Driveway Monitor

Dakota WPA-3000

At our new house we only have one window that can peer into our driveway and that is in our toilet closet.  We can’t really hear if someone drives up and neither can the dog so we decided to invest in a driveway monitor for a little peace of mind.  I bought my mom a driveway monitor for Christmas years ago that was attached to a stake about 2′ off the ground and used a magnetic sensor so it would only detect vehicles.  It then transmitted a wireless signal to a little receiver in the house that played an alarm.  It even had a plug for a lamp that it would turn on so you didn’t have to enter a dark home at night.  It lasted for a few years and now she has some rinky dink motion sensor that does about the same thing but also alerts when the wind blows a tree limb.

I don’ t really like either of her solutions because the first one requires a device poking up out of the ground and the second is merely a motion detector which causes many false alarms.   Plus, I also wanted a solution that would integrate into my current home automation technology.  So, I got to researching and found a nifty device that met my requirements: Dakota Alert WPA-3000 Wireless Probe Driveway Alert.  This device has a magnetic probe that you bury along side your driveway which senses metallic objects moving past it.  It actually sensed my weedeater going past it, but thankfully there is a sensitivity knob housed inside the control box.  There are also dip switches inside both the transmitter and receiver which are all set to zero at the factory.  I set the first to one since I read where others had issues until they changed at least one switch.   The manual says the probe is only good for sensing a maximum of 10′ so anything farther and you need to bury it in the middle of your driveway.  Sorry, not going to pick axe the concrete today, but fortunately my driveway isn’t a two lane.  It’s a clean and nearly invisible install since I mounted the control box inside my garage, and only a few feet of wiring is exposed.  The receiver/alert is small with good volume control and fits nicely on the counter in the kitchen which makes it pretty central to the entire house.

EZSnsRF

Well, this takes care of the sensor itself.  Now, how to make it communicate with the rest of my house?  Simple enough with a little radio frequency (RF) intercepting device called EZSnsRF.  This device is a bit different than any other I’ve had to configure so far.  It was a little tricky getting it setup properly since you have to “register” your device’s frequency to the adapter.  This involved me backing out of the garage and down the driveway a few times until I got it right (flipping first dip switch was the trick).  You can also set the amount of time in half second increments that this sensor is “on” once triggered.  I set mine for two minutes but not really sure why.  I also had some difficulty in getting the ISY (home controller) to register this device to it but I eventually got it.  Yay!

Now comes the fun part of programming the controller to interact with this device.  I want to get a text message if the sensor is activated and I’m not home so I wrote a program to do just that during my working hours.  I wrote another program which turns on the lights outside the garage door (which opens into the driveway) if the sensor is activated after sunset.  Nice!  My last program is designed for weekends where the system will text me any time during the weekend it is activated.  This can be a little annoying due to my own coming and going but it’s a work in progress.  Any of these programs can be disabled/enabled from my iPhone so it’s not a big hassle.  It’d be nice if the system knew it was our vehicle, but I haven’t figured that one out yet. Actually, it’s already come in handy since I left my house Saturday morning on my way to my mom’s and three minutes later I get a text that someone is at my house.  About five minutes later I get another text (the person is leaving).  Turns out it was my mom and we just missed each other.  Time for a driveway camera!

Apple Airport Wi-fi Saturation

Apple Airport Extreme

I battled with this issue so long that I want to blog about it in the hopes that someone else trying to do the same thing will find this and end their suffering quickly.  That is, how to combat a weak wireless internet signal using an Apple Airport Extreme and Apple Airport Express.  I have my Extreme installed upstairs in a closet at one corner of my home but the master bedroom is at the complete opposite corner and suffered from a weak signal.  Also, the TV on my back porch has such weak throughput that Pandora would not run from it.  Unacceptable!

The Extreme plugs into a standard cable modem and then feeds internet to an 8 port router which then supplies wired connections to rooms throughout the home.  I wanted to hard wire the Express into the port in the master bedroom and have it extend/repeat my wireless signal.  I set up my Extreme to be “extendable” and told my Express to “extend” my wireless network, but every time I plugged my Express in it would kill my wireless network completely.  WTF!  The battle raged on…

I had my Extreme manually set to channel 9 so I switched it back to auto, and that still didn’t solve the problem.  I kept tweaking settings and could not get anything to work.  Turns out that “extending” a network must really only work if the Express is strictly a member of the wireless network (not wired in like mine).  What I needed to do was set the Express to create another wireless network.  So, I set the Express to do just that, gave it the same name and password as the network the Extreme operates.  The Airport Utility would then prompt me for DHCP changes to the Express since it was trying to distribute the same range of IPs as the Extreme.  Here comes the good part…the Express has to be set to “bridge” mode since the Extreme is responsible for all network traffic in my house.  A bridge is required (how I understand it) when you have a networking device which is fed from another networking device.  In this case, you can’t have two wireless devices trying to serve up the same wi-fi dish.  It’s like two alpha-males living in the same apartment.  The Express has to basically be a slave to the Extreme.

Apple Airport Express

TL;DR  A wired in Apple Airport Express has to create its own same named wireless network in bridge mode in order to “extend” a wireless network from an Apple Airport Extreme.

Garage Door Kit

I/O Linc & panel wiring out of ceiling

After getting the ISY up and running, I wanted to install the Garage Door Control & Status Kit.  I spent the next evening wiring the I/O Linc into the garage door lift motor (I/O plugs into the same outlet and the motor) and then splicing wires, running across the ceiling, down the door track and tied into the door sensor.  This was surprisingly easy except for the sensor.  The door would respond to my commands and open/close via my iPhone, but the sensor would never change state and always read as “on”.  The sensor uses a magnet which apparently does not work through metal, and I had the magnet resting inside the bottom of the door.  I found a picture on Google Images that someone posted in their blog showing the sensor and magnet mounted to the top of the door.  Genius!  I had tried the side and bottom but didn’t really think about the top.  I mounted the sensor on the wall and used a 3M Command Strip to stick the magnet bracket to the top of the door.  Works like a charm and is unobtrusive.  Now my house will send me a text message if it detects my garage door open for 10 minutes.  Ah, sweet peace of mind!

Garage door magnet & sensor

The door panel by the entrance to my house is “intelligent” in that it’s not just an open/close button.  It actually has an LCD panel that displays time and temperature and also has a motion sensor which activates the lights housed in the door lift motor.  Turns out that the I/O Linc functions by shorting out the motor which causes it to trip and activate the door.  Unfortunately, this also cuts off the power to the control panel causing it to reset whenever the door is operated.  Bummer, a blinking clock.  Everything else still works normally on the panel though, and apparently the only fix is to remove the Linc/motor wiring and run the wires to the control panel button instead.  This would then trigger the button instead of the motor directly.  What a PITA.  If I knew how, it’d be awesome to run the wiring up into the ceiling and follow the panel wiring back so I could connect it straight to it.  I’m not sure I can do that though since a bonus room sits on top of my garage.  Help?

Control panel

Project Smarthome

The Logan family recently uprooted and moved down the street to a new home, and after all that we have no plans for moving for a long time.  I’ve always wanted a true “smart” home since I’m a geek, a gadget lover, a tinkerer and basically a technological freakazoid so I’m undertaking the project of converting our home to said level of intelligence.  I haven’t dabbled in home automation since my X10 days back in Auburn about 12 years ago where I had remote controlled party lights in my single wide’s hall and small porch.  Apparently things have changed since then.  I didn’t know where to start really so I started at the only place I knew: Smarthome.com.  With no clue as to what new technologies exist and what products to get started with, I just started searching for comparisons of the different techs available (Insteon, Z-Wave, X10, etc.).  For my project, the clear winner came out to be Insteon.

Occupancy Sensor

My first idea was to create an automatic closet light.  That is, one that turns on when you walk in and off when you walk out.  Turns out there are many ways to accomplish this with some being quite expensive.  I decided to go the cheap and easy route and replaced the wall switches with occupancy sensors.  The particular one I chose is not Insteon at all but rather just detects passive Infrared which activates the switch.  These have turned out somewhat ok, but sometimes I’m tempted to just go back to the switch.  I’d really like a switch that is door open/close operated instead of motion but this requires more funding and likely construction work.  So, task one of Project Smarthome: complete.

A couple of weeks pass, and I’ve been on Smarthome’s website enough by now to have caused a spike in their traffic.  I discover their “wish list” feature and begin to plan my journey into the realm of Insteon.  Smarthome, if you read this, it really sucks to have to re-login like every hour to add something to my list. /rant  Wow, that wish list adds up quickly.  I was warned before starting this project that it can be quite expensive based on your goals.  Fortunately, I have a supportive wife who knows I won’t get out of control and blow our nest egg on fancy light switches.  I plan my first order then beat myself up over a few days trying to decide if I was ready to pull the trigger.  After a beer or two one evening I grow tired of the debate and just click the order button.  The next few days I anxiously await the arrival of:

• ISY-99i/IR – The center of the universe.  The brainchild.  The One.  This is what makes it all possible.  Plug this in and you can control your home from the web, iPhone, iPad, or other smartphone.  I’m downplaying this thing’s abilities because even I don’t fully understand it yet.  Just know that it is glorious.
• Garage Door Status Kit – Remotely open & close the garage door and monitor its status.
• 2 Togglelinc dimmer switches – One for the can lights in the kitchen, one for, um, well I’m sure I’ll find a place for it.
• 2 Togglelinc standard switches – One for the front door porch lights and the other for the can lights in the soffits.
• Motion sensor – To activate the two standard switches for the outside lights when someone comes down the sidewalk to the front door.

ISY-99i/IR

My “kit” arrives and I get the ISY up and running.  This takes me a few tries because I have to configure my router to give the ISY its own IP and do some port forwarding trickery to prevent SSL hackers.  Labor Day weekend sales found their way to the Apple App Store where the MobiLinc HD app was 50% off.  This is what seems to be the #1 app for communicating with the ISY.  I downloaded it while it was on sale so I was able to get all our iPhones & iPads to see the ISY without a problem.  The great thing about the ISY is I can access it from any computer via a Java capable web browser and make configuration changes.  This is great for my spastic brain because I can act on an idea almost immediately since I’m at/near a computer about 90% of my waking hours.

The ISY connects to an access point (white box in photo) which is what actually communicates with the Insteon devices.  The ISY is merely a black box with a GUI used to setup programs and system configurations.  I did have some placement issues with the access point since it works over Powerline which sends signals through your electrical wiring.  You have to plug it directly into an outlet so no power strip, multi-plug, extension cable, etc.  You also can’t place it near anything that might cause interference such as an entertainment center or large appliances.

I got the IR model which will allow me to utilize my Logitech Harmony One universal remote, but I sold the IR blaster that came with it so I haven’t quite figured out where to put the ISY.  In retrospect, I should’ve saved my money on the IR part since I can control everything with my iPhone anyways.  Oh well, I’ll find a use for it eventually (or maybe someone will comment how they do this).

This pretty much covers my entry into complete home automation.  I’ve done a whole lot more between this initial purchase and the time it took me to write this blog, but  I’ll cover the setup of each scenario in different blogs since these days people only have the attention span for reading 140 characters.

Vegas, Baby(moon)

Christy and I decided to hit up Las Vegas for an early anniversary/babymoon adventure.  We didn’t really plan anything to do while there except for seeing a show and some sights.  It’s fun to take a trip that isn’t scheduled from waking to sleep every day and instead you just do whatever you feel like.  We flew out on Friday which was an absolute gorgeous (aka perfect flying) day.  We threw our stuff in the room, hit up the hotel’s happy hour (well, I did anyways) and then hit the road for the MGM Grand.  There was an AC/DC concert going on there that night which we unfortunately had no tickets for but that didn’t matter much.  We just toured the place, eventually got some grub and then wandered across the street to New York, New York.  Nothing too exciting our first night really.

Saturday: this room sure is hot.  Yes, our AC didn’t work in our room so it was quite a warm night.  After reporting it they decided it was best to move us next door.  Ah, fresh air!  After breakfast we grabbed a cab for the Venetian.  We strolled through the shops there and back through the casino we settled at a roulette table.  Christy got on a hot streak and turned her $40 into $140 or so.  I decided to play with some of her money (I was only watching) and that turned out to not be a good idea.  Whomever said “momma knows best” knew what they were talking about.  With $125 remaining we cashed out and kept walking.  We shopped the large mall across the street where I played with an iPad (still not impressed), and Christy complained the Apple Store smelled of BO.  It did.  So, walk, walk, walk some more then a quick walk through Treasure Island and we end up at the Bellagio.  Dinner time!  We hit up their famous buffet so Christy could feed the monster in her belly.  It was quite good.  Afterwards we sprinted back to Treasure Island to watch their pirate show out front.  It was sort of cool but quite cheesy and full of innuendo.  Shows over, feel like cows in all the people, moo, moo, moo aaaaand watch the volcano erupt at The Mirage.  Check that off the list.  We wanted to see Fat Elvis at Bill’s so we went that direction.  We got there and dude only appears 3:00-7:15 and it was about 9:30 pm.  We slipped $20 in a Wheel of Fortune slot machine (stupid move) and enjoyed a free drink for the 5-10 minutes we sat there.  Bummer.  Back and feet hurt by now and sitting at that machine sure felt good.  That was the only way it felt good.  Bellagio fountain time!  We parked ourselves across the street at Paris and watched the fountains spray to “All That Jazz”.  It was time to return to our room.

Now for some observations.  Christy mentioned earlier in the day she wanted to see some of the crazy partiers you always see in the movies and such.  She got her fill.  I saw probably a dozen brides on sidewalks, in casinos, at restaurants and who knows where else.  There was even one chowing down at the Bellagio buffet.  There were plenty of bachelorettes running around and many people with drinks so big they come with their own strap for carrying on your shoulder.  I want to say they are 100 oz., about 4′ tall and probably cost $50.  If I had one, I’d be tempted to smack one of those dang Mexicans that stand on the sidewalk slapping those strip club cards at you.  I swear, they line up these folks about ten deep.  If I wanted a naked chick’s card, I could pick up one of the thousands that litter the sidewalk.  At the end of the line there’s always another Mexican sweeping up those cards that are everywhere.  I find it amusing.  (disclaimer: I’m not saying they’re all Mexicans or that there’s anything wrong with that)

Sunday:  One red Mustang convertible to go, please!  We hit the road bright and early for the Hoover Dam.  Traffic was light, and I even got to yell “War Eagle” at some fellow Tigers while there.  We left there and headed east for Sedona, AZ and the Oak Creek Canyon.  Nice place there but they have a strange bathroom in their scenic area.  It’s like they put a building over an old pool, cut some holes in the floor and put some plastic tubes over the holes with lids.  Seriously, it was like a big, permanent porta potty.  A bite to eat at the cafe in the floor of the canyon and then we drop the top and head north to the Grand Canyon.  Highway 180 out of Flagstaff, AZ is THE most beautiful drive I have ever done.  8000′ up, snow still on the ground, mountains all around and absolutely nothing for miles around.  We get to the Grand Canyon and about freeze due to the howling winds and height.  Regardless, it was still absolutely AMAZING!  We’re tired by now and it’s a long drive back so we grab a snack after exiting the park and head back to Vegas.  Somewhere along highway 93 in AZ I got flashed by a speeding camera from a police car hidden in the dark.  I hope that doesn’t make it back to me, or maybe I just shouldn’t drive in AZ again.  Oh well!  With eyes burning from tiredness we return the car and go back to our room. View our route.

Monday:  OMG it is cold in Vegas!  Blistering winds, clouds and a major temperature drop. Brrr!  We head to the discount ticket place and get us some tickets for the Bodies exhibit, the Titanic exhibit, dinner reservations and tickets to The Lion King.  The Luxor houses the Bodies and Titanic exhibits so we head that way.  The Titanic exhibit is really, really neat if you ever get a chance to see it.  A ripped up 15-ton section of the hull is quite a site to see.  Two days after we saw this was the 98th anniversary of her sinking.  Amazing stuff and sad at the same time.  Bodies exhibit is really cool too but is not for the squeamish.  The “Fetal Room” was most appropriate for us.  Exhibits all done so time for some gambling!  We browse some roulette tables (Christy’s game of choice) and settle at one for a while.  I decided to play this time and in doing so I must’ve messed with Christy’s mojo.  She burned through her money real quick like while I was doing pretty good.  Maybe it was the O’douls she drank.  I think I hit my lucky number five times that day (no O’douls).  I got a bit more daring later in the day and took some risks which didn’t end up paying off.  That’s gambling I suppose.  Off to dinner and then to The Lion King.  The Lion King is a great show but being this was our third night I was pretty tired by this time and had a hard time staying awake.  Thank god for intermission!

Tuesday: back home!  It was nice to be back.  I was glad to have moisture returned to my eyes and skin.  I felt like Ashy Larry by day two.  Anyways, congrats if you made it to the end!  Be sure to check out our photo blog of the adventure if you haven’t.

Charles Darvis Logan, 1944-2010

Yep, that’s my dad.  In 2002 he was diagnosed with lung cancer after having numerous skin cancers over the years.  He always worked outside so that’s how he had those.  The lung cancer came from his vice of cigarettes.  He did chemo and radiation and fought the cancer off for a while.  I don’t remember exactly how long.  In 2005 it came back and they removed his entire left lung.  He spent a long time in the hospital after that surgery.  During these times he also would get fluid build up around his heart.  He had a drain put in for the fluid and it stayed in for about seven months.  In late 2008 cancer was found around his esophagus and was determined to be inoperable.  Dad underwent some high risk radiation treatments to help slow the tumor growth and it seemed to work.  In about mid-2009 the tumor started to reach proportions that impeded some food from passing clearly.  A couple of visits to the hospital were required to remove obstructions and to stretch his esophagus.  In October 2009 it was decided that doctors couldn’t do much for him anymore and Hospice was assigned for two days a week.

Since dad spent his 2008 Christmas in the hospital and his health was failing, it was decided to have family Christmas at his house this year.  Many of the family came and dad really enjoyed it.  Christy and I gave them a digital photo frame with about 125 photos preloaded.  They loved it!  At this point in dad’s life he had dropped down to 120 lbs. where he used to be upwards of 250 lbs.  It had become increasingly difficult for him to eat and maneuver through the house.  A host of other ailments plagued dad over the years, but the cancer is the main point of this blog.

Also, after our Logan Christmas is when Christy and I bought our pregnancy test.  We took it the next day and found out the good news.  We wanted to tell dad in person so we waited until after Christmas.  We made it back to his house on January 2, 2010 and told him he’s finally going to be a grandfather.  It was a great day and he was thrilled.  He actually got up when we were leaving and hugged us goodbye and told us he loved us.  These were the last words my dad said to me.

Thursday, January 7, I received a call from my stepmom, Barbara, who said that dad was back in the hospital with another obstruction.  They removed it and stretched him again but then his heart started beating rapidly.  Friday morning, 7:15 am, Barbara calls to tell me dad is in ICU due to his heart rate and that the night before was not very good.  She said they had regulated his heart and he’d hopefully go home Sunday.  So, I go to work.

10:20 am my phone rings and I answer it to a woman in tears.  Barbara is scared.  She said dad has taken a turn for the worst and is very weak and can barely open his eyes.  I take care of business at work, grab some lunch, and Christy and I head to Alabaster.  We get there at about 12:45 just after the noon visit time.  We’re in the waiting room about 30 minutes and the nurse comes in and calls us all back.  The doctor has determined that it’s time for us to make a decision: to ventilate or not.  Dad did not want on a ventilator and Barbara knew it.  She broke down into tears and screams while my brother held her.  I spoke with the doctor who told me that dad’s condition had worsened and it was only a matter of time.  The nurse handed me a note dad had written her just a short while before.  In his mangled handwriting it said “How much longer?”  We clung to one another around dad’s bed.  He seemed to be asleep (but we later determined was probably a coma) and he only had an oxygen mask hooked to him.  For hours we sat around him holding him, telling stories about him, comforting one another and welcoming other family members who made the journey to see him.  His only brother, Frank, who is also suffering from cancer made the journey with his wife and had very gut wrenching moment at dad’s side.

Later in the evening they moved dad out of ICU and into a more private room.  After that people started filing out and returning to their homes.  The only ones that eventually remained were Barbara, Me, Christy, my brother and his girlfriend.  Christy and I decided to get a hotel room just down the road because the hospital room was quite small with four people staying in it already.  We checked in at about 10:30 that night and got a little bit of sleep before receiving the phone call at 2:30 am saying dad was gone.  We rushed to the hospital to be with him and our family members.

Monday evening we had his Wake and many people showed to pay their respects.  I have to admit that I have some really awesome management at my office who chose to come, and I have some fantastic friends who also chose to come be with me during this time.  It was great having all my friends there at the same time because we circled around and told old, funny stories and it made us all forget the pain that surrounded us.

Today was my dad’s funeral.  It was a beautiful day but cold and windy for his graveside service.  My stepmom asked the day before if I wanted to say a few words, and at first I declined because I didn’t think I’d be able to.  I thought about it overnight and decided I really wanted to so I got to writing.  My cousin officiated the funeral and after telling some of his personal stories, a prayer and reading some scripture he called me up.  Here’s what I had to say:

“Last night I had many people come to me and say how much dad was loved and how much people enjoyed their time with him.  We all remember him as a big, laid back, goofball who seemed to take everything in stride, but he was also a man who liked to give friendly advice and tell stories about his adventures in life.  For me, he was all these things plus my father.  He taught me many lessons on life, love, family and values.  His final lesson to me was that sometimes life can be bittersweet.  As one life passes on, another new life is being created in the form of his grandchild.  I hope that when I become a father I will be able to teach these lessons to my own children with the same compassion, grace and humor.  Thanks, dad, for everything you have taught me and all the lives you have touched.  We love you and miss you.”

I am so glad he got to know about his future grandchild before he passed.  We told him on Saturday and then he died one week later on the following Saturday.  I know he won’t be here physically for his grandchild, but his spirit will live on in the stories everyone will tell.  If you made it this far I want to thank you for taking time to read my little story.  It’s tough to lose a parent and while you can prepare for it before it happens, nothing will prepare you fully for when the day arrives.  I’ll miss you, pops!

The Bump

Happy New Year!  A new year and a new decade brings the Logan family a new addition.  That’s right, folks, we’re pregnant!  The IUD was removed in October and the prenatal vitamins began.  We wanted to wait until the end of December to start trying, but we were excited and wanted to go ahead and start at the end of November.  Guess what?  First try!  W00t!  We took a home test on Dec. 19 and it came back positive, and then Christy went to the dr and had a blood test the following day.  So, as I write this we figure we’re in week six of the pregnancy and the little SeaMonkey is budding appendages.  Our first dr appointment is January 11 so we still have a few days before we find out more details.  We guess the due date as August 25.

We’ve already bought a mommy book for Christy, and I also have a daddy book, but mine starts with birth so I have time to get mine read.  To tell our folks, we bought them books as Christmas gifts, “The Granny Diaries: A Guide for New Grandmothers” and wrote inscriptions inside.  We recorded videos of both moms opening their books and their reactions were priceless.  Christy’s mom yelled with joy and my mom broke down in tears.  They are both absolutely thrilled to death, and it’s really exciting to be able to give them the gift of becoming grandparents.  We decided not to wait for the three month mark to share with friends because 1.  it will be hard to hide that long and 2. if something does go wrong, we’ll want the support of our friends.  We broke the news to the masses at our annual New Year’s Eve party last night with my toast to the new year.  I hope to get the video of my toast online soon.

So, it has already been an exciting couple of weeks for the Logan household.  We’ve shopped names, furniture, education and many of the other things that go with transitioning from newlyweds to parents.  I have started a photo blog in order to share progress of “The Bump” and any other interesting events that happen in between (showers, sonograms, etc.) so be sure to check back.

Christy is doing well so far though.  She crashes when we get home from work, gets winded easily and says she feels like she has a sort of perpetual hangover but no real sickness yet.  I’m also doing well and trying to help my “girls” as much as I can.  After work I hit up a work out while she naps and that seems to be working out nicely.  Anyways, I will post more updates as The Bump progresses so stay tuned!