Home Automation

May 22, 2019

Adding SONOS Wireless Speakers Outdoors

I figured I would take you through my entire experience with installing speakers that will work with Sonos outdoors.  

First Step.

We rarely used our swimming pool.  So this spring we decided to finally tear it down.  Good news is we posted it on Facebook and someone bought it and took it down themselves.  (All I had to do what get rid of the liner).

Installing Sonos Speakers Outdoors

Ok, So taking the pool down took about roughly 2 hour’s to get everything packed up and the liner cut up and thrown away.

Step 2.

Last year my wife and I built a patio near our kids swing set so we had somewhere to hang out.  I decided instead of just killing the power that was ran over to the pool, I was going to have an electrician come and replace the 230 line that was ran to the pool over to the shed.

Right when I had the power ran this is when I actually got the idea of installing Sonos and a Ring camera over to the shed.

I had to dig about a 30′ foot long trench and about a foot deep.  I even had the little one help.

The next day the electrician came out ran all the cabling and outlets to the shed.

Step 3.

My next step was to a add a ceiling light inside the shed so I could see what I was actually doing.  Mr Beam’s worked great for the last 2 years however now that I have power it was time to upgrade.

Purchase:  Hykolity 5000K LED Shop Light Linkable, 4FT Daylight 42W LED Ceiling Lights for Garages, Workshops, Basements, Hanging or FlushMount, with Plug and Pull Chain

Step 4.

Now that the power and lighting has been installed the next step was to extend my WiFi and network over to the shed.  I was really considering just running a CAT5 over  however the electrician was kind enough to fill the hole back in for me.  So since I already have Google WiFI in almost every room of my house I purchased another one.

Step 5.

I ran out of outlets in the shed so I decided to purchase a nice wall mountable surge/power strip.

Purchase:  Stanley 31610 SurgeMax Pro 9 Outlet Metal Surge Protector, Black

Step 6.

So now I went to Lowes and bought a piece of plywood and a circle saw to make perfect holes for the cables.

Purchase:  Desk Grommet (5 Pack) + Hole Saw kit – Ultimate Grommet Hole Bundle Kit 2-3/8″

Step 7.

Next was the expensive and fun part.  We needed to purchase the Sonos AMP so we would control Sonos and group all speakers from inside the house and outside now.  I also purchased the Sonos AMP mount so the Sonos AMP and wiring could be mounted to the plywood.  My shed’s small so I try to pack as much as I can so I wanted everything to be secure inside there.

Purchase:  Sonos Amp, The Versatile Amplifier for powering All Your Entertainment

Purchase: Sanus Wall Mount for Sonos Amp – Slim Black Design with Lockable Latch for Security

Step 8.

So now that the Sonos AMP has been installed I connected it to the Google WiFi.  Powered it on and started running speaker cable to connect to the outdoor speakers.  I decided to purchase Klipsch Outdoor speakers just from reading a ton of reviews on them. 

Installing the speakers were so easy.  The mounting brackets were awesome.

 

 

I also went and purchased outdoor speaker covers so they don’t get wet.

Purchase:  Klipsch AW-650 Indoor/Outdoor Speaker – Black (Pair)

Purchase:  Two Sun Dust & Water Resistant Speaker Covers Bags for Definitive Technology AW 6500, Klipsch AW-650 and Pyle 6.5 Outdoor Bluetooth Speakers by SoundCover

That’s all!

Addison Approves!

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June 28, 2018

Fire TV Cube and PLEX Media Server are you using it correctly?

I love using PLEX Media Server and since all my DVDs have been backed up to my computer.  I no longer need to take media to each different rooms of my house.  So anyways I recently purchased a Fire TV Cube which is a hands-free Amazon TV experience.  I liked using the Plex feature and I could ask it commands such as “Alexa, Ask Plex to Hackers” and it would load up the 1995 Movie Hackers.  However it only worked sometimes.

I would always get the following errors:

  1. The Plex Companion was not running or could not be found.
  2. The Plex Default Video Player is not set.  Would you like to set one now?

I was confused why I was getting these errors so I decided to ask a question on their forum.

Turns out I’ve been using the Fire Cube & Plex wrong all along.  Alexa Skills can’t actually open apps by itself yet.  So the Plex App has to already be running.

So every time you want to “Ask Plex” something via Alexa, you need to make sure Plex is running behind it.  I totally understand it now.

So first you can say:  “ Alexa, open Plex “.

Then once it’s opened you can trigger the Play command.  “ Alexa, Ask Plex to Play Hot Tub Time Machine “.

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June 27, 2018

Amazon Fire TV Cube using PLEX, Blink Cameras and More

I recently purchased an Amazon Fire TV Cube how does this differ from the Fire Stick or the 4K Streaming box.  Well it’s hand’s free.  Another game changer for me is ability to control the TV without having to purchase a new Smart TV.  I have 2 kids and its constantly a struggle finding one remote let alone two.

What I love about this device is I no longer need my TV’s actual remote.  I can say the following commands and they just work perfect.

  • Alexa, Turn on the TV / Turn off the TV
  • Alexa, Turn up the Volume / Turn down the Volume  – this will also adjust your soundbar or AV Receiver.  ( I’m a huge Sonos user and I just ordered the Sonos Play Base & Sub woofer, so we will see if they play together ).
  • Alexa, Switch to BluRay, Switch to Cable
  • Alexa, Tune to ESPN

I can also literally sit anywhere in my living room even if the volume is on high and the Fire TV Cube will hear me.

What I really love about the Fire TV Cube is the hands free PLEX Media Server experience. 

Honestly, I’m a huge Plex user and supporter almost all of my media is ripped to my computer were I do not need physical copies of my discs any more.  I can be sitting anywhere in my living room and say “Alexa, Ask Plex to Play Hackers movie” and within seconds Hackers (1995) will be playing.

Common Voice Commands

You can get started with some simple voice commands:

  • Ask Plex what's On Deck?
  • Ask Plex to suggest something to watch
  • Ask Plex what's new?
  • Tell Plex to play The Big Lebowski
  • Tell Plex to play music by Bob Marley
  • Tell Plex to pause
  • Tell Plex to stop

Fire TV Cube and Blink Cameras

I currently use Blink and Blink XT camera’s outside and I cannot wait for them to add the following support to be able to watch the Camera clips on my TV.  I tested the commands yesterday everything works however the ability to

  • “Alexa, Ask Blink to Arm My Home System”
  • “Alexa, Ask Blink to Disarm My Vacation System, My Pin is…”
  • “Alexa, Ask Blink What is My Status?”
  • “Alexa, show the <camera name> camera”   (Not implemented yet into the Fire cube).
  • “Alexa, hide the <camera name> camera”    (Not implemented yet into the Fire cube).

 

Fire TV Cube and Sonos Surround Sound

So I’m a huge fan of Sonos, I have the Play 1 and Play 3 speakers throughout my entire house.  Every room to be exact.  I wrote some other articles in the past about my doorbell being connected to my Sonos and when the mailman opens my mailbox it play’s a sound throughout all the speakers in the house at certain times of course.  This time I decided to take the jump and purchase the Sonos Play Base & Sub woofer for my living room.  Once I can get an electrician to install (2) outlets on at the higher ends of my ceilings I’m looking to go for the entire 5.1 experience.

The Playbase and woofer are scheduled to arrive this evening and I will post back on how my experience is with the Fire TV Cube.

 

Some of the bad features and it’s probably just me: 

  • I’m still getting use to all of the play commands for example I seem to keep getting stuck on an app when I say “Alexa, Tune to ESPN” it seem’s if I’m on an App lets say the Food Network it try’s to find ESPN related videos inside of the Food Network app.
  • Another weird thing it seems the cube will output Audio of its external speaker rather than through the TV or the receiver.  This is kind of driving me nuts.  I actually wish it didn’t say anything out of the speaker at all.  Going to look tonight to see if there’s an option to disable.
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