Archive
When is an Insteon scene not a scene?
October 12, 2015
When setting up my Insteon can lights with Insteon scenes, I had a revelation that might seem obvious, but is worth mentioning because I know I spent a lot of time pulling my hair out on this one. In a…
Intellihome is now easier to install and runs on Raspberry Pi
November 3, 2015
Last year, I introduced Intellihome, and a lot of you reached out to take a look at the progress so far. My control panel has been running Intellihome all this time, providing Insteon control features and slide show pictures, but…
Welcome, 2016!
February 1, 2016
It’s been a few months since I’ve written here, and am finally getting back to another set of posts. Thank you, readers, for the support, feedback, and article suggestions – keep them coming! Stay tuned for another round of home…
Insteon Hub Pro is indeed a piece of crap
February 3, 2016
Reader Matt Chroust was right in his guest-post I called Insteon HomeKit – Not Quite Ready For Prime Time – I was just wrong on giving it that title. The Insteon Hub Pro HomeKit-Enabled 2243-222 is such a big fat…
Amazon Echo integration with the ISY994i is here!
February 7, 2016
I didn’t have many nice things to say about the terrible Insteon hub, but let’s go the other way and gush about how great the ISY994i integration is with the Amazon Echo. Before we jump into it, let’s talk about…
Installing in-wall speakers
February 11, 2016
We’ve already covered installing ceiling speakers in these pages, so I won’t go into great detail on the process of physically installing in-wall speakers – it’s a virtually identical process to installing them in the ceiling. However, if you’re installing…
Fun facts about insulation
February 15, 2016
There are three different types of heat transfer: conduction, convection, and radiation. When discussing insulation in my posts about installing a wall safe or installing in-wall speakers, I thought back to Mr. Roman in my high school physics class and…
A better HDMI matrix for whole-house video distribution
February 19, 2016
A few months back, I wrote about my whole-house media distribution system based on an HDMI matrix in my basement. The problem I found with that matrix is that the HDMI output signal went through an additional conversion process to…
Unconventional Insteon automation – a smarter litter box
February 23, 2016
Last year (on April 1, actually), I wrote a tongue-in-cheek article about automating your toilet. I got a lot of interesting and funny feedback on the post, but most interesting was an actual, practical application for the post. Reader Steve…
Power in-wall speakers with an HDMI audio extractor and cheap amplifier
February 27, 2016
Remember those in-wall speakers we mounted a while back? Well, now we’re going to need to power those things, and all we have for the source audio is the HDMI output coming from our HDMI matrix. So, we need two…
Be aware of home security implications with Amazon Echo
March 2, 2016
First, let me say I love my Amazon Echo, and have totally embraced my Connected Home with the ISY-994i! This isn’t a post about some random security hole with integrating it into your home automation system, but a word of…
Foscam Security Camera Shenanigans
March 6, 2016
A few weeks back, krebonsecurity.com published a great post called This is Why People Fear the ‘Internet of Things’. The article describes a pretty disturbing practice in Foscam’s newer cameras with “P2P support”. Auspiciously this feature is to allow non-technical…
Installing a wall-mounted projector
March 10, 2016
The family room now has in-wall speakers powered by an HDMI audio extractor and small amplifier, and now it’s time to set up the video component: an Epson PowerLite Projector. I liked this particular projector because it’s capable of 1080p…
The Blue Iris App enables remote home security monitoring
March 18, 2016
I’ve called the Blue Iris desktop application a “must-have for Foscam security cameras owners“, and while I wasn’t happy with a broken firmware setting in the cameras, I still highly recommend the combination. In fact, the application got even better…
Creating nested conditionals in the ISY994i
March 22, 2016
Setting up nested conditionals in an ISY994i program isn't hard, but it isn't immediately obvious.
Setting up a family-friendly photo frame with online sharing
March 26, 2016
For Christmas last year I wanted to get a digital photo frame for some family members that would allow us to share pictures between us and have the pictures automatically update over time. I had already wired up a wall-mounted…
Wall-mounting a photo frame powered with custom-made USB cable
March 30, 2016
Table-top photo frames based on Android are great and all, and I’ve already covered a wall-mounted frame which is powered through existing low-voltage lines, but I wanted to replace that old photo frame with my new Lenovo Tablet for not…
Why do we do home automation? Because we can!
April 1, 2016
Why do we do Home Automation? Because we can! Now get back to work!
Hide clutter in MobiLinc with a character prefix
April 3, 2016
Here’s a quick and simple tip for you MobiLinc users out there: regardless of how your ISY994i folder structure is set up, you likely have a bunch of devices, scenes, or programs that you just don’t want to show up…
Use a rotary tool to fix a sticking deadbolt
April 7, 2016
I’ve got an electronic door lock that I control via my Insteon system to lock when I leave the house, and even monitor whether the deadbolt is set or not. But over the winter, I found that the lock was…
When is an Insteon scene not a scene?
October 12, 2015
When setting up my Insteon can lights with Insteon scenes, I had a revelation that might seem obvious, but is worth mentioning because I know I spent a lot of time pulling my hair out on this one. In a… Intellihome is now easier to install and runs on Raspberry Pi
November 3, 2015
Last year, I introduced Intellihome, and a lot of you reached out to take a look at the progress so far. My control panel has been running Intellihome all this time, providing Insteon control features and slide show pictures, but… Welcome, 2016!
February 1, 2016
It’s been a few months since I’ve written here, and am finally getting back to another set of posts. Thank you, readers, for the support, feedback, and article suggestions – keep them coming! Stay tuned for another round of home… Insteon Hub Pro is indeed a piece of crap
February 3, 2016
Reader Matt Chroust was right in his guest-post I called Insteon HomeKit – Not Quite Ready For Prime Time – I was just wrong on giving it that title. The Insteon Hub Pro HomeKit-Enabled 2243-222 is such a big fat… Amazon Echo integration with the ISY994i is here!
February 7, 2016
I didn’t have many nice things to say about the terrible Insteon hub, but let’s go the other way and gush about how great the ISY994i integration is with the Amazon Echo. Before we jump into it, let’s talk about… Installing in-wall speakers
February 11, 2016
We’ve already covered installing ceiling speakers in these pages, so I won’t go into great detail on the process of physically installing in-wall speakers – it’s a virtually identical process to installing them in the ceiling. However, if you’re installing… Fun facts about insulation
February 15, 2016
There are three different types of heat transfer: conduction, convection, and radiation. When discussing insulation in my posts about installing a wall safe or installing in-wall speakers, I thought back to Mr. Roman in my high school physics class and… A better HDMI matrix for whole-house video distribution
February 19, 2016
A few months back, I wrote about my whole-house media distribution system based on an HDMI matrix in my basement. The problem I found with that matrix is that the HDMI output signal went through an additional conversion process to… Unconventional Insteon automation – a smarter litter box
February 23, 2016
Last year (on April 1, actually), I wrote a tongue-in-cheek article about automating your toilet. I got a lot of interesting and funny feedback on the post, but most interesting was an actual, practical application for the post. Reader Steve… Power in-wall speakers with an HDMI audio extractor and cheap amplifier
February 27, 2016
Remember those in-wall speakers we mounted a while back? Well, now we’re going to need to power those things, and all we have for the source audio is the HDMI output coming from our HDMI matrix. So, we need two… Be aware of home security implications with Amazon Echo
March 2, 2016
First, let me say I love my Amazon Echo, and have totally embraced my Connected Home with the ISY-994i! This isn’t a post about some random security hole with integrating it into your home automation system, but a word of… Foscam Security Camera Shenanigans
March 6, 2016
A few weeks back, krebonsecurity.com published a great post called This is Why People Fear the ‘Internet of Things’. The article describes a pretty disturbing practice in Foscam’s newer cameras with “P2P support”. Auspiciously this feature is to allow non-technical… Installing a wall-mounted projector
March 10, 2016
The family room now has in-wall speakers powered by an HDMI audio extractor and small amplifier, and now it’s time to set up the video component: an Epson PowerLite Projector. I liked this particular projector because it’s capable of 1080p… The Blue Iris App enables remote home security monitoring
March 18, 2016
I’ve called the Blue Iris desktop application a “must-have for Foscam security cameras owners“, and while I wasn’t happy with a broken firmware setting in the cameras, I still highly recommend the combination. In fact, the application got even better… Creating nested conditionals in the ISY994i
March 22, 2016
Setting up nested conditionals in an ISY994i program isn't hard, but it isn't immediately obvious. Setting up a family-friendly photo frame with online sharing
March 26, 2016
For Christmas last year I wanted to get a digital photo frame for some family members that would allow us to share pictures between us and have the pictures automatically update over time. I had already wired up a wall-mounted… Wall-mounting a photo frame powered with custom-made USB cable
March 30, 2016
Table-top photo frames based on Android are great and all, and I’ve already covered a wall-mounted frame which is powered through existing low-voltage lines, but I wanted to replace that old photo frame with my new Lenovo Tablet for not… Why do we do home automation? Because we can!
April 1, 2016
Why do we do Home Automation? Because we can! Now get back to work! Hide clutter in MobiLinc with a character prefix
April 3, 2016
Here’s a quick and simple tip for you MobiLinc users out there: regardless of how your ISY994i folder structure is set up, you likely have a bunch of devices, scenes, or programs that you just don’t want to show up… Use a rotary tool to fix a sticking deadbolt
April 7, 2016
I’ve got an electronic door lock that I control via my Insteon system to lock when I leave the house, and even monitor whether the deadbolt is set or not. But over the winter, I found that the lock was… 
