Chris Bergeron's Blog

I wrote a program to read events from the security system and put them into an RSS Event Log . I have some logic in it so that not everything gets recorded. I wouldn’t want a would-be robber knowing when the system is armed or disarmed, of course!

An event is anything that is monitored by the security system, including door openings, windows being opened / closed, etc.

Tags: electronics, home improvement, php
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I’m adding a circuit breaker interrupter to my home security system. The purpose of it is to completely turn off some breakers in the home when the alarm is in ‘AWAY DAY’ mode. The goal is to conserve energy by completely disabling certain circuits in the house. I have a lot of electrical vampires, things that consume electricity even when turned off, in my home. One example is our DVR. It draws about 50 watts even when it’s powered off. I don’t have any scheduled recordings, so it makes sense to disable it when it’s not being used. This is only one example, but one of many devices that consume power when I don’t need them to. As a result, I’m building a circuit that breaks the electrical circuit when we’re not home. If the resultant savings are a few hundred watts (that would otherwise run 24/7) it will be a worthwhile endeavor; particularly considering the introduction of solar power. Here’s a picture of the interruptor circuit:

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In anticipation of installing a Solar Array at home (someday), I’m going to need to monitor my power usage more accurately. I’ve created a worksheet to approximate my power usage, but I need more solid data. So, I’m going to need to read data directly from the Itron Centron CL200 meter. It uses ANSI C12.19 and C12.22 standards for transmitting data, so I should be able to tap into it after I familiarize myself with the specs. The CL200 also transmits watt-hour usage via infrared pulses on the top of the meter. It seems that the meter transmits 1 pulse for every watt hour of usage, so in the near-term I’m going to have to build a circuit to read this data. Once I’m able to read the data, I can begin analyzing it and I’ll post it (along with graphs) on this site.

Fortunately, there’s already an existing open-source project dedicated to Automated Meter Reading(AMR): OpenAMR

Another blogger is also working on a similar project. His page can be found here: http://davestech.blogspot.com/2008/02/itron-remote-read-electric-meter.html

Tags: amr, solar
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I took an LCD display out of an old laptop computer and coupled it to an overhead projector. The result is a 5′ projection screen. It’s not the highest quality, but in a dark room it’s suitable for watching movies, surfing the web, or playing computer games. Here are the pictures:

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I have a computer in the kitchen that has an LCD and speakers that are AC powered. Instead of having switches mounted everywhere, I hacked a surge protector to make it computer controlled. This way, when I power on the PC it powers on the LCD and the speakers. When the computer is off, the surge protector is off as well. It was an easy project, just requiring a relay in place of the standard surge protector switch.

Tags: electronics
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Just for fun, I added a Dallas Semiconductor DS1820 temperature sensor to my home office. It doesn’t really serve any purpose; I just like data. Here’s a graph of it’s data:

Tags: electronics
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I’m building a custom security system for my home. It’s going to be internet connected and it will integrate with my iPhone. I’ve built the interface board and I’m in the process of programming the software. Our home was pre-wired for security sensors, so it will be trivial to attach and integrate them.

Tags: electronics, pic microprocessor
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The Dashwerks DSSC Startup and Shutdown Controller appears in a great new carputer book by O’Reilly Publishing: “Car PC Hacks: Tips and Tools for Geeking Your Ride” by Damien Stolarz; (paperback – 382 pages; ISBN: 0-5960-0871-0; July 2005).

(more…)

Tags: dssc
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Carputer shutdown controller

The Dashwerks Startup and Shutdown Controller (DSSC™) helps you coordinate the startup and shutdown of your Carputer with your vehicle’s normal start and stop activity. A long asked question in the hobbyist carputer/telematics industry has been one of how to control startup and shutdown of the PC. Fortunately, the DSSC™ is now available to make car computer integration much easier.

Features

• 5 user adjustable timing controls – designed for vehicle controlled activation of computers, LCD display(s), peripherals, and amplifiers.
• A “master power” relay (included) – using a powerful external 40A relay provides power to your carputer board, and all of the underlying peripherals (assuming their respective power requirements are met). This primary relay prevents dead car batteries by helping you intelligently manage your power distribution and device initialisation.


• ACPI switch header – The ACPI header is a 2 pin connector that is designed to connect to the power connector on a computer [motherboard]. We designed this device to be flexible, and as such this header can easily be connected to other motherboard connectors – such as Wake-On-Lan (WOL) and Ring Indicator (RI). The vast majority of motherboards manufactured after 2001 support ACPI. As your vehicle is started this connector will toggle startup and shutdown on your car computer / DashPC™.


• 5 Indicator LEDs – Designed for status and power indication (and timing adjustment), these leds help you tune the activation and de-activation of on-board devices. In addition, each of the 5 leds features a remote location header. These headers allow you to place the LED’s in locations that are suitable for your installation. Simply install (or have your installer) place a few led’s in your Dash, and connect them to the DSSC™ controller. From your dashboard you’ll instantly know what state your computer / amps / peripherals / etc. are in.
• “Shutdown” Function – The shutdown function provides 2 methods of properly halting a car computer: the text “SHUTDOWN” will be sent to a serial port when the key is removed from the vehicle (ACCessory line goes low). In addition, an ACPI 1.0 and up compliant signal can be used to power down a computer. Virtually all computers manufactured in the past 5 years are compatible with ACPI. If your computer can “hibernate” or “suspend”, the DSSC™ can be used to safely shutdown your Car PC.


• Serial port connector – this serial port connector provides an alternate method of shutting down a car computer / DashPC™ unit. By connecting this port of the DSSC™ to an industry standard computer serial port your computer can be halted safely (driver software may be required). Halting your carputer / DashPC™ properly prevents data loss, drive corruption and hardware failure.
• Reverse Polarity Protection – The DSSC has reverse polarity protection built-in. If someone accidentally reverses the wiring of the DSSC, it won’t destroy the board.


• Tuning mode – By enabling a jumper on the board, you can put the board into a ‘tuning’ mode. Using the tuning mode you can adjust the timing of the devices without actually toggling them on and off. The tuning mode is a great way to make sure that your devices are turning on in the fastest possible time without actually toggling them on and off.

Compatibility

The DSSC™ is compatible with Windows XP, 2000, ME, 98 and Linux and MacOS X. Any operating system that supports hibernate, suspend and/or sleep can be used with the DSSC. Software drivers for the Serial Port shutdown function are provided for Linux, Windows XP, and Windows 2000. A computer does not need to be ACPI compliant to work with the DSSC. If the computer can be configured to boot on powerup (typically this is set in the BIOS), it will work with the DSSC.

Product Comparison

The DSSC is the only Startup/Shutdown Controller that was developed by Carputer enthusiasts for Carputer enthusiasts. Over 2,400 users helped us design the DSSC with the features that are most important to them. How does the DSSC™ compare to other Startup/Shutdown Controllers? Click here to see how suitable the DSSC is in our product comparison chart.

Installation Diagrams

Application Note #1: Installation with Inverter and ACPI Compatible computer (ATX, ITX, Via Epia, etc)
Application Note #2: Installation with Inverter and computer using Serial Port for shutdown (notebooks, etc)
Application Note #3: Installation with DC/DC Power Supply and ACPI Compatible computer (Carnetix, Opus, etc)
Application Note #4: Installation with DC/DC Power Supply, recent motherboard and Multiple Car Batteries (ATX Motherboard, Via Epias, etc)

Purchasing Information

$49 USD 

Customer Support

To view the online user’s manual (156k PDF) – ( Click Here ).

Software Drivers

Click here to download the DSSC Service for Windows 98, 2000, XP (Thanks to Kevin Lincecum (aka Frodo) for this).
Click here to download the DSSC daemon for Linux (written in Perl by Chris Bergeron).

Shipping

Shipping to the continental United States is $5.95. We also ship internationally! ( additional shipping fees apply ).

Sales / Customer Support

For questions or customer support, please call 404-647-4966. We can also be reached via
e-mail.

Tags: dashpc, dashwerks, dssc
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