Home Automation

June 4, 2020

Phillips Hue Calla Landscaping Lights & Hue Lightstrip

I’ve owned the Phillips Hue Calla lights for a little over a year now and I’m finally just putting up a post about them.  I love the lights and how smooth the installation went, the brightness and just the overall quality of the lights themselves.  In the video’s below you can also see that I’m using a Hue LightStrip for behind the brick.  I had a different plan for that but it didn’t go as planned.

So because of the distance that my shed and patio are from my house.  I had to purchase another Hue Bridge which is fine because it keeps the house and the outside separate from one another.  I already have Google WiFi, Power outlets and a switch tied into my shed so everything is connected on the same network.  I also purchased a Phillips Hue switch which I was able to mount under the eave of the shed so water won’t affect it.

I recently this week just purchased a Phillips Hue Motion and Daylight/Nighttime sensor.  Which I will write an article later on how that installation goes and plays with the Phillips Hue Calla lights.

I used an Android app called Hue Pro which is totally worth the money if your invested a lot into Phillips Hue.  That’s the application that I used to achieve the lighting effects in the videos below.

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November 10, 2019

Multiple Logitech POP Bridges

I use Logitech POP devices throughout my house to control different scenes, lights and sonos speakers.  I wanted to extend my bridge out to my patio which is very far away from the house.

Since my home already has a Logitech pop bridge installed.  I wasn’t able to just add another bridge inside of my app.  

This is pretty much a “hack”. 

Here’s how I was able to achieve getting (2) Logitech POP Bridges on the same network.  

Step 1.  I’m using an Samsung Note 10+ Android device.  I’m not sure how to do this on an Apple; however on other android devices that are non-Samsung and do not have the Samsung knox where you can install another instance of an app.  You can download and an App on the play store to clone your existing Logitech Pop App.

Step 2.  In your Samsung Knox App install “Logitech Pop”.

Step 3.  Next open the Logitech Pop application and add your bridge.  Make sure your phone’s near the bridge.

Step 4.  Once the bridge has been setup you can begin to add your Logitech pop buttons.  Also make sure the buttons are pretty close to the bridge to eliminate any issues adding them.

Some other things to take into consideration you need to have Wifi where you are adding your Logitech POP bridge.  My patio is very far away from my house however I used Google WiFi to extend my existing WiFi over to my shed/patio.

What’s great now when I want to go out on my patio I can simply just push one of the Logitech POP buttons and it will shuffle all music from my Plex library.  Check out the different scene’s I added below.  

The 1st “Push” will start shuffling all songs from my Plex Media Server library.

The double “Push” will skip to the next track.

The push & hold will turn off the current music playing and turn off my Phillips hue Calla lights.

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July 16, 2019

Installing the Amazon Ring Video Doorbell Elite

I owned the Ring Video Doorbell 2 for almost a year now.  I loved the doorbell however I had several complaints.

  • Battery would last roughly 1-2 month’s (I have kids they are constantly triggering it).
  • Was bulky never really looked great on my house.
  • Purchased solar cover to go around it, made it even more bulky & never charged unless direct sun hit it constantly.

Anyways after getting frustrated and seeing a sale on the Ring Doorbell Elite I decided to order.  The hardest part of my installation was running the CAT5 ethernet cable. 

Step 1.

My house is an older house so I needed to rip off the molding/trim going around the door so I would be able to hide and drill a hole for the Ethernet cable.  Then I had to drill a hole behind the molding into the basement.  After that was done I ran the cable over to my switch / power which is also located in the basement.  This where you will hook up the POE (Power over ethernet) device that Ring supplies you with the Doorbell elite.

Step 2.

Next I used a 3/8 inch  long spade bit to drill the hole from the siding into the house.  This caused a problem because I totally forgot in my old house it was plaster walls when I was drilling from the outside in I heard a bunch of crumbling.  Either way the wife wanted to paint this room.  (So more delays I had to spackle, sand and re-paint the room after the cable was ran).

Step 3.

Now that the hole was drilled, the ethernet cable through the floor and installed down into the basement.  I needed to cut out the hole for the actual ring device.  So with this I just used a razor blade and kept scoring the siding until it finally came out. 

Step 4.

Next once I was done with the hole and made sure the Ring device was going to fit.  I started to crimp the cables.  I work for an internet company so crimping these was a breeze however if you are unfamiliar you will need the following.  This can be tricky if its your first time doing it, I would suggest watching a YouTube video.  Once you have both sides crimped plug in the one end that says Power Out – to Ring Device and then plug the pre-made cable into your switch/router.   Now outside plug the other end into your Ring Doorbell Elite.

Step 5.

Now that everything is installed and the ethernet cables are connected.  I would download the Ring app and begin installing the Ring Doorbell Elite before you finally screw everything down.  Once everything is setup to your satisfaction begin to screw in your Ring Doorbell Elite. 

That’s pretty much it.  I’m so pleased with the Ring Doorbell Elite!  No longer do I have to swap out batteries.  I know the price tag on this Doorbell is very expensive but its worth it.

I wish I had more of the installation I bought a GoPro for the video but it didn’t turn out that well.   

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