The DMX512.com Forum
General Category => DMX512 Discussions => Topic started by: wolframarnold on May 19, 2007, 01:43:27 AM
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I'm looking to put together a residential dimmable lighting application, with has 8 circuits of a total of 2500W, 3 of which are magnetic tranformers for low-voltage halogen lights, the others are resistive/incandescent loads. The magnetic loads are 1 x 300W, and 2 x 600W, respectively. All circuits are supposed to be dimmed.
I have CAT-5 wiring to all the keypads; 120V AC line voltage is run to two wall locations where I plan to put the power modules.
A nice to have extra would be a way to also control my heater (simple on/off signal with low voltage AC) from the keypads/bus system.
What manufacturers/models are available? I'd love to use open standards and nothing that relies on centralized (and proprietary) controllers. This is largely a do-it-yourself project. Thanks for any recommendations.
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I'm pretty new to DMX protocols, but I'm working on a system right now that is using Lutron Homeworks components. We are using HWI dimming modules and CCO relay modules to control a lot of different stuff, including lighting, curtains, heaters etc. The CCO modules only switch low current, but they can be used to switch a relay which can handle your larger loads. they have their own keypad system, but it is pretty simple to set up.
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Check out the PROTOCOL on www.digitallighting.com
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Based on your IP address, you are in the US of A.
Depends how DIY you want to be.
If you want to purchase modules off-the-shelf and use them, then I'd recommend that you have a look at the Clipsal CBus system, now available from the Square D stable, link here (http://www.squaredlightingcontrol.com/). It is modular, has no central controller, uses Cat5 cabling, but does has a proprietary command structure, however you download the protocol data for free.
Theres a UK based community of DIY folk who use this system, see The Home Automation Die Hards Mailing List (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ukha_d), actually a Yahoo group, which has a link to a searchable archive. In fact, this group has much wisdom on the subject, and is probably a much better place to be than here for home lighting systems :)
If you want to get the soldering iron and PCB etchent out, then I may have a pointer for that too...