The Ultimate DIY...

Serendipity
Serendipity Posts: 6,975
edited December 2012 in The Clubhouse
A picture is worth a thousand words.

The plan: move all gear to an equipment closet.
polkaudio RT35 Bookshelves
polkaudio 255c-RT Inwalls
polkaudio DSWPro550WI
polkaudio XRT12 XM Tuner
polkaudio RM6750 5.1

Front projection, 2 channel, car audio... life is good!
Post edited by Serendipity on
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2012
    Then get rid of this clutter:
    polkaudio RT35 Bookshelves
    polkaudio 255c-RT Inwalls
    polkaudio DSWPro550WI
    polkaudio XRT12 XM Tuner
    polkaudio RM6750 5.1

    Front projection, 2 channel, car audio... life is good!
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2012
    And use only this:
    polkaudio RT35 Bookshelves
    polkaudio 255c-RT Inwalls
    polkaudio DSWPro550WI
    polkaudio XRT12 XM Tuner
    polkaudio RM6750 5.1

    Front projection, 2 channel, car audio... life is good!
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  • leroyjr1
    leroyjr1 Posts: 8,785
    edited May 2012
    Why not just use the harmony ?
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2012
    The Harmony is kind of limited in what you can do. Plus, I wanted a programming challenge. Learned C++ in college, now it's time to apply my knowledge... :cheesygrin:
    polkaudio RT35 Bookshelves
    polkaudio 255c-RT Inwalls
    polkaudio DSWPro550WI
    polkaudio XRT12 XM Tuner
    polkaudio RM6750 5.1

    Front projection, 2 channel, car audio... life is good!
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  • audiobliss
    audiobliss Posts: 12,518
    edited May 2012
    Looking forward to the end result!
    George Grand wrote: »
    Jstas wrote: »
    Simple question. If you had a cool million bucks, what would you do with it?
    Wonder WTF happened to the rest of my money.
    In Use
    PS3, Yamaha CDR-HD1300, Plex, Amazon Fire TV Gen 2
    Pioneer Elite VSX-52, Parasound HCA-1000A
    Klipsch RF-82ii, RC-62ii, RS-42ii, RW-10d
    Epson 8700UB
    In Storage
    [Home Audio]
    Rotel RCD-02, Yamaha KX-W900U, Sony ST-S500ES, Denon DP-7F
    Pro-Ject Phono Box MKII, Parasound P/HP-850, ASL Wave 20 monoblocks
    Klipsch RF-35, RB-51ii
    [Car Audio]
    Pioneer Premier DEH-P860MP, Memphis 16-MCA3004, Boston Acoustic RC520
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2012
    Started programming the system...
    polkaudio RT35 Bookshelves
    polkaudio 255c-RT Inwalls
    polkaudio DSWPro550WI
    polkaudio XRT12 XM Tuner
    polkaudio RM6750 5.1

    Front projection, 2 channel, car audio... life is good!
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2012
    Started making a user interface for the XRT12 tuner. Luckily, Polk makes their tuner controllable by RS-232!

    As a result, this is what the controls will look like. I think I am going to use an old PDA or tablet PC for this:
    polkaudio RT35 Bookshelves
    polkaudio 255c-RT Inwalls
    polkaudio DSWPro550WI
    polkaudio XRT12 XM Tuner
    polkaudio RM6750 5.1

    Front projection, 2 channel, car audio... life is good!
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  • newrival
    newrival Posts: 2,017
    edited May 2012
    looks like a fun project. good luck
    design is where science and art break even.
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2012
    Thanks. I want to control my sprinklers via RS-232... Hence, the "Sprinklers" tab on the touch panel - which is for the future. For those here who are home contractors (treitz3, etc.) do you know where I could get an irrigation control valve for this purpose?

    I also want to be able to lock and unlock my doors remotely from the PDA so I am looking into biometric locks too. Swipe your finger to get into the house, or lock/unlock from a touch panel.

    Currently have surveillance cameras and a burglar alarm system, so I'd like to tie into this also. For the burglar alarm I'm thinking of using a passcode on the touch panel that allows you to arm and disarm the system. And if a burglar comes into the house with a weapon, I can enter a second "disarm" code that actually calls the police. Kind of like a silent alarm.

    Showing the security cameras should be pretty easy - just set up a web server with streaming video from the security DVR.

    Any other ideas? This should be very '007' :cool:
    polkaudio RT35 Bookshelves
    polkaudio 255c-RT Inwalls
    polkaudio DSWPro550WI
    polkaudio XRT12 XM Tuner
    polkaudio RM6750 5.1

    Front projection, 2 channel, car audio... life is good!
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  • newrival
    newrival Posts: 2,017
    edited May 2012
    Serendipity wrote: »
    Thanks. I want to control my sprinklers via RS-232... Hence, the "Sprinklers" tab on the touch panel - which is for the future. For those here who are home contractors (treitz3, etc.) do you know where I could get an irrigation control valve for this purpose?

    I also want to be able to lock and unlock my doors remotely from the PDA so I am looking into biometric locks too. Swipe your finger to get into the house, or lock/unlock from a touch panel.

    Currently have surveillance cameras and a burglar alarm system, so I'd like to tie into this also. For the burglar alarm I'm thinking of using a passcode on the touch panel that allows you to arm and disarm the system. And if a burglar comes into the house with a weapon, I can enter a second "disarm" code that actually calls the police. Kind of like a silent alarm.

    Showing the security cameras should be pretty easy - just set up a web server with streaming video from the security DVR.

    Any other ideas? This should be very '007' :cool:

    I'll check on monday at the office for some sources on irrigation valves. I know I have a full rack of Irrigation/plumbing vendors' catalogs in my resource atelier.

    all that stuff sounds great. I would add interior/exterior light controls I/O and dim for when you're out of town and otherwise, as well as fans, fireplace, and HVAC
    design is where science and art break even.
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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,957
    edited May 2012
    I always wondered why, or maybe pretty soon it will happen, that you couldn't take Apples Siri technology and integrate that into a whole house control. Just speak what you want to happen and bingo.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
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  • audiobliss
    audiobliss Posts: 12,518
    edited May 2012
    Jarvis. I want Jarvis to run my home.
    George Grand wrote: »
    Jstas wrote: »
    Simple question. If you had a cool million bucks, what would you do with it?
    Wonder WTF happened to the rest of my money.
    In Use
    PS3, Yamaha CDR-HD1300, Plex, Amazon Fire TV Gen 2
    Pioneer Elite VSX-52, Parasound HCA-1000A
    Klipsch RF-82ii, RC-62ii, RS-42ii, RW-10d
    Epson 8700UB
    In Storage
    [Home Audio]
    Rotel RCD-02, Yamaha KX-W900U, Sony ST-S500ES, Denon DP-7F
    Pro-Ject Phono Box MKII, Parasound P/HP-850, ASL Wave 20 monoblocks
    Klipsch RF-35, RB-51ii
    [Car Audio]
    Pioneer Premier DEH-P860MP, Memphis 16-MCA3004, Boston Acoustic RC520
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2012
    tonyb wrote: »
    I always wondered why, or maybe pretty soon it will happen, that you couldn't take Apples Siri technology and integrate that into a whole house control. Just speak what you want to happen and bingo.

    You could, it would just take a lot of work to do. Lots and lots of programming to make it happen.
    polkaudio RT35 Bookshelves
    polkaudio 255c-RT Inwalls
    polkaudio DSWPro550WI
    polkaudio XRT12 XM Tuner
    polkaudio RM6750 5.1

    Front projection, 2 channel, car audio... life is good!
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  • janmike
    janmike Posts: 6,146
    edited May 2012
    Remember, nice tight code!
    Michael ;)
    In the beginning, all knowledge was new!
    NORTH of 60°
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2012
    This weekend I worked on getting all my RF gateways and network access points up.
    polkaudio RT35 Bookshelves
    polkaudio 255c-RT Inwalls
    polkaudio DSWPro550WI
    polkaudio XRT12 XM Tuner
    polkaudio RM6750 5.1

    Front projection, 2 channel, car audio... life is good!
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2012
    This is a view of the back of the rack as I get wired up:
    polkaudio RT35 Bookshelves
    polkaudio 255c-RT Inwalls
    polkaudio DSWPro550WI
    polkaudio XRT12 XM Tuner
    polkaudio RM6750 5.1

    Front projection, 2 channel, car audio... life is good!
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2012
    More connections to the rack below.
    polkaudio RT35 Bookshelves
    polkaudio 255c-RT Inwalls
    polkaudio DSWPro550WI
    polkaudio XRT12 XM Tuner
    polkaudio RM6750 5.1

    Front projection, 2 channel, car audio... life is good!
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited May 2012
    Designed the user interface for the Onkyo A/V receiver:

    Coming along pretty good so far...
    polkaudio RT35 Bookshelves
    polkaudio 255c-RT Inwalls
    polkaudio DSWPro550WI
    polkaudio XRT12 XM Tuner
    polkaudio RM6750 5.1

    Front projection, 2 channel, car audio... life is good!
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  • Drenis
    Drenis Posts: 2,871
    edited May 2012
    I want to see a demo video when done. Wish I stuck with computer science in school.
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  • mrbigbluelight
    mrbigbluelight Posts: 9,717
    edited May 2012
    Cool project !

    On the remote, I assume "Party Mode" instructs the refrigerator to cool down to 34 degrees to chill the beer, and tells the Onkyo to jack up the low frequencies about +40 db ? :wink:
    Sal Palooza
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited November 2012
    Finally got back to working on this project after a 6 month break.

    Here's the audio distribution rack:
    polkaudio RT35 Bookshelves
    polkaudio 255c-RT Inwalls
    polkaudio DSWPro550WI
    polkaudio XRT12 XM Tuner
    polkaudio RM6750 5.1

    Front projection, 2 channel, car audio... life is good!
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited November 2012
    The amp (bottom of rack) has some smarts, so you can view Zone status, Clipping, DC Offset, or High Temperature faults right from the remote. I'm going to use a Windows 8 tablet running the EXE to facilitate control of the system. Here's the fault status page:
    polkaudio RT35 Bookshelves
    polkaudio 255c-RT Inwalls
    polkaudio DSWPro550WI
    polkaudio XRT12 XM Tuner
    polkaudio RM6750 5.1

    Front projection, 2 channel, car audio... life is good!
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited November 2012
    Just got this working late last night. It's awesome!

    In this video I'm testing out the IP control. As the volume is adjusted up and down, the feedback on the computer screen (volume bars on the far right) reflects the actual volume level. Check it out:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isciV7i8EBQ
    polkaudio RT35 Bookshelves
    polkaudio 255c-RT Inwalls
    polkaudio DSWPro550WI
    polkaudio XRT12 XM Tuner
    polkaudio RM6750 5.1

    Front projection, 2 channel, car audio... life is good!
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited November 2012
    mrbigbluelight wrote: »
    Cool project !

    On the remote, I assume "Party Mode" instructs the refrigerator to cool down to 34 degrees to chill the beer, and tells the Onkyo to jack up the low frequencies about +40 db ? :wink:

    Haha, just added tone control to the program. "Party Mode" adds a 10dB bass boost when turned on, flat when turned off.

    Here is a video of it in action:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaeLKWc9kBM
    polkaudio RT35 Bookshelves
    polkaudio 255c-RT Inwalls
    polkaudio DSWPro550WI
    polkaudio XRT12 XM Tuner
    polkaudio RM6750 5.1

    Front projection, 2 channel, car audio... life is good!
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  • scottyboy76
    scottyboy76 Posts: 2,905
    edited November 2012
    You guys make me feel so inadequate, but thats ok, at least im damn good lookin.
    humpty dumpty was pushed
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited November 2012
    scottyboy76 wrote: »
    You guys make me feel so inadequate, but thats ok, at least im damn good lookin.

    Haha...

    It's my philosophy that if enough time and effort are spent, eventually you will achieve your goals. This is something that I've always wanted to do (see thread below):

    http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?118478-Amplifier-Channel-Management

    This seed was planted back then, now it's finally starting to happen. Rock on!!
    polkaudio RT35 Bookshelves
    polkaudio 255c-RT Inwalls
    polkaudio DSWPro550WI
    polkaudio XRT12 XM Tuner
    polkaudio RM6750 5.1

    Front projection, 2 channel, car audio... life is good!
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  • BigGilles
    BigGilles Posts: 6
    edited November 2012
    very nice !:cool:
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  • codyc1ark
    codyc1ark Posts: 2,532
    edited November 2012
    What's he hiding behind that pillow???
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited November 2012
    Today I'm going to fish some wire for the network and install 3 new Access Points.

    While I'm at it, also going to install some inwalls:
    polkaudio RT35 Bookshelves
    polkaudio 255c-RT Inwalls
    polkaudio DSWPro550WI
    polkaudio XRT12 XM Tuner
    polkaudio RM6750 5.1

    Front projection, 2 channel, car audio... life is good!
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,957
    edited November 2012
    scottyboy76 wrote: »
    You guys make me feel so inadequate, but thats ok, at least im damn good lookin.

    Well, that smile on your face and that pillow on your lap says you've been naughty. The cute hat tells me your just plain retarded. :biggrin: I have a feeling that monkey on your right in the case comes out to play fairly often.:eek: Just playin' with ya man.

    Cool project your doing OP, I sure wouldn't have the patience for programing all that.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter