Newbie with a few questions

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by psionic001, Aug 21, 2017.

  1. psionic001

    psionic001

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    Hi,
    first post and I hope my questions are not too silly.

    I've purchased a house that has Clipsal CBus2 throughout for lighting as on/off relays and Dimmer relays. And it also has a 5000ct b&w touch screen that has been setup with a few scenes and schedules. The system is dated at 2006.

    Ideally I'd like to throw out the touch interface and put a modern screen there that can display scenes, control the lights, display weather information, and allow me to add new functionality like audio intergration or apple HomeKit if I wish.

    I'm not an electrician, but I'm a capable DIY learner, so I had these questions:

    1. Is there a do-all device that's modern and can replace the b&w touch screen I have, with say a 7-12" colour screen that the family can use. Can I use an iPad instead?

    2. Where's the best place to get some high level formative knowledge about how my cbus system is built, and how I would extend and develop it.

    3. Is there an app I can use to plug into my existing circa 2006 system and see how they have programmed it, and maybe learn from that start point.

    4. Can I use a mac to interface with this old 2006 system via say parallels?

    I have a ton of other questions but I think these are the main guidance I need.

    So sorry if they are above high level knowledge, but I love the idea of building and developing my own modern smart home so I thought I'd be able to get some guidance here.

    Thanks.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 21, 2017
    psionic001, Aug 21, 2017
    #1
  2. psionic001

    DarylMc

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    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 21, 2017
    DarylMc, Aug 21, 2017
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  3. psionic001

    NickD Moderator

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    Hi, and Welcome.

    As DarylMc said, the new Smart Home Automation Controller ("SHAC"), or a Wiser2.

    Unfortunately there's not a lot of information readily available about the SHAC yet. It is probably a better option if you want a large touchscreen, but there is probably more work to do yourself, and possibly a steeper learning curve than the Wiser2. The Wiser2 is probably simpler to set up, but relies on dedicated apps for Android and iOS to provide a touchscreen or mobile interface.


    Some basic training material is available here.

    Yes... although it's not an "app"... it's a desktop PC applications called C-Bus Toolkit. It's free to download from here. You will need a C-Bus network interface of some kind. The 5000CT can be used as an interface, however you need the RS232 interface/programming cable.

    Alternatively if you decide to upgrade to include a Wiser2 or SHAC, these both have an interface integrated in them.

    Yes... Toolkit works fine on Parallels or VMWare. It works better on Windows7 than Windows10 if you have the choice of which guest OS you want to run...
    Also if you are going to use an RS232 interface you will need a suitable USB-RS232 adapter. There is a thread here somewhere which lists compatible ones. The interfaces on Wiser2 or the SHAC use ethernet (the SHAC also has USB).

    Nick
     
    NickD, Aug 21, 2017
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  4. psionic001

    psionic001

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    Thank you Nick and Daryl,
    I'll look into the things you've mentioned.
    Cheers
    Matt
     
    psionic001, Aug 21, 2017
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  5. psionic001

    znelbok

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    Do you want to stay in the C-Bus universe? Most things can be done by the lighting system, but you may want to expand beyond that and do more which may require looking at a solution that is not a C-Bus product.

    Just food for thought.
     
    znelbok, Aug 22, 2017
    #5
  6. psionic001

    justgreta

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    Hi, is this the introduction section? Sorry for being an intruder on your post as I am new.
     
    justgreta, Nov 1, 2017
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