How to Deal with All the Boxes - Hardware Organization

[dzee]

I'm moving to Homeseer 3 from a JDS Technologies StarGate, which had all of its I/O ports inside a neatly organized steel box. It's becoming apparent that I'm going to have a lot of little boxes connected with USB and Serial cables, phone wiring, alarm wiring, and A/D IO once I'm done with my Homeseer migration.

How is your system hardware organized? Here's your chance to share clever ideas and make your wiring closet the envy of HA enthusiasts (or feel free to share the horror of a rat's nest of cables).

I'm thinking about velcro-ing all the little boxes and accessories to a board and maybe add cable runs. What have you done that works well?

[Pete]

Personally today just utilize one USB cable and one audio out

USB = = > Digi 7 port USB Hub = = >
1 - Way 2 call box
2 - 9097-1 wire temperature
3 - Digi 8 port Edgeport==>8 serial ports
4 - Digi 8 port Edgeport==>8 serial ports

All of the serial connectors utilize RJ-45 to RS-232 converters.

Audio out goes to combining audio with other HS boxes to zoned home audio.

I am currently utilizing Gb on my network. That said my automation is not dependant on the network (wired or wireless) as a means for transport.

Never has been. I do have Digi USB Anywhere servers on line and Quatech Serial servers on line. IE: My Davis weather station base is connected serially to the Cumulus server via a Quatech and other serially connected test PIMs.

I do have a couple of wireless HS3 Touch tabletop touch tablets running right now and they do OK.

Mostly wireless network here is used only for laptops, netbooks or tablets today.

The above mentioned configuration can be put on the network today and has been tested using VMs to work fine.

[Automated]

Structured wiring cabinets in the wall along with a rack for any rack mounted equipment...

[Pete]

Yeah here have one Leviton 42" can and one HAI can with stuff in it. I should have purchased two Leviton 42" cans.

This stuff is mounted on plywood. Spilling out of the can is more hardware tacked to the plywood.

The one USB cable I mention above goes 25 feet over to the rack section. The rack section has it's own piece of plywood now (with patch panels and electric and serial stuff on it) plus another sub panel connection to one primary panel.

Another home tiny closet two cans on one wall; no plywood and finished wall very high WAF. All cabling comes out of the wall right in to the can. The closet is a closet in a closet. You do not see any wires and just logos on the cans. It is a PITA to get to and I never touch it.

[S-F]

Hi dzee,

We have a thread here which is dedicated to this kind of thing. The early posts are a few years old (CRT monitors and the like) but as the thread progresses things become a little more modern.

Check it out.
http://forums.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=131399