So yeah, it has been a few days, but I’ve just been so busy getting everything ready for the electrical (i.e. the high-voltage and low voltage stuff) that I’ve been focusing in on that. You should see the Excel document with 7 worksheets, one in particular with more than 140 rows and 25 columns of data. Gotta know where everything is going, what wire it’s using, and what type of device it’s plugging into.
Anyways, the house is all locked up now. We decided on some light commercial lock sets for the 4 swinging exterior doors. They’re not the most trendy or stylish, but they have an additional 1-2 inch piece that wraps in towards the door that really gives my hand a better purchase when I try to open/close the doors. Other than that the electrician started wiring the outlets and recessed lights, and the groundwork was finished (until this winter is over anyways) on Thursday.
A little bit more about the groundwork and the contractors, Earthworks, who did it. I grew up knowing Mike and Josh from a very young age. Elementary school through now, Josh and I have been super close friends spending countless days out at their house or racing down the slopes of Big Rock. When we chose them to do the earthwork for our new house I knew that they’d do a great job, but it wasn’t until this past Thursday when I truly understood what an incredible job they would do. Don’t know how to explain it without a few pictures (which I’ll take as soon as it dries up), but everything about my experience with the Martin’s and their crew has been beyond top-notch. They were always early to the job site and met our schedule even when it demanded just a few days notice. They were hard-working, efficient, and dealt with my overly detailed oriented engineer ways even when it meant extra work on their part. And, the way they left the job, well it was better than we could have possibly envisioned. What could be better than that? Thank you Earthworks! I’ll post pictures of your work soon!
As far as pictures, the only thing new I have to post tonight is some home theater/automation goodies I’ve accumulated over the past few days.
My Monoprice Order!
Speaker Terminal Plates
These terminals will let me run all of the speaker wire within the walls using CL2 rated 14/2 stranded in wall speaker wire. We’ll be able to have an impressive 7.1 home theater system with speakers in whatever rooms we choose without the unsightly mess of speaker wire running everywhere.
12/24 VDC Form C Relays
Without the Cover
These guys will let my control system, with a very low amperage control signal (under 100 mA) control any sort of load throughout the house. Whether it a 12 VDC window operator, 24 VDC linear actuator, exterior low-voltage lighting… whatever, I can hit these with a little control signal and send all sorts of power wherever I want. Pretty impressive device for just a few bucks. We used them all over the place in ski lifts.
HDMI and Shielded Audio Interconnect Cable
Lots of 25-75 foot in wall rated HDMI cables that will allow us to run all our high definition signals from the central media room to any place in the house. This will allow us to have just a few audio/video components that when smartly switched/distributed can service wherever we want. I realize that HDMI is only certified as “compliant” to approximately 40-45 feet depending on the quality of cable, but most systems will output a far stronger signal than is required by the HDMI specification and have far better results dealing with and fixing an attenuated/degraded signal. No way to know if this 75 foot cable will work until it is spread out across the house, but if it doesn’t… crap, I’m out 40 bucks and will just have to use a few baluns on the CAT5E cabling that is also running to the location.
Balanced XLR Wallplates
Used in the professional audio world for high quality microphone inputs. This balanced, shielded RCA cable is also a great way to connect subwoofers 50+ feet away from your audio system without having to worry about line noise and signal interference.
Zip ties, Velcro, Wire Connectors
The tools to keep everything looking neat and tidy. In pretty colors too!
Just Another View… Lots of Stuff!
I really must profess my love for Monoprice. They make great electronic products for VERY reasonable prices. Never overpay for a TV wall mount or HDMI cable again! Wow, sounds like a promotion… Monoprice you should be paying me for this stuff!
