Another "newbie" request

[bhuttman]

All,

Have just purchased a new home that we intend to stay in a while. Sooo... I am going to be putting in a home theater and wanted to also include home automation, and since the home is not a new build, C4 looked to be a very attractive solution. I was hoping that someone could give me some guidance on the pieces I would need to get what I want from the system.

The home theater is going to be:

- projector/motorized screen,

- with 7.1 surround sound, attaching

- Xbox 360

- Bell HD XpressVu satellite receiver (likely the PVR)

- BluRay Player (likely the PS3)

- Wii

- Streaming audio over ethernet (attached to iTunes library on Mac, or iPod Dock)

- 2nd zone audio through receiver

In addition, will also have smaller set-up in main floor family room with:

- Sharp AQUOS 37" LCD

- Bell HD XpressVu receiver (non-PVR)

- Yamaha RX-V650 with 5.1 speaker set-up

Here's what I would like to do in regards to Home Automation:

- control home theater system

- control family room system

- stream music to family room system

- control lighting in home theater room (3 dimmers)

- control lighting in family room (2 dimmers)

- set up timers for front outdoor lighting (1 dimmer)

- thermostat control

That's pretty much where I wanted to start. The home also has an alarm system already, so it would be nice to integrate that later (as well as garage door, pool and irrigation). In terms of remotes, I think I would like to keep the price down, so may stick to the basic remotes, as long as I have one for home theater and one for family room. My wife and I also have iPod Touches, so I could also go that route for remote use (does 1 license cover a household or per iPod?).

In our current home, I've mashed together a fairly simple system using a Harmony remote, some IR lutron dimmers, streaming audio & video through the Xbox and the other equipment listed in the family room. Since we don't take possession of the house until mid-August, I haven't bought anything yet for the home theater. I've been doing quite a bit of homework on all of the components necessary, but the home automation piece is the one I feel least comfortable with since I have really no experience here.

I'm looking for someone to give me an idea of what C4 hardware I should be considering. Price would be nice, too, but I understand that it is not often discussed in the forum. Thanks!

Brett

[akg4y]

Pretty easy for the most part...

In the theater you'd need the following:

1. Screen - Either a wireless cardaccess relay or a two-wire running from the screen to the C4 controller location.

2. 7.1 surround - Youll need a receiver obviously, preferably one with IP or RS232 control, I recommend the Denon 2809CI or 3809CI. The projector may also have RS232 control which means you'd be using both of the RS232 ports on an HC300 or would have 2 left on an HC-500.

3. Xbox 360/PS3 - just wired into your network unless you want video distribution and ability to play in the family room.

4. Wii - Wired into network

5. Satellite - Can use either IR or RS232 control depending on what receiver you have and the drivers available (need a dealer to chime in on that).

6. Streaming audio - You can either have this on a shared network drive, NAS, C4 controller hard drive (HC-500 or HC-1000), or on a USB drive connected to the C4 controller.

Family room should have its own HC-300 or HC-200.

Lighting - Just throw in some C4 dimmers and switches and you're good to go. Just realize that any 3-way switch setups will have a dimmer/switch on one of the switches and the rest will be replaced with keypads. If you are using CFLs get switches not dimmers.

The SR250 remotes come with the HC-300.

[akg4y]

Pricing - Search the forum for 'MSRP' and theres a link to a site with all of the MSRP prices of the hardware. Wiring is situation dependent.