Hi all, I'm from the UK and am looking to start installing home automation. I am very familiar with industrial and commercial installations and I am an engineer who performs PLC control, ladder, plant graphics, networks etc. and historically I have programmed in C, Pascal etc (long time ago now!). Having researched the UK market over the last couple of weeks, I find ABB's eib system, Xantechs systems, comfort, X10 etc. My initial reaction was that they all seemed to be just not quite there yet, some with strengths in certain areas but no good all-rounders. I got this impression also from the UK Clipsal scene (seeing the B&W monitor) - that was until I found the "proper" clipsal website - wow, I am am now so excited & thrilled with the Clipsal range, but somewhat bewildered. The clipsal range appears to be just what I was looking for - an open ended system with massive flexibility. However, there seems to be so much going on I am a little lost as to where to start. I am looking for a system for top end residential markets - multi-million pound (dollar!) homes, and as such the interfaces MUST be top notch and reliable. The Clipsal b&w screen just didn't do it. The US Control 4 display seemed the bees-knees with web style selection of music and video all tied in with the home control but I got the impression it was heavy on the A/V side and not so cool on the home auto (not much info). I have seen a little on the Clipsal colour screen but not much - what can it do (web browse, CD inlays??) I am looking to start up a sister company to our existing industrial team, but I need a steer in the right direction with Clipsal. I have had a play with the new CBus toolkit and it looks pretty good. Still confused as to how you get the control logic in there though - is that another program?? Any steers (preferably not bum steers! :rolleyes: ) would be much apreaciated. Is the colour screen out in the UK? Is the wireless gear out in the UK? thanks in advance Neil Hollingworth
