Podcast #396: HD Fury 2 and Home Automation with Insteon

As Daylight Savings time draws to a close those of us with lights on a timer need to do our bi-annual ritual of readjusting the settings so lights are on when it gets dark. This year Ara decided that he wanted to look into home automation so his lighting could be set once. He decided to go with an Insteon System starter package that included two lamp controllers, one appliance controller, a computer interface, access points for the mesh network, a remote control, and software.

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Listen to the show

Today's Show:

News:

• Samsung Sells One Million LED TVs in Six Months
• PHYSICAL: Study: Low-priced rental machines not cannibalizing sales
• Consoles are selling faster, but most buyers are using it to play games
• Machine holds 35% more DVDs in same footprint
• Netflix Support Added To Insignia Blu-ray Players
• NPD: Picture, Screen Size Still Driving TV Purchases

Other:

• Oppo 83 now available in UK as 831
• MEMS film could enable brighter, cheaper displays
• The Geico song

HD Fury 2

How many of you have a TV that was purchased in 2005? If you raised your hand there is a good chance that it does not come with an HDMI input. Today we take a look at a device that bills itself as the world smallest and most powerful HDCP deciphering converter ever built. The HD Fury 2 takes an HDMI input and converts it to component in a device that fits in the palm of your hands. All this for about $200 and that includes cables and power adapters.

Setup:

Plug the HDMI cable in one end and the component cables into your TV. In most cases the bus provides enough power to run the Fury. In our case our DirecTV box worked fine with bus power but our receiver needed a power adapter which costs extra.

Use Cases:

• Blu Ray player with older HDTV - in the future some discs may restrict component playback to 480p
• Switching receiver with older TV - this becomes a simpler setup and requires less cables

Performance:

It worked as promised! The picture looked almost as good as the original. Most people we showed it to couldn't see a difference. The Fury even supports digital audio via a Mini TOSLINK port. The original HD Fury had some issues with handshaking or picture shifting. These issues have been specifically addressed in the HD Fury 2. We did not experience any of these issues with the gear we connected (DirecTV, Oppo Blu Ray Player, and Pioneer Switching Receiver).

Conclusion:

The HD Fury 2 just works. A good device to keep your older TVs viable in today's world.

Home Automation with Insteon

As Daylight Savings time draws to a close those of us with lights on a timer need to do our bi-annual ritual of readjusting the settings so lights are on when it gets dark. This year I decided that I want to look into home automation so my lighting can be set once and from the comfort of my office chair. I decided to go with an Insteon System for no reason other than they are located two miles from where I work at my day job. I ended up going with a starter package that included two lamp controllers, one appliance controller, a computer interface, access points for the mesh network, a remote control, and software. The total cost was about $420 at the Mac Home Store. The system I bought works with both Macs and PCs the only difference is that you need software that runs on your platform. On the Mac I am using a package called Indigo. On the PC you can use a package called HouseLinc but there are others as well. Since my original purchase I have also added multiple wall switches, keypads, and thermostat control. Braden too has jumped on board and has begun automating his house.

Setup
The setup was straight forward. The entire process took about an hour. First I installed the two access points. This ties your power lines to the devices plugged into your walls. Then I connected PowerLinc to the computer and installed the Indigo software. The last step was to install the LampLincs and ApplianceLincs. Once the physical installation is complete its time to setup the software. You have to add devices and that's done by providing a 6 digit address code. The software finds the devices and adds it to the database. Once all your devices are added you setup triggers, actions, and actions groups. This is where the fun starts.

Trigger

Triggers are events that under certain instances cause an action to take place. The event can be but is not limited to the receipt of an email with a specific subject line, a device state change, or a user defined variable value. These triggers are then evaluated against some criteria like "Always", "If Dark", "If Daylight", or if a variable is equal to a specific value. If the trigger is set and the criteria is true then an action takes place. These actions can control a device, set a variable to a specific value, execute a script or start a sequence of events defined by an action group. More on action groups in a bit. The the possibilities are endless. 

With the use of motion sensors, custom variables, and action groups I am setting up my automation system to text me when a motion sensor gets tripped if I have set my user defined "Security" variable to armed. The arming can be done from my iPhone or button on a keypad. I am looking into writing an Apple Script or develop an application that will tie the home automation system in with these cool personal video cameras from VueZone. 

Actions
The software allows you to create actions for each device. I've configured the inside lights to turn on 15 minutes before sunset. The outside lights come on 15 minutes after sunset. You input the Latitude and Longitude of your location and then the software will adjust the event each day. You can program your thermostat through the automation software or through the thermostat GUI. Its nice having control from anywhere on earth, provided you can get to the internet.

Action Groups

The software allows for defining action groups. Think of them like macros for your remote control but this macro controls lights, shades, and anything else Insteon controls. The concept is pretty straight forward but the power comes when you execute the action group from a single button press on a remote, key pad, or just by pausing your movie.

Odds and Ends
The Indigo system comes with an iPhone app that controls your system which is pretty cool.  There are all kinds of devices that you can control:

• HVAC/Thermostats
• Input/Output Devices
• I/O Linc Kits
• Remote Control
• RF Receivers
• IR Products
• Motion Detection
• Lamp Control
• Appliance Control
• Keypads
• Wall Switches
• Wall Outlets
• Leak Detection
• Irrigation
• Accessories
• Audio and Video

I have multiple wall switches that include keypads. You can have custom labels made so anyone who comes to your house knows how to set scenes of start your Jacuzzi. 

Conclusion

Home automation is fun, functional, and habit forming. With that said this is one area my wife is not complaining about me spending money. She sees the value every day she turns a light on.

Download Episode #396

Comments

[Matt Stoll]

For HTPC users, I would like to suggest the AVerMedia TVHD Duet. It is inexpensive and, to my knowledge, the only internal PCI-E card that has dual ATSC/QAM tuners. Now that Windows 7 can handle 4 tuners of any type, I have two of these cards in my machine.

-Matt
Atlanta

[Mike Richardson]

I've owned an HD Fury2 for quite a while. My TV is old enough, not only doesn't it have HDMI inputs, it has 1080i as its best resolution. I bought the Fury2 to enable my up-convert capable DVD player to get the best possible picture to my TV. To me, the availability of 1080 output from the DVD player while still keeping a more-than-acceptable TV is worth the purchase price, for sure.

[Chris]

GUys,

You show a link to a starter kit for Mac and mention the PC software. Any link for a PC starter kit?

Thanks, Great show!
Chris
Bay Area

[HT Guys]

Hi Chris,

Try this link http://www.smarthome.com/_/ProductResults.aspx?Ntt=staret%20kit

Ara

[Steve Hoggarth]

Are blue ray movies anamorphic? What I mean is, is the content authored with 1080 vertical and 1920 horizontal lines and then formated to the required ratio? I think this will be important when we start to see even higher resolution TVs. Great show guys.

[Brian]

We use the HD Fury 2 at work with a projector that only has VGA input. Converting HDMI from a video conferencing unit to the VGA on the projector results in a great quality output that "just works". Well worth the price considering our only other option was the purchase of a new projector.

[David]

Ara, do ALL of the devices that you link to (thermostats, sprinkler systems, alarm systems) have to be purchased from insteon or is there some sort of standard protocol with most devices that you can tie into? I got the starter kit, but this other aspect of it has me confused and I can't seem to find answers anywhere else.

[John]

1. My AVerMedia TVHD Duet gives me better reception than my HDHomeRun. I using the tuners with SageTV on a home built Windows Home Server system. The antenna is a Channel Master CM-4221HD. The antenna is on the side of the house, as I didn't want it installed on the roof. I experienced a lot more freezing, stuttering, volume drop-outs, and momentary pixelization with the HDHomeRun then with the AVerMedia Duet. My recommendation is to purchase the Duet over the HDHomeRun. Great support from the people at Silicon Dust though.

2. I also have the HDFury 2 and noted that it doesn't appear to pass below black when using component video as the output method.

[SmarthomeJohn]

David, INSTEON-compatible products can be purchased from many suppliers on the Internet and not specifically from Smarthome. INSTEON is the standard or technology used by devices much like computers use the Ethernet standard to communicate with each other. Also, most of the products do support the older X10 technology where you can teach an INSTEON device to transmit or received X10 addresses like A1, C4, M16. Look for the INSTEON-Compatible or INSTEON-enabled logo on the product to know for sure it will work with your system.

[Chris]

I'd love to do some automation, but I've got most of the lights in the house replaced with Compact Florescent for energy savings so the dimmers wont work and take away half of the cool factor of automation. I've also got many 3-way light switches and haven't seen any of the switch replacement components that indicate they will work with a 3-way switch. Do people just replace the one switch as a 2-way (normal) switch and then not wire in the other switch and have it work only thru the automation system not as a traditional 3-way switch?

I also am wondering about the security of the internet access, particularly since I'd like to get the garage door opener Ara mentioned, don't want that to be easily hacked.... is the access via HTTPS so the password authentication can't be intercepted?

Great show, you guys may have to start a second podcast on home automation! :)

[Doug Kress]

Chris:

About 3-way switches - there are a few options. The INSTEON documentation does touch on this, but you may have to dig a bit. Basically, you can either:
* Install one switch, leaving the other one inoperable, or
* Install two switches and "link" them together - either with hardware or software. The second switch doesn't actually control anything directly - just sends the command to the primary switch.

[Martin]

I cannot say how happy I am that you guys are finally into home automation and especially Insteon. Prompted me to finish my insteon tips blog post if anyone is interested.

http://martlist.blogspot.com/2009/10/getting-started-with-insteon-and-home.html

Would love to see you add a home automation section to the podcast, maybe just a couple of times a year, as at least for me Home Theater and Home Automation go really well together.

[Chris]

Can anyone comment on the pros and cons of these two controllers?

http://www.smarthome.com/2412N/SmartLinc-INSTEON-Central-Controller/p.aspx

http://www.smarthome.com/12233P/ISY-99i-PRO-INSTEON-Compatible-Automation-Controller-with-PLM/p.aspx

Other than the obvious big $ difference?

Thanks,
Chris

[Stephen Macmillan]

Hi all,
I've been using the HDFury2 for 9 months now. I have the HDFury2 with VGA output. I use this to connect from my HDMI switch to my projector (Infocus 5700) via a 15 metre VGA cable. The HDFury2 just works with no issues. This picture is stunning and exceeds the component output of my Sony 5000ES blu-ray player (verses its HDMI -> HDFury2 VGA converter). I highly recommend this product.

[Jay Martin]

Hi, I'm one of the developers of Indigo, and I'd like to thank you for the kind words. One thing that many people miss is the fact that Home Automation systems can help you reduce your energy usage. For instance, I have a pretty complex set of setpoint adjustments to both of my thermostats that has helped me to reduce my energy usage about 15% year over year (during a record setting high temperature summer). You can also set your lights so that they don't turn on all the way - you can save significant energy by just turning your lights on to 80%. Thanks again!

[Richard Booty]

Hi I was very interested in this podcast but I live in the UK, have you any ideas who may stock this product. I am also concious that there are likely to be a lot of bolt on purchases and therefore finding someone local would be really helpful

Thanks

Richard

[Pierre]

It's splendid. I installed a really useful honeywell security system which i very proud of cos it will defend all the tech stuff in my home.