Inspiration / Personal History

[C4tune]

I think it would be interesting to hear how people got introduced to control4 and advanced home technology in general. I remember seeing Central vacuum and being astounded at a very early age. Also, I loved harmony remotes as a child (12/13 y/o) . I remember when I got my Xbox, tv, and cable box all working with activities on my Xbox edition harmony remote. I also had a child hood friend who mcguyvered distributed audio throughout his house by breaking open old radios and using the speaker. 

[msgreenf]

I was building my house and my builder said I got someone you have to talk....Literally being a tech guy my whole life I never knew this level of HA existed.  So I talked to Chris - who is now a good good friend - and our 30 min meeting was 90 min and I was hooked.  Control4 bug.  Then I started working for them part time programming....and then writing drivers.

[dcovach]

With my background in industrial machine automation and home construction/renovations, I never realized that the two could meet in the middle at the residential level at an affordable price point.  I always thought that the level of automation I was hoping for someday was something only Bill Gates could afford UNTIL I stumbled upon a Control4 demo system.  Rather than try to develop automation in the home using industrial quality PLC's and hardware, C4 had already accomplished what I was looking for with the ability to retrofit on a platform that could integrate more than I had ever imagined.  I'm just glad that I didn't waste any time on anything else. 

[therockhr]

16 minutes ago, dcovach said:

With my background in industrial machine automation and home construction/renovations, I never realized that the two could meet in the middle at the residential level at an affordable price point.  I always thought that the level of automation I was hoping for someday was something only Bill Gates could afford UNTIL I stumbled upon a Control4 demo system.  Rather than try to develop automation in the home using industrial quality PLC's and hardware, C4 had already accomplished what I was looking for with the ability to retrofit on a platform that could integrate more than I had ever imagined.  I'm just glad that I didn't waste any time on anything else. 

What PLC’s do you have the most experience with? I used to program Siemens 505s but mostly did DCS programming with honeywell and deltav. I administer and write apps for process historians like PI and IP21. 

[South Africa C4 user]

1 hour ago, msgreenf said:

I was building my house and my builder said I got someone you have to talk....Literally being a tech guy my whole life I never knew this level of HA existed.  So I talked to Chris - who is now a good good friend - and our 30 min meeting was 90 min and I was hooked.  Control4 bug.  Then I started working for them part time programming....and then writing drivers.

Pretty much the same here.  I was building my second house and walked in to an audio shop one day.  Met someone who sold me on a one room C4 system (as we were half way through the build and that was all I could afford). By the time the build finished, this had become a few partial rooms, covering 4 light switches, 2 (very old) Touchscreens, 2 TVs and a projector as well as music that could be played in 5 rooms. This was around 13 years ago and science fiction at the time.

The dealer has become a good friend and my third house (where I live now) is fully C4 automated and my beach house should be finished in a couple of months and will also be fully automated. 

[sonic30101]

Got a job straight out of high school at circuit city. Worked in a few departments and finally settled into 12volt installation. When they closed the installers worked at a company that built firetrucks so we did the lighting/relays/solenoids. After 6 months I got bored and ventured into residential AV. The company I started at did mostly URC remotes and russound/b&k for multiroom stuff. We partnered with a crestron dealer and became the install workforce for him for a while but after a few years that split and we tried Rti, URC total control and c4. Liked c4 the most by a longshot. I quit working for that company because the owner started doing shady stuff, and he went under a year later. Did IT for a marketing company for a while. Got in touch with an old co-worker and did Commercial AV for a few years, then took a year off to stay a home and raise our first kid and did side work and remote programing for some companies here and there to stay current. Decided to get back into residential and have been with a good company for 4 months doing programing, install, and system design. Hopefully we will be expanding soon and I will primarily be helping with mostly design and programing but we will see

[dcovach]

39 minutes ago, therockhr said:

What PLC’s do you have the most experience with? I used to program Siemens 505s but mostly did DCS programming with honeywell and deltav. I administer and write apps for process historians like PI and IP21. 

I was not a PLC programmer or controls software/hardware designer in my field so I'm not familiar with all the hardware that was used.  You will be able to talk circles around me on this topic.  Siemen's and Allen Bradley rings a bell.  I see a lot of RSLogix 5000 these days as I'm still involved in automation.   Regardless, at some point during my journey I was going to try to incorporate some of the equipment the company was using and try to bring it into the home.  I was going partner up with a PLC programmer to build a lighting/security system with some blind control and a few other things.  I'm glad I never pursued it as the equipment was quite overkill for its purpose and it would have had its limits.  I did not realize that the idea to automate the home already had a head start elsewhere.