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Obsolete While Working
Somewhere in a cabinet, a drawer, or a rack, there is a piece of consumer electronics that still works. It powers on. It still does the thing it was bought to do. Its capacitors and connectors are perfectly healthy. And yet it is finished. Not broken. Not worn out. Simply no longer allowed to become anything more than it already is. That’s a stranger kind of obsolescence than the one we’re used to talking about, and the real question isn’t whether it’s happening. It’s who…
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24V DMX Dimmers
Some of you might already noticed that Loxone silently discontinued few products and one of the areas impacted are DMX products. Just a simple query to their web-shop reveals that there are no 24V DMX Dimmers any longer. The focus has moved towards Tree and Air products, leaving open standards aside. Same happened to EnOcean… Read more
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Controlling Velux windows
No KUX, just Loxone Integration of Velux roof components into home automation systems has been often criticized in many smart home forums [1,2,3]. The usage of proprietary protocol is making this “black box” difficult to integrate and to interact with any other solutions. The overall architecture is a bit weird, utilizing a control unit KUX 100… Read more
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Water level measurement
The background I have been posting few updates in this forum where I listed the options I was considering for water level measurement in my rainwater tank. I somehow strongly accentuated the ultrasonic method of measuring but never actually implemented it as the price of these sensors kept this item low on the priority list. Until… Read more
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Mailbox with new mail sensor
If your’e about to start wiring your new home, think of one additional cable going towards your mail box. In many cases this can be done quite easily, as the mailbox sits together with doorbell or intercom and you can either use some of the cable wires there or add few additional. This fully depends… Read more
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DMX dashboard
What I missed since the very beginning was some kind of an overview of the basic status of the house. I know, tablet, I do have one wall mounted in the living room as well, but by dashboard I mean something simpler, giving me the exact info about the things I need to know before… Read more
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Outdoor power outlet
Let’s start today with a more lightweight topic here. I have been searching for some nice garden power outlets, that can be placed permanently outside the house, regardless of the weather conditions. Typical usage would be anything from electric lawn mower to birthday garden party 🙂 I do not need any extra functions there, like movement… Read more