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Home automation in a church :)

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Comments

  • #32
    ED E
    Registered Users Posts: 36,164 ✭✭✭✭ED E


    The American accent, couldn't hack that.


  • #33
    Marlow
    Registered Users Posts: 14,555 ✭✭✭✭Marlow


    ED E wrote: »
    The American accent, couldn't hack that.

    Of Alexa ? We actually set her to "English (Canada)", as she doesn't understand us most of the time otherwise. Both the other half and me are not native english.

    Doesn't change her voice though.

    /M


  • #34
    Marlow
    Registered Users Posts: 14,555 ✭✭✭✭Marlow


    A short walkthrough that shows, how we've mounted all the smart switches and basically build our smart home in a way, that you can go around the house, but don't need to carry a smart phone and the app with you.

    Every light has a smart switch somewhere, you don't have to get down to the TRV to set the temperature in a room.

    And at the very end the packaging madness, that has evolved over the last years lockdown from buying all these gadgets. I had dug them out for the fun of it and thrown them into the kids room. It's quite a lot. All going into the attic this week. At least the packaging we want to keep.

    There are links to a lot of the products that we've used in the video description.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYQ_HGBwEuE


    And if you're wondering, why the walls still are fairly bare: we moved here a month before the initial lockdown. I've got quite a bit of wall art, but it's stored in my dads place in Denmark as most places we've lived in the last few years typically were fully fitted. With the current circumstances, we've not been able to collect it. Something to look forward to, when things normalise a little.

    Had to re-render and re-upload the video, as there was audio issues with the first upload.

    /M


  • #35
    Marlow
    Registered Users Posts: 14,555 ✭✭✭✭Marlow


    I've been in 2 minds about actually going and fitting the Doorbird, because while it works locally, it needs access to their cloud to configure it.

    Should they ever shut the service down, one would be left with a doorbell, that may work, but you can't change any configuration.

    I did some research last year, when I first realised this, and found the Alphago ALP-600, which advertises the fact, that it requires no cloud access whatsover.

    51073383116_111c9a2337_z.jpg

    Features, that it shares with the Doorbird:
    - the camera can be used as a full fledged CCTV camera
    - motion sensor
    - full integration into the AVM Fritz! eco system
    - motion and doorbell ringing can trigger web calls, so it's easy to integrate it into anything

    There are a couple more advantages:
    - the doorbell can be turned in it's mount, before it's fitted, so that it's facing in the direction you need it. You can't do that with the doorbird
    - this doorbell uses proper PoE and not 802.3af type A, like the Doorbird. (most PoE switches are type B only)

    Also the image quality of the ALP-600 seems better. I've so far managed to hook it up to my NVR, set it up on the Fritz!box, so it shows the picture on our DECT handsets, when somebody rings the doorbell and make it announce on our Echo devices using the third party Alexa skill for the Doorbird.

    Oh .. and according to their support, they are actually working on a full fledged Alexa skill in house.

    /M


  • #36
    Marlow
    Registered Users Posts: 14,555 ✭✭✭✭Marlow


    With the latest update to the Fritz!Box 7590 and 7530 (7.25) a new firmware update was rolled out for the Fritz!DECT 440 switches.

    These are used to control the temperature in the room, but they also act as a temperature probe, so you don't measure the temperature directly where the TRV is situated. And then there's the fact, that you don't have to get down to the radiator every time you want to adjust the temperature, but can do on the control.

    Well, surprise, surprise, humidity is now also measured.

    51009384705_6707d7ae1a_c.jpg

    I had seen the sensor, when I installed OpenHAB3, as it was detected, when added the "Thing", but it didn't do anything. There was no reading from it.

    Well .. all of that now magically started working.

    51077926373_85409442a2_c.jpg

    One more reason, to fit these switches.

    /M


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  • #37
    Marlow
    Registered Users Posts: 14,555 ✭✭✭✭Marlow


    When I got the Amazon Echo (Gen 4), I really was underwhelmed, by it's sound quality.

    The Echo Dots obviously never could live up to my Sonos speakers, but I would have expected more from the Echo.

    So I made a little comparison video.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGpYTbLwaqw


    /M


  • #38
    Marlow
    Registered Users Posts: 14,555 ✭✭✭✭Marlow


    Got 2 Ikea Symfonisk Sound Remotes today. Meant to test them out for ages.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQfj2NpI__U


    Basically: if you have an Ikea Trådfri Hub/Gateway and Symfonisk or Sonos speakers, then you can pair this little gadget with your gateway and place it in a room somewhere to control volume, skip forward/back and start/stop of music.

    Like with everything else, you might not always carry your mobile around and you certainly don't want to shout at Alexa over the music or TV noise, so that she gets your commands.

    This solves that. Installed 2 today. Will have to order some more.

    Apologies for the audio in the start of the video. I tried to rectify it as good as I could, but my Tonor mike just seems to pick up every bit of sound in the room and even some echo, where the Yeti Blue, that I'm using at the end of the video seems to just focus on recording my voice and a minimum of background noises. Looks like, I've got to do some noise dampening and a few other measures in my office, if I want to use the Tonor mike.

    /M


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