(4 votes, average: 4.25 out of 5)
Loading ...Ever wondered how complicated it would be to control the electrical appliances in your home or office through your computer? How about doing all this while you were in a remote location? Well, Talha Ghafoor, CIO Pakistan’s Technical Editor tells you how to get all this done!
X10 is the technology that makes all this happen and Talha is giving you a Hands On tutorial about the different modules and methods how you can put it all together. For less than Rs.10,000 you can TECHNICALLY automate certain portions of your home or office, save on electricity and other unnecessary costs. Tune into the show and see how this works, what the hardware devices are and how they are put together. And in case you don’t understand how to do something? Don’t worry! Leave your questions and comments on the page and Talha will address those questions in the next episode! So if you really want to experience this Hands On AND get some tech support while you are at it, tune in!
What did you think of this show? Comment and let us know!
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[...] Hands On: Ep 5 – Home Automation | CIO Pakistan Web Studio – Pakistan’s first Online, On-Demand Tech… webstudio.ciopakistan.com/2009/02/hands-on-ep-5-home-automation – view page – cached Ever wondered how complicated it would be to control the electrical appliances in your home or office through your computer? How about doing all this while you — From the page [...]
[...] from the previous episode, Talha takes us through the actual configuration of the X10 modules. If you still want home or [...]
where to but these products in lahore
I would like to know where can X10 modules be bought in Karachi?
Jimi, if you’re considering the Insteon stuff I’d say go for it – it pretty much does everything that X10 does but it’s actually reliable (unlike X10). Z-Wave is another one to check out.
@Jim – You are kidding me! No, we did NOT remotely have the brochure placed at your doorstep, though I DID attempt a whole bunch of mental telepathy.. but since that has made no impact on the cat I was trying to move, plonked right next to me, I doubt it would have had any success with the brochure!
Thanks again and let us know how the investment comes along whenever it happens! Would be great to compare notes..
No apology needed for the Urdu presentation. It was so well done with tags and text that I could follow it easily. Nice job Talha.
Here’s a fun instance of synchronicity for you. Later in the day after I posted my comment here, someone left a brochure on my front door advertising their services to install an INSTEON (www.insteon.net)home automation system for me. It is an updated technology that is backwards compatible to the X10 systems Talha demonstrated. Perhaps now it is time for home automation systems to begin catching on here. I’ll have to look into them as an investment.
Great to connect with you and keep up the good work at CIO Pakistan.
Hey there Jim!
Great to hear from you! I do have to apologize that though the review is in Urdu, I hope the tags and text let you follow a bit of what the host was talking about. I’m so surprised that the home automation has been used by such as minute population around the world. Like you, I first came across X10 while doing some research for something online about 12 years ago, but had no clue that it was so easy.
When I went to the US, I got a walkthrough to the Microsoft Intelligent Home who took this concept (and me) into something out of a science fiction movie. After Talha said he wanted to do an episode on Home Automation, I have to admit how skeptical I was, but I am a believer after watching him take me through the process.
Thanks so much for stopping by! Thrilled to interact with you hear again! And wait.. this is your “space” now, isn’t it?
Being a follower of X10 and other home automation technology over the years, I was intrigued to see Rabia’s link to this on Twitter and the question she posed of “why home automation hasn’t picked up in Pakistan?”
Here’s a western perspective for you. In the U.S. my experience is that these technologies are used only by a very small population of hobbyists and people already working in technology fields. Most Americans view it as new, unproven, and a mostly unusable technology that offers little value for the entry cost. This view persists despite the fact that X10 is relatively inexpensive and has been around for 30 years. So Pakistan is clearly not alone in it’s lack of adoption of this technology.
And for a purely personal perspective, despite my having been first made aware of X10 technology and seen it in action at a friends home over 25 years ago, I have never actually installed it in my own home.
@Marium,
Good question and perhaps Rabia can answer this, as she is more aware of Pakistani industry than me. I am writing an article on X10 in upcoming issue of CIO Pakistan and hope that the message will be read by some.
Being an Infosec consultant and auditor, logging is in my blood. My X10 system keeps log of everything from my movement in home to the people passing in front my house on the private road. I can go back to several months and get the details of events happened back then.
There are several others, but they are mainly based on radio waves or their signals work over separate set of dedicated wires. The other technologies are also relatively expensive, but provide more features. X10 has the most number of different modules available and despite having many limitations, it fails to become unpopular after 30 years!
Thanks for teh review – I was a little shocked at the prices you were giving for each module. If this is really so cheap, why aren’t more people/construction companies/telecom provider promoting this?
For literally under 10,000 Rupees we can get a 2-bedroom apartment all set.
I’m assuming it is possible to record or maintain a log of events of commands?
Also,, in your beginning you mentioned that X10 was one of the popular protocols… What are the others and what is the difference between X10 and the others? Thanks!
@Rabia, The possibilities with X10 are endless and it all up to the level of your creativity.
There are few X10 automation software available with Speech Recognition. The main show breaker in with voice based control is the placement of Microphones in your home. It would kill the purpose if you have to walk to the mic to say any command.
One possible advantage I see is that you can link it with telephone line and speak the commands. Several X10 software already support text-to-speech, which can call your cell phone and speak about any event taken place in your home.
Talha – What about the stuff, for example, they do in the movies where you can “control” stuff by simply voicing the commands.. If you had voice recognition and an input for it located somewhere in the room,m then for example, and a set of predefined commands, you could also simply say “ROOM LIGHT OFF” and they would send the same set of commands that you are typing in manually.. Am I way off the mark?
Hi Miran,
Interesting Questions.
1- Surveillance is not directly possible with X10 due to limited bandwidth of X10 technology, however you can use X10 in conjunction with IP Cameras for motion activated recordings.
2- The X10 signals are transmitted during the short Zero levels of AC Sine Wave. Assuming the voltage fluctuations are only affecting the amplitude of sine wave and not the frequency (50Hz), the system should still work. The only thing I am not sure are the houses that are fitted with cheap UPS that generate near square waves of AC current. May be some electronic expert share his views here?
3- The appliance modules don’t have any minimum power requirements, however most lamp modules don’t work under a specified minimum load. For instance, I cannot use my In-Wall Dimmer Modules with Tube Lights, Power Saver or LED lightenings that have less than 40W load. For lights with lower loads, I have to use appliance modules instead of lamp modules.
Thanks for appreciation and feel free to drop any questions.
Wow!! Best review I have seen on home automation and you have managed it in urdu!! I was wondering if surveillance or security is possible through X10? Can I bring my IP camera or alarm system on the grid?
Only major issue I see for home automation system is the most obvious – Pakistan suffers blackouts and worse yet, power fluctuation. How does unstable voltage effect this if at all? You talk about Amperage – is there a minimum tolerance for X10 whereby it will stil work?
Thnks! Keep it up!
Warning: Forgot to tell that you should NOT attempt to install the Wired Modules at your own. Get a professional electrician to do that.
The plugin modules are safe for anyone to play with.