SpeakerCraft Joins the Party

We are pleased to welcome SpeakerCraft aboard as our new speaker manufacturer. In business for over 32 years, SpeakerCraft is known the world over as a premier manufacturer of speakers and audio equipment. They are a five time winner of Electronic House Magazines "Product of the Year". The incredible number of choices offered by the SpeakerCraft line, as well as their stellar reputation in the industry is what made us think we would be a perfect fit together.
They offer lines for basic multi-room audio to high-end Home Theater speakers and subwoofers all the way up to true reference products that will suit even the most discerning audiophile. The lifetime warranty offered by SpeakerCraft was another factor. They really do stand behind their products, that is the kind of service our customers have come to expect from us and we expect it from our manufacturers too. With the selection available and the service they offer we were convinced and think you will be also.
Mile High Automation will be spec'ing SpeakerCraft speakers for all of our systems from here on out, welcome to the team. Our clients are really going to enjoy this change. SpeakerCraft has a custom installation background and have used this experience to create the most complete and comprehensive line of custom install products available, now we are making them available to you.

Mile High Installations

You might have noticed recently some broad, sweeping to changes to the company website. Well done, we have made quite a few around here lately. Most importantly and increasing in popularity is the availability of installations! We are very pleased with the response we have been getting from our existing clientele and prospective customers as well. People, us included, are very happy that we can now come to their homes and get the system up and running.
Changing the company over from a strictly DIY installed/professionally designed and programmed platform to one that includes full-service installations was a decision we discussed at length. In the end it was decided that this was a big step in the right direction and your feedback has been telling us we were right.
Since the unveiling we have been busy with two jobs in Georgia and one starting in California as well as some local interest here in Colorado. This is a big change for us and we are hoping that by providing the highest levels of service to our clients with our full service options, as we are known for from the history of the company, we can continue to grow at an incredible rate. Hoping to see you at your home soon!

HAI's new IP based products

Today it is official, we announced weeks ago that it was coming, and the first of many new and exciting products are set to ship and ready to purchase. The OmniTouch 10P and docking cradle are by far the brightest and best new products to be released for some time. The new 10.4" portable touchscreen has built in wi-fi and offers all the control of our popular in wall touch screen but it is almost twice as large and completely portable! When coupled with the new design software and "Home Theater Extender" the 10P will be completely customizable and be able to control your TV and other media components too. It will truly be a whole house and entertainment controller.
In addition to the whole house and entertainment control the IP features of the 10P allows the user ability to browse the web and also access their camera hard drives and view the cameras right from the touch screen.
The design software gives us the ability to completely customize the look and function of the wireless touch screen and the soon to be released new 5.7e in wall touchscreen. The new software and these products are ushering in a new era in home control for HAI and Mile High Automation.

Omnistat2 Thermostat Video User Guide

This video is a user guide on the general operation of HAI’s award winning thermostat, the Omnistat2. This product recently won "Best Green Product" at the tenth annual Electronic House Expo this past March! This expo commemorates the finest achievements in home electronics products, services, and installed technology and is attended by the majority of home automation manufacturers.

One cool new feature that HAI added to this new model thermostat is you can set the backlight display color from a set of 100 colors. The Omnistat2 can also display a graph of your heating and air conditioning usage over the past 4 weeks. This graph can help give insight on what HVAC settings work best for your house and ultimately can help save on energy bills.

The Omnistat2 has replaced all of HAI’s older model thermostats. They have simplified their climate control product line by offering only two thermostats. In situations where you’re using either a multi-stage system or you’re controlling a humidifier that’s integrated into your HVAC system, you will require the Omnistat2 RC-2000. In all other cases, the RC-1000 will suffice. HAI is also developing a wireless version of the Omnistat2 which is expected to be released later this year.

Get Involved Early

I have been noticing a promising trend in the world of home automation, homeowners and builders are getting the process started much earlier. This is very important as it is one of the larger decisions you will make regarding your home and really does require a lot of tailoring to get the system right. Since the automated and integrated home needs to have compatible systems to control, the earlier we can come to decisions, the earlier we can share that information with the builder and the sub-contractors. This will make everybody a lot happier about working toward the common goal of a complete home automation system.

Too often do the Audio/Video and Home Automation systems go forgotten until the last minute. We get a lot of calls and emails here from people who are about to Sheetrock and need to get something installed "right away". While this might be OK for a single room surround sound system or a plasma or LCD TV over a fireplace to think that a fully automated and integrated home can simply be designed, finalized and wired in a day is a mistake. Far too much information gets exchanged before pre-wire.

This process should really begin in the planning stage, the earlier you know what you want, the easier it will be to implement. Ideally we would be working with the architect or designer to get the components of the system into the locations they will work best. I have found that the sooner a client is under contract and has access to all the information about the system the smoother their build and installation will go. We give our clients that opportunity by opening ourselves up to them even before they have the plans finalized. Once they do, we work up a system design and allow for changes to be made, often before anyone else(besides the architect) have even gotten started! After the first round of changes or modifications gets made and your budgetary needs are met, a deposit should be made. This not only locks in your pricing, but makes you a client instead of a prospect and clients get all the perks.

No matter the time frame on your build the earlier you become a client the better. We offer the most in depth technical information regarding your system, we will help your builder/subcontractors understand your goals for the system and how they can help you achieve them, we can make suggestions on compatible products and we will provide you with all the installation documents necessary to get the wiring in place to make your system functional. The benefit we have over the other contractors on most jobs is that we have the direct contact with the client, no middle man to communicate your needs. Together with the client we are able to design and make sure that all the steps are taken to create the environment you are looking for.

Get involved early, don't wait until the last minute. Become a client today! We are waiting for your call.

HVAC Savings

Energy Star reports that the average home will spend approximately $2000.00 a year on heating and cooling costs alone. Larger and multi-zone homes should expect to be in the 2.5 to 3.5 multiplier. Using automated thermostats coupled with an intelligent control system will offer an average conservation of between 16% and 22% depending on usage. The real benefit of the integrated and automated home comes in the worst case scenario. For example, someone leaves a window or door open, the average programmable thermostat has no idea that this has happened and will continue tell the air handler to run. It doesn’t know any better, it is simply trying to do its job. The cost factors of this situation are hard to estimate(we have been told of monthly electric bills near a thousand dollars after just one school day!). The manufacturers do not plan for this. The integration and communication between the security system and the HVAC system are paramount in this instance. Our system will set that zone to a reasonable number (the control system will know the temperature outside) or turn that zone off completely. The decision is yours, we will program it to do so.

You will also not be locked in to a simple schedule any longer. By communicating with the security system the HVAC will know if you are home or away and react according to occupancy. Vacation mode settings will do the same thing. You can hold the temperature where you like it and just give the house a call from the airport to get it back to temperature while you fly coming home to a comfortable house. You can also remotely monitor your homes temperature or have the home call you in the event of an extreme low or extreme high temperature, saving you from possible serious water damage. Those costs are also very hard to estimate (though a client shared a friend’s figure of approx. $200K) and with our system you should never have to.

Rob Becomes CEA-CompTIA DHTI+ Certified

Our Project Manager, Rob Shah, recently became certified by “CEA-CompTIA” as a “Digital Home Technology Integrator.” “CEA-CompTIA” stands for “The Computing Technology Industry Association” which is considered one of the leading associations representing the world’s IT industry.

The CEA-CompTIA Digital Home Technology Integrator (DHTI+) certification validates the knowledge and skills of home technology professionals. It is an international, vendor-neutral certification that recognizes an individual’s ability to configure, integrate, maintain, troubleshoot, and comprehend the basic design concepts of electronic and digital home systems.

Due to the vendor-neutral aspect of this certification, Rob was able to expand his training beyond Mile High Automation’s product line and truly understand why we choose the product offering that we do.

HAI & Audio Authority Team Up

Although Mile High Automation has carried both HAI and Audio Authority products for years now, the two companies finally officially teamed up together to allow for HDTV control from your HAI interfaces.

Audio Authority’s most popular product, the "AVAtrix" is a HD Cat5 Matrix system that allows you to view up to 6 HDTV devices (cable/satellite boxes, DVRs, DVD players, movie servers, etc.) on up to 37 TV’s throughout your home (base system starts at 6 TV locations).

With this new integration, it’s becoming increasingly easier to synchronize HDTV commands with other events in your various automation subsystems (security, audio, lighting, etc.). An example of this type of integration would be programming your cameras to pop up on your TV when a car comes up the driveway or when the doorbell is pressed.

We’re proud to have been offering these two great companies’ products for the past few years and we plan to continue to do so in the many years to come!

Grand Concerto Keypad Video User Guide

This video user guide demonstrates how to operate the audio keypad for a Nuvo Grand Concerto multi-room audio system. The demonstration covers the different parts on the GC display and the primary features of the “Main Menu.”

Some cool features that are worth mentioning are Party-Mode (allows you to play the same music throughout all your audio zones) and Sleep-Mode (allows you to set your audio zone to gradually ramp down in volume and turn off in a specified amount of time).

The Nuvo Grand Concerto continues to be our best seller in the multi-room audio world due to its high quality and power and comparatively low cost.

New Phone Numbers

We recently upgraded our phone system with more lines and extra features. We also got a new vanity 800 number. Here's the new phone numbers:

Toll Free - 800-610-5280 (5280 = 1 mile = mile high...)

Sales - 720-263-5701

Project Manager - 720-263-5702

Support - 720-263-5700

Fax - 720-263-5710

Our old numbers will still work. They are currently setup to forward to the new system. We will keep the forwarding active for at least 1 year.

Lighting control for Mother Nature

Mile High Automation is proud to announce that we are, in connection with Blind Corners and Curves, offering motorized shades and blinds. Blind Corners and Curves (BCC) have been providing quality products and installation since 1997. Our clients will benefit from this relationship immensely. BCC, in addition to being a key account for Hunter Douglas, has a custom manufacturing facility on-site for the creation of motorized blinds to fit oddly shaped windows (a staple in current construction). Our customers have been asking for shade and blind motorization and natural light control for a long time and we are now able to offer it.

The systems can be designed and installed for a pre-construction or a retrofit application through the use of wireless remote controls. We will integrate your standard lighting control system to work with your new natural lighting control system and function according to scene control, alarm status, vacation mode or even the astronomical clock. This will allow you to have absolute control over how your home is lit whether you are home or away, day or night.

The benefits of natural light control are great. Proper window covering and control will save your furniture, rugs and expensive artwork from the damaging rays of the sun. Think of it as SPF for your possessions. BCC will work with designers, architects, builders, homeowners and Mile High Automation to be certain your home gets what it needs.

Please get in touch with us and we will work with you and BCC to create the natural lighting control system you need. Check out their website at www.bccblinds.com to see the choices they have to offer.

Touch Screen Video User Guide

This video user guide highlights the various features that our Omnitouch touch screen has to offer. My demonstration covers how to control the many different subsystems integrated in your HAI home automation system (lighting, security, climate control, multi-room audio, irrigation, preprogrammed macro buttons, surveillance video, and other integrated products).

One cool feature that I discovered when preparing this video was the “Clean Screen” feature which essentially freezes the screen temporarily so that you can clean it without accidentally pressing any buttons.

The Video feature was one category that I was not able to cover in detail since we do not have cameras and video hub hooked up to our automation system. You can get a better idea of what the Video feature looks like by visiting our online touch screen demo on our website at:

http://www.milehighautomation.com/demos/omnitouch/OmniTouch.htm

Also use this online demo to test your new knowledge and get a better feel for HAI’s award-winning Omnitouch touch screen!

Video User Guides

Mile High Automation recently started creating videos that demonstrate the general operation of our most popular products. These video user guides are designed to educate our clients on the main features of our systems and allow them to quickly and effectively operate their new home automation system. Our videos are catered to anyone planning on using the equipment, not just the head of the household.

I’ll be updating our blog as we upload these video user guides so keep an eye out for them!

Video User Guide - Arming/Disarming your System

This is the first in many video user guides that we will be releasing within the next month or so. This specific video will run over how to arm and disarm your security system from your LCD keypad. There are other keypad functions such as adjusting lights, climate control and running preprogrammed macro buttons but since those features are typically controlled from a touch screen or a computer, I limited my demonstration to security.

Webinars Coming Soon

We will be hosting homeowner webinars starting next week! It will be an outline of what we do for our clients and a detailed explanation of how home automation can make your home a more pleasant environment. The format is to be a lecture and open discussion where I will go over the different systems we offer and take questions about the features and benefits of the integrated home and how automation will make your home function to more efficiently serve you.
I will be explaining the systems from start to finish including; the control system or nerve center, multi-room audio, lighting control, security systems and monitoring, HVAC control, remote software, touchscreens along with CCTV cameras and DVRs. We will also focus on programming and custom design.
We will be adding a link next week to our website to allow homeowners to register online.
Link is available this week.
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/921066846

HAI Wins Big at EHX with 5 Mark of Excellence Awards!

The Electronic House Expo (EHX) celebrated its 10th anniversary last week and commemorates the finest achievements in home electronics products, services, and installed technology. EHX is considered one of the top industry events for installers, integrators, and designers of custom electronics and is attended by over 9,000 industry professionals and over 200 companies.

HAI walked away as the biggest winner with a total of 5 Mark of Excellence awards:

• Omnistat2 Thermostat: "Best Green Product, Service, or Corporate Policy"
• Omni Pro II 3.0 w/ Access Control: "Best Security Product"
• Network Digital Video Recorder (DVR): "Best Structured Wiring Product"
• WL3 for Windows Home Servers: "Best Software Application"
• HAI Factory Training: "Best Training and Support Program"
  

This is the second year in a row HAI won the “Best Security Product” award and other past HAI awards include “Best Human Interface” for their Omnitouch Touch Screen with Video.

Mile High Automation’s second largest provider, NuVo Technologies, came in second behind HAI for "Best Green Product, Service, or Corporate Policy” and took home the “Best Wireless Product” award for their newly released Wireless Control Pad. Mile High Automation is proud of their two primary providers (HAI & NuVo) for continually leading the industry with their commitment to providing high-quality and affordable energy-efficient products and policies.

EHX was developed by CE PRO Magazine, a leading trade publication for professionals involved in the custom electronics business. This expo allows custom electronic pros to explore new products and companies, build partnerships, and get a feel for what direction the industry is heading in and how they fit into the mix.

MHA in March/April Electronic House

Mile High Automation was featured in this month's Electronic House magazine. The article explained our business model and some new improvements we have made.

A special thanks to our client Steve B. who brought this article to our attention, without his note we may have not seen this!

Download the full PDF here.

HAI Custom Graphics Release and New Home Theater Extender

HAI has recently released a new software, HAI Automation Studio, that will allow Mile High Automation to design and create custom graphics on the OmniTouch Portable touchscreens. Custom graphics are a very popular request from clients and we are excited to be able to offer these custom designs on the protable touchscreens.


In addition, HAI will be offering full home theater and surround sound control from the HAI Home Theater Extender (HTE) when coupled with the OmniTouch Portable touchscreens. The upgrade will offer serial (RS-232) control and an IR database that includes over 300,000 IR codes plus the ability to “learn-in” any additional codes not already included. The HTE also includes inputs that can be used with current and/or voltage sensors to help determine whether the equipment is currently in the “on” or “off” state, thus eliminating any issues that could be caused by legacy equipment that does not offer discreet power controls.


These two new offerings from HAI, coupled with the OmniTouch Portable touchscreens, will allow homeowners to press one button to turn on the TV, AV Receiver, DVD player, play the DVD, dim the lights, and set the entire house to desired levels for a totally automated entertainment experience and do so on completely custom designed graphics.

Cat5e vs Cat6 - Which one to use?

There has been a lot of discussion over Cat5e and Cat6. Since a good portion of our systems run on Cat5e/Cat6, it's an important topic for us.

What's the difference between Cat5e and Cat6?
The main difference between the two wires is bandwidth. Cat5e supports a bandwidth of 100MHz, and Cat6 runs at 200 MHz. While both systems support Gigabit networking, Cat6 is able to handle it in an easier way.

It's easiest to think of bandwidth in terms of cars on a highway. Both a Ford Escort and a Corvette can ride along at 70 mph, but the Corvette does it much easier then the Escort. This is similar to Cat5e and Cat6.

Why wouldn't I use Cat6 in my home?
There are 2 main reasons that we like to use Cat5e for most of the equipment. First, it's Cat6 is about twice the price of Cat5e. Second, the connectors for Cat6 are much more difficult to install then the connectors for Cat5e.

Additionally, we use cat5e for many devices that have extremely low bandwidth requirements such as touch screens and thermostats. For devices like this Cat5e is more then enough. In fact, we only recommend using Cat6 for data and video networks.

Final Thoughts
I am a fan of Cat5e due to its low price, ease of use, and the fact that it is the standard. Most equipment is being designed to run on Cat5e. When I wired my own home several years ago, I used all Cat5e wiring.

That being said, it does make sense to run some Cat6 especially for your data network in large homes that will have extensive data requirements. The average home automation system we do requires about 6000 feet of wire. Upgrading 1000 feet of that to Cat6 will cost you about $100, but it is a smart upgrade.

Circuit City - Out of Business

I just read the press release the Circuit City is closing their remaining stores after 60 years of business.

While they clearly did not adjust to the changing market, I am a bit saddened by the news. As a boy, I would go my local Circuit City to play, test, and learn about the latest gadgets. Some could say it was partially responsible for my love of electronics which eventually culminated as Mile High Automation...

Happy New Year!

All of us at Mile High Automation wanted to wish you a happy new year!

We are excited to begin 2009 and continue to grow and develop our services.

HAI 2009 Product Guide/Catalog

HAI has just released their 2009 product guide. We are a full line HAI distributor and have access to everything they offer.

Download the 2009 HAI Product Guide (PDF).

Netflix/Xbox 360 Movie Streaming

I have personally been using the Xbox 360 and Netflix system in my house for the past month. Here's an overview of the system and how it integrates with our Audio Authority Avatrix HDTV distribution systems.

Xbox 360/Netflix Combo:

The new Xbox 360 dashboard added support for Netflix. If you have a Netflix account, you can go to your computer and put movies into your "instant que". You then go to your Xbox 360 and load the Netflix program.

Netflix then shows you all of the movies in your que along with HD cover art and movie descriptions. Overall it is a very nice looking interface.

The main limitations I found is that you currently cannot add movies from your TV, and you can't sort your movie list in anyway.

Costs & Selection:

I signed up for the basic Netflix account for about $11/mo. With this account I can put as many movies as like into my que.

The library Netflix has for its que is decent. It has some new titles, and many favorites from the past 30 years. However, you will not see the latest Hollywood blockbuster when they first come out on DVD.

HDTV Distribution via the Avatrix:

Many of our clients are enjoying their Avatrix HDTV distribution system. It allows you to put up to 6 source devices in a central location and access them on any TV in your home.

When used as a source, the Xbox 360 is able to send this movie collection to any TV in your home. It makes for a very inexpensive movie distribution system. $11/mo & $250 for an Xbox is a much easier price point then $30,000 for a Kalidescape system.

Fill your Music Library - Nuvo M3 Music Server with Microsoft Zune Pass

Our builder friend and client, Steve from Texas informed me about the new Zune Pass from Microsoft and it's integration with the Nuvo M3 Music Server. I have tested it out over the past 3 weeks and would like to share my findings.

Zune Pass - What is it?

Several years ago Microsoft came out with their Zune mp3 player to compete with Apple's iPod devices. It's had moderate success.

To boost sales, Microsoft created a new subscription service called Zune Pass. For $15/mo, you have access to almost every song ever made. You can download songs, albums, and even full play lists from the Zune software with a single click.

The Zune Mp3 player is not required for the Zune Pass. You are still able to play your music on your computer.

If you ever cancel your service the Zune software will delete all the music you have downloaded.

The Nuvo M3 Music Server

The Nuvo M3 is a music server that ties into our Grand Concerto and Essentia multi-room audio systems. It stores your entire music collection and allows you to access it in any room of your home.

My Tests

I had 3 things I wanted to test after Steve let me know about the Zune Pass service:

1. Could we store and play the music we acquired from Zune on the M3.
2. What would happen if we canceled our Zune subscription.
3. Syncing the M3 after canceling our Zune subsection.
   

Test 1 - Syncing our Zune music collection onto the Nuvo M3

This was actually incredibly easy to do. The M3 uses Windows Media Player to sync its music. Since both Zune and Windows Media Player are made by Microsoft the music I downloaded in Zune automatically appeared in WMP. It was then as simple as dragging the music onto the M3.

After the sync finished, I went to my audio keypad and pulled up the new music. I was able to access it just like any of my other music. The downloaded music sounded great on my Episode A6 in-ceiling speakers.

In total I had downloaded about 1,000 songs and created 3 playlists from those songs.

Test 2 - Canceling the Zune Subscription

I had signed up for the Zune 14 day free trial. For this test I let my trial end and then canceled my service.

When I canceled, Zune told me it would delete the music I had downloaded. It did delete the songs it had provided, but did not touch any of my other songs that I previously had acquired.

After Zune was off my computer I went back to the Nuvo system. Since I did not do a sync after canceling, the M3 did not know my subscription had expired. I still had access to all the songs I had downloaded. They all continued to play for the week of testing after I canceled my subscription (and would have continued to play if not for Test #3).

While not legal, it would be theoretically possible to download 20,000 songs during your free trial, sync them to your M3, then cancel your subscription. You would then have a huge music library at your fingertips for free.

Test 3 - Syncing the M3 after the subscription was up

As expected, WMP deleted my Zune content from my M3 on the next sync.

Closing thoughts

The integration between the Zune service and M3 is outstanding. Zune allows you to quickly and easily build your music collection, while the M3 allows you to share your collection throughout your home.

If you have an M3, I highly recommend this service!

Home Automation Energy Savings

HAI recently published this pie chart, which shows the breakdown of energy usage in a typical home.

Our home automation systems are able to greatly reduce usage in each area. Here's a breakdown of each system:

Heating & Cooling: By automating your thermostat, we can program your system to heat and cool the house while you are home, and go into energy saving mode while you are out or on vacation. This can easily reduce your heating and cooling energy costs by 15% or more. Your cost on the thermostats is typically recouped in under 6 months.

Lighting: We can have lights automatically turn off when you leave the home, greatly reducing your usage. Also, by dimming your lights to 75%, you are saving 25% in energy. This will quickly add up over time.

Appliance and Water Heater Control: Using HAI load control modules, controlled outlets, and relays we are able to automatically turn off these devices when you are away from the home.

"Go Green" custom programming: We have started offering a button on clients touch screens called "Go Green". Pressing this button will lower your thermostats 2 degrees, and dim any lights that are on 10%. This gives you an instant house-wide energy savings of about 15%. When pressed a second time, the thermostats drop another 2 degrees and the lights dim another 10%.

Mile High Automation Thanksgiving Hours

Mile High Automation will be closed Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving. Have a great holiday!

Pet Immune Motion Detectors

Many manufacturers sell motion detectors as "pet-immune". Some will even go as far to say pet-immune for animals up to 60 or 80 lbs.

In our experience these ratings are very optimistic... In tests, we have had an 18lb dog set off these motion detectors. While they only tripped the sensor about 10% of the time, that is still unacceptable for security.

Another problem we have seen is in homes with 2 or more dogs. Two 20lb dogs chasing each other look like a 40lb + dog to the motion detector.

We still love motion detectors, especially for their ability to trigger lights and music as you move throughout your home. However, if you do have dogs we recommend also securing your doors, windows, and in same cases implement glass break sensors.

HAI Touch Screen Graphics & Custom Interfaces

One question that pops up every now and then is about customizing the HAI Omnitouch Touch Screen graphics. HAI has designed a nice interface that is well organized and very easy to use. This interface is perfect for 95% of the population, but some people like to be able to customize the look and feel of their screens.

At this time there is no customization allowed by HAI on their touch screens. While at first this seems like a negative, it is done for good reason. When an interface is customized the system becomes near impossible to troubleshoot if problems arise. With a standard screen, it is easy to walk through steps to diagnose and fix the issue. Another great feature of the current HAI touch screen is that changes made to the Omni Pro II or Omni IIe panel are automatically updated on the touch screens. With custom screens both the system and the screen must be updated independently.

Having said that, there are a few options for the hardcore DIY-er....


Software Based Control:


While we aren't able to customize the current (notice I say current, HAI does have some future plans...) touch screens, we can use 3rd party software applications to create a custom interface that sits on top of the HAI system.

My favorite is CQC (charmedquark.com). This is software that you can load on a wireless tablet PC, or a server. You then build the interface from scratch, right down to the font and icons.

In addition to the graphical interface, CQC also allows you to build the back-end system to control the HAI system. This takes a lot more work, and in the end does not provide the same amount of control that the standard HAI does. However, you do get a slick looking screen.

The downside:

2 years ago I created a spin-off business (5280automation.com) that would create these custom interfaces. The time to design and program a single system was about 200 hours, a good month of work. In addition to time, a dedicated computer and dedicated touch panels were also required. All of this brought a single custom design with 2 touch screens to around $15,000. Not exactly in line with our product offering or clients...

After a year we scraped the project. As a business venture it did not make sense, but for a homeowner with an extra computer laying around, a lot of free time, and a vision the result can be excellent.



Closing thoughts:

As you may imagine, my home is chalked full of the equipment we sell. I spent the 200+ hours to create a working interface for my home. I ran this custom system for 2 months, then switched back to the HAI touch screens. The main reasons were speed and reliability.

If I wanted to arm the security or run a lighting scene I did not want to wait for a network connection to occur, I wanted to instantly. Since the system ran on a Windows based computer, I would sometimes wake up to a blank screen or Windows desktop after a Windows update had occurred. Not the end of the world, but I like knowing whenever I walk up to the touch screen it will be ready and waiting for me.

* All custom interfaces were created by us when 5280automation.com was up and running.

Nuvo & Intercoms - Explained

We have had a recent surge of questions regarding the Nuvo intercom and paging abilities.

Nuvo states in their manuals that their systems are compatible with paging and intercom systems. This is a half-truth...

What the system can do:
Both the Nuvo Grand Concerto and the Nuvo Essentia units have an optional interrupt module that can be added. This module is able to tell when the intercom is in use and will mute the audio playing so the message can be heard. After the page is over, music will resume.

What the system does not do:
Despite popular belief, the Nuvo system will not play the intercom message through the speakers in the room. It only mutes the speakers so the intercom (with its own speakers) can be heard.

Tying in with HAI:
With the HAI voice module, we can trigger the interrupt module, and play a basic message over the speakers throughout the house. These messages would be in the realm of "Garage Door Open", "Welcome Home", "Good Night", etc. We have a vocabulary of 1500 words that we can string together to create these messages.

This is where most of the confusion comes in. It would make sense that if we can play HAI messages over the Nuvo system, that we should be able to play intercom messages over the Nuvo system as well.

The key is that the HAI system has RCA audio outputs that we can bring to the Nuvo system. Intercom systems do not have this RCA audio output, and therefore have no way to send their message to the Nuvo system. The other consideration is that there are no microphones in the Nuvo system, so even if you could play the intercom over the speakers, you would have no way to respond.

Hopefully this clears things up a bit.

Motorized Drape Control

We have recently added a product for automated drape control. It will allow our automation systems to open and close drapes from any interface (touch screen, keypad, computer, etc).

We will also be able to naturally heat and cool the house by opening and closing drapes based on indoor and outdoor temperatures.

Last, we can tie these drapes into lighting scenes, as well as put them on schedules to automatically open and close each day at certain times.

We are still working out the final details, but we are hoping to be able to sell these for about $450/window. This is much less then half the price of the control system we research a year ago ($998 per window). At this price it is still expensive to automate an entire home, but doing several key windows will add a lot of value without breaking the bank.

DiscountWireAndCable.com 2.0 Up and Running

About a year ago we opened the website DiscountWireAndCable.com. The purpose of this site was to be a self-running, one-stop shop for any low-voltage wire you could ever need.

Now that the site has climbed the ranks in Google and has started to gain more business we have revamped the site with a streamlined shopping cart, more product information, and an overall better user experience.

New Backend System

MHA has moved it's quoting, support, and back end software system to a brand new, custom platform designed specifically for MHA.

This system streamlines the services we provide to clients, while saving us time as well. It also adds many new features to increase the quality of the systems we provide by automatically generating information that previously took hours and sometimes days to create.

For example, the new system will calculate exactly how much wire a system requires, how long it will take to prewire, to install, and to program.

I have personally spent the past 3 months developing and programming this system alongside our developers. I am very excited to see it in action and our clients are already seeing the benefits.

In the future I hope to move some of this system online, allowing clients to see their systems, submit change requests, and perform other actions.

HAI 3.0 Update

HAI announced that their long awaiting 3.0 firmware update is "completion of these complex projects is proceeding well". They did not set a release date, as many have come and gone during the past year.

We are looking forward to the 3.0 firmware as it will give homeowners more access to update the programming of their own systems. We currently (and will continue) make all the programming changes in our offices and remotely update each clients system. This new software promises to be more user friendly and enable home owners to write their own code if desired.

Another Great Testimonial

We just received another testimonial from a happy customer. Please read it below:

"We purchased a security system from Mile High Automation and can highly recommend them. The products are high quality and the service outstanding. They pre-programmed the system so it installed easily. We had some questions during installation and were always able to get answers. In this day of customer service being sent offshore and long waits on hold, it's a pleasure doing business with a company who puts the customer first."

New Customer Testimonial

We just received a testimonial that I am quite proud of from Derek, one of our customers in Lakespur, CO. Here's what he had to say about his experience:

"Working with Josh and Mile High Automation was a great experience. Not only did Josh help me to put together a system that was both far better quality than the competing manufacturers, it was also nearly $10k less than those competing units due to the excessive installation and "consulting" fees those other guys charge (and their products which are grossly overpriced).

He was a great help, very patient and incredibly responsive when I was trying to figure out how to do my self-install. He provided options, instructions, and even the tools I needed to install my Nuvo Grand Concerto, AM/FM/XM tuner, and MP3 server as well as 6 zone keypads and 6 rooms of speakers.

Mile High Automation is the best of all worlds. Not only are they extremely competitive with price, the level of service and support far exceed what you would expect given the great prices. The real discriminator when dealing with Josh is the service, knowledge, and advice that comes along with dealing with Mile High Automation. Don't even think of attempting a self-install with anyone else. And unless you like spending more than is necessary, don't go anywhere other than Mile High Automation. Anyone else will take your money (and lots of it) and tell you why you can't possibly do this yourself. Trust me, if I can do it, you can.

To put it in perspective: With what I saved by working with Josh, I was able to buy a new pool table, 250 bottle wine cellar, new bike, and snow tires...Oh...And I took my wife to Sedona AZ for a weeks vacation. All things that wouldn't have happened without Mile High Automation.

Derek"

Grand Opening of Josh's Home Automation Blog

Hi Everyone,

This page was created to allow me to post both text and video reviews of new product releases on the home automation scene.

My focus will be on HAI, Nuvo, and other product lines that we heavyily carry. However we will also venture into the bleeding edge stuff that requires a bit more setup and configuration.

Please check back often and suscribe to our RSS feeds to stay up to date!

Josh