Smartlink BOB alternative use

[pinkstom]

I have a project that I wanted to use the power status feedback of the Smartlink BOB unit to provide. As it turns out, most of the really good means of using it are crippled by the design of the Houselinc. I took apart my BOB saw that it uses I2C bus I/O controller and did some finding of data sheets. As it turns out although the BOB has four inputs the chip supports 8. I added a ribbon cable connector the BOB circuit board, some ribbon cable four more mini-jacks in a separate enclosure and now my BOB has 8 inputs to sample.

Next I found a RS-232 to I2C bus controller and after a quick bit of perl code, my PC software has up to 8 devices it can check on their power state. If you are interested, love to discuss.

[caborabo]

I've got a Houselinc and was thinking about buying a BOB but if it's just an I2C chip...

I played around with a couple PIC development boards that have I2C built in, plus they are programmable. Can you share what you learned about how the houselinc talks to the BOB?

Thanks!