaining the build up of heat around your components. The best practice to eliminate the heat generated from your electronic equipment is to have a climate cooled space where the electronics reside to always keep them running at a climate controlled temperature and environment.

Protected wiring is a must when running wires outside. There are many reasons why running outdoor wiring in PVC or metal conduit is the best practice to protect the wiring and improve the longevity of the wires.  The outdoor elements can wreak havoc on any type of wiring from animals chewing on your wires to the sun beating down on the wire breaking down the protective layer for which all wiring needs to operate and work correctly. If you have gardeners or you are a DIY yard specialist you may at some point in time run into your outdoor wiring with a shovel or a set of shears trimming your hedges. Outdoor conduit can provide that added protection for your wiring to make it last for years to come. If you see a technician not protecting the wiring they are running you can be sure they are going the lazy route and you should be weary of their craftsmanship.