The Elderly Gentleman's Club or Old Farts

[DC]

My first exposure to computerized home "automation" was a program for the TRS-80 Model 1. It was called "Home Security" or something like that. I'm not certain but I believe it cost around $9.95 in the late 70s or early 80s. It came on a cassette tape that you had to load into the computer every time you ran it.

When you ran the program all it did was ask you a series of questions like:

• Are all your windows closed and locked?
• Are all your doors closed and locked?
• If nightime, did you leave a light on for security?
• Is your stove off?
• Is your iron off?
• If you are going on vacation, have you stopped your mail and your newspaper?

There were probably 20 or 25 questions like that and you had to answer yes to each one to complete the checklist so the computer would tell you your house was secure so you could leave! I'm not kidding!

Quite a difference from today where your computer tells YOU, even sends you a letter (ie, email), if your windows are open rather than you telling the computer!

[jackpod]

My first exposure to computerized home "automation" was a program for the TRS-80 Model 1. It was called "Home Security" or something like that. I'm not certain but I believe it cost around $9.95 in the late 70s or early 80s. It came on a cassette tape that you had to load into the computer every time you ran it.

When you ran the program all it did was ask you a series of questions like:

• Are all your windows closed and locked?
• Are all your doors closed and locked?
• If nightime, did you leave a light on for security?
• Is your stove off?
• Is your iron off?
• If you are going on vacation, have you stopped your mail and your newspaper?

There were probably 20 or 25 questions like that and you had to answer yes to each one to complete the checklist so the computer would tell you your house was secure so you could leave! I'm not kidding!

Quite a difference from today where your computer tells YOU, even sends you a letter (ie, email), if your windows are open rather than you telling the computer!

DC, I remember that program! The Model one was quite a machine, In 1981-82 I had a Lobo (i think it was) expansion interface with an Autocat 300 baud auto answer modem and ran a single user (might have been 2 user) BBS on that system. TRSDOS was a fairly powerful OS, with a max of 32k ram and 67k floppies. Those were the days!

[Wadenut]

I don't know how I could have missed this thread for so long. Boy has it brought back memories.
Especially my first experience with electricity when at four in 1960 I discovered a way to turn off the Christmas Tree lights without pulling the plug out of the wall. I used my father's new garden shears on the cord. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) I only got to do it once, but this had to be the experience that launched my lifelong fascination with all things electrical... at least after I stopped crying

At ten, I demonstrated to my grade five class that I could make a sound come from a speaker by touching a battery to the wires strung from the cloak room. All were in Awe. Hey! It was 1966. Soon after that my best friend, Michael and I had strung bell wire through the trees between our houses with a speaker and battery on either end to practise what we were calling Morse code. There was that night we "invented" the telephone when I thought I'd heard his little sister screaming almost inaudibly from my end. I knew how Mr. Watson felt when Alexander Graham Bell called "Come here Mr. Watson, I need you." from another room. I yelled so loud I think my mother thought I'd stuck my finger in the outlet again.

Moving forward
In college, 1978, long before I'd heard of such a thing actually being done, I wrote a paper on Automating a House... well the lights anyway. The project was purely theoretical and was based on a 1802 "ELF" processor, although I did design all of the schematics and did some programming to demonstrate the system on a small scale using a Super-Elf single board computer with all of 4 kilobytes of memory and programmed using a hex keypad.

I bought my first X-10 lamp module and table top console, sometime in the late '78-79. I still have both and yes they do still operate. Soon afterward I located X10.COM and was off to the races. I've long since graduated from ActiveHome. I can't remember the year I started using Homeseer but I do remember finding it on the Internet while testing various alternatives to ActiveHome. I've been on the Internet since the early 90s so I'd dare say it would have been between then and circa 95 or so.

Officially, I've been in the field of electronics since 1976 and now am looking forward to retirement in three years so I can pursue the dream.

[Bill Brower]

A quick search of the web reveals that HS version 1.2 (posted April 15th 1999) is still available to download here! http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/A...ogies_LLC.html

Nope, here's where that link points: ftp://ftp.keware.com/pub/setuphs_min.exe

[Bill Brower]

My first exposure to computerized home "automation" was a program for the TRS-80 Model 1. It was called "Home Security" or something like that. I'm not certain but I believe it cost around $9.95 in the late 70s or early 80s. It came on a cassette tape that you had to load into the computer every time you ran it.

When you ran the program all it did was ask you a series of questions like:

• Are all your windows closed and locked?
• Are all your doors closed and locked?
• If nightime, did you leave a light on for security?
• Is your stove off?
• Is your iron off?
• If you are going on vacation, have you stopped your mail and your newspaper?

There were probably 20 or 25 questions like that and you had to answer yes to each one to complete the checklist so the computer would tell you your house was secure so you could leave! I'm not kidding!

Quite a difference from today where your computer tells YOU, even sends you a letter (ie, email), if your windows are open rather than you telling the computer!

Could you translate and into VBScript and post it please?

[tenholde]

Some of my early X10 experiences were with a CP-290 panel that connected to the serial port of a PC and came with command line DOS program to set events, etc.

First release of Visual Basic had just come out, so I wrote a Windows program (XtenWIN) for the CP290. This was before the internet was popular, so I distributed it via dial-up Bulletein Boards (BBS). Instead of Shareware, I called it CharityWare, and asked for a small donation for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

I was absolutely amazed at the number of checks I received from all around the world! I just received one yesterday!

tenholde

[stevene]

The Atari pc, wow that brings back memories.

As for my son, he is highly interested in all things technical just like I was. Except he is taking a different path, He is using what little knowledge he has to attempt to hack and do things he shouldn't be doing.

I had to go around to all my neighbors and help them secure thier wireless just to keep them safe.

UGH..... I don't understand......

StevenE

[stevea]

Some of my early X10 experiences were with a CP-290 panel that connected to the serial port of a PC and came with command line DOS program to set events, etc.

First release of Visual Basic had just come out, so I wrote a Windows program (XtenWIN) for the CP290. This was before the internet was popular, so I distributed it via dial-up Bulletein Boards (BBS). Instead of Shareware, I called it CharityWare, and asked for a small donation for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

I was absolutely amazed at the number of checks I received from all around the world! I just received one yesterday!

tenholde

You did XtenWIN? Geeesh. I think I sent you money. Can I get a refund?

No kidding. I know I used Dave Houston's package for a little while, but I know I switched either to or from XtenWIN. Those were the two pacakges I used before I got HS. I could have sworn I got HS before 1999 though, as I thought I was using it before my last move, which was in 1998.

Steve

[Wadenut]

Come to think of it, my first HA project was when I turned off all the lights by blowing a fuse when I decided to cut the Christmas tree cord with Dad's new garden shears. I was three or four.

[stevene]

Ouch,

StevenE

[Gogs]

Come to think of it, my first HA project was when I turned off all the lights by blowing a fuse when I decided to cut the Christmas tree cord with Dad's new garden shears. I was three or four.

A good introduction into electricity, and a leson learnt no doubt which you remember in latter years.

[Wadenut]

Coming up to 48 years actually. I can still see the flash... In color too.
It's funny though, how electricity has always fascinated me since.

[buvens]

There are some real neat storys about how we all go into this.
I guess I owe mine to my mother that always said you can do anything you put your mind too.
I don't know about that but I do know I am always trying to make things better or easier.
Back in 65 I got tired of working 16 hours a day 7 days a week in the petrochem industry and joined "Big Blue" as a Customer Engineer on telecommunidcations and computers. We probably put in the forerunner of some of the first LANs at some of the local refinerys with modified selectrics, paper tape punches and readers called 1050's and ATT point to point 103F modems. We modified them to add a bunch on the same phone line and have a switch on each one so we could have one master and the rest monitors. They worked at the tremendous speed of 134.5 baud and boy the problems when someone would throw more than one machine into Master.
The first home computer I ever worked on was the "Sweet Pea" a kit made by a little company called Southwest Technical Products out of Texas. Used a Motorola 6800 CPU with 2 k of memory.
The company that put it out had a manual that explain how each circuit worked as well as how to program it. The only way to talk with it was with a TTY or teminal. If you wanted to comunicate with anything you built an I/O board like a serial or Parallel board.
First thing I learned was how to interface and program the CPU to output to a selectric I/O so we could get a hard copy.
From then I started running wires around the house to the doors and to monitor the solar collectors. Could tell when the kids decided to sneak out in the middle of the night but the coolest thing was the solar collectors. You could tell the moment it started raining because they would shutdown almost immediately and come on a few minutes after it stopped.
I remember writing a simple routine that would monitor a switch and then it if came on the computer would turn on a floor lamp. I was so proud that I called the kids to show them what daddy had done.
They took one look at it and said, "Why don't you just turn on the light switch?" Talk about a let down.
Anyhow, from there it was BSR/X-10 etc.
Been a lot of FUN ever since and I keep learning every day and enjoy reading everyones experiances.

[fran_joel]

I remember writing a simple routine that would monitor a switch and then it if came on the computer would turn on a floor lamp. I was so proud that I called the kids to show them what daddy had done.

They took one look at it and said, "Why don't you just turn on the light switch?"

lol

The real fun is in "Masterminding" elaborate, complicated (and often useless) contraptions...

Using them or showing them off is highly overrated...

[completelyhis]

I still have my Sinclair which runs a large model train setup!

someone from our church just showed me his Timex Sinclair 1000, with the 1016 ram module in the back. He can't find the power adapter for it. i know its a 9v 8mm type plug, i don't know how many miliamps though. any of you guys that still have one care to look at your wall wart for me?

any fun to be had with this relic, or is it just for good memories?