Just a heads-up: these are designed to live under the eaves of your roof. They’re a bit pricey, so if you use them for a different project, they might not last as long as expected.

Pennsylvania winter is officially over, which means the back patio is clean, put back together, and ready for action! Regular blog readers know that outdoor lighting has been a major trial-and-error journey for me. First, we tried solar flame lights. Then came the Philips Hue era—which, unfortunately, only lasted a few years before connector corrosion cut their lives short.

So as you can see below we got it all cleaned up and now it was time to put the Govee lights to the test.

It wasn’t hard running the lights basically just digging out the ground and hiding the wire’s and making sure the Govee LED’s were not exposed. I’m sure there might be easier and cheaper ways of doing this however I just had these lights sitting in a box and I wanted to put them to use.

So now that the lights have been all buried in the ground it was time to wait for night and see how they actually look. It actually came out really cool check out the YouTube video below for the results. I loved this so much I decided to do this in the front of my house going up the sidewalk. That post will be coming soon.

PURCHASE Govee Outdoor Lights 2: https://amzn.to/4v9MbS7

Watch the video

A few days later I had some friends over for a cookout and had them playing about 75%-80% max volume.  About 10 minutes later I could hear a crackle and distortion coming out of one of the speakers.  So I just simply disconnected that one speaker and sent it back.  Now about a week later the same thing happened to the other speaker same crackle and distortion.  The reviews on Amazon were all mixed so I thought I would try them out for myself.

Running the cable from the Sonos Connect Amp was a breeze and simple its just connecting the (2) audio cables to the Left and Right audio channels.  So if you are looking to extend outdoor speakers or just run multiple speakers off your Connect Amp you can.

Thoughts

So if you’re looking for something that looks nice and you aren’t going to play them that loud it may work for you.

I recently upgraded the speakers to the TIC TFS6-SL 8″ Professional Outdoor Weather-Resistant Coaxial Rock Speaker (Slate)

I’m still testing these and I will post an article about them in the future they are definitely a lot more bulkier then the OSD Audio Rock Speakers.

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.

• 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.

• You need a pair of RJ45/Ethernet crimpers
• RJ45/Ethernet Ends
• View the RJ45 wiring diagram (same on both sides)

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.

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).

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!

So finally after some Black Friday specials I decided to go ahead and purchase the Ring Video Door Bell 2 I was a little skeptical on how good this would integrated with SmartThings and if I would still be able to have the notifications play throughout Sonos.

Man I was impressed.  Let me start off by saying the installation was the easiest.  The doorbell button just feels right and people actually know its a doorbell not like the Aeotec doorbell.  There is absolutely no response delay.  When I press this button it triggers instantly to SmartThings/Sonos there is no audio delay what so ever.

With that being said I wanted to add some different notification sounds to my doorbell.  Since its Christmas I stuck with Christmas Vacation doorbell chime’s.  Below is my entire code for the Sonos SmartThings Smart App.  If you are looking for step by step instructions on installing the Smart App click here.

[snippet slug=doorbell2 lang=csharp]

Another awesome feature since my entire house is Amazon/Alexa powered you can now say “Alexa, show me the doorbell“.  I have FireTV cubes installed on all of my TV’s but this will also work with Echo Show devices as well.  It takes roughly 5-10 seconds but the video does work!

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 “.

• You can view the full command list here.

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.

I wanted my mailbox when it was opened to alert me that the mail was delivered and what better way then to use the AOL Sound “You’ve Got Mail”.  At first I did this just screwing around but then I realized how useful this actually became.  I never have to keep checking the mailbox waiting for mail to arrive.  I can continue on with my day waiting for the “You’ve Got Mail” sound to carry out through about 6 Sonos speakers.

Step 1.  First things first you need to login to your SmartThings IDE (link).

Step 2.  Make sure you click on “My Locations” then the Location name mine is “Home“.

Step 3.  Next we need to add a Custom SmartApp.  So click on “My Smartapps” at the top of your screen and then choose the green button “New Smart App“.

Step 4.  Then choose “From Code“.

Step 5.  Copy and Paste the entire code snippet below.  Then choose “Save” and then “Publish”.

Step 6.  Now launch the SmartThings app on your Android device.  And choose “Marketplace“.

Step 7.  Then choose “SmartApps” at the top.

Step 8.  Now choose “My Apps” at the bottom.

Step 9.  Now choose the Custom Smart App we added in the IDE earlier.  “Sonos_Mailbox_Notify“.

Step 10.  Here’s where you can configure everything.  So I have mine setup so when the “Contact” opens of Mailbox it will sound the “You’ve got Mail” sound throughout my selected Sonos Speakers.  You can also switch this so it only Plays once per day, or during selected time frame.

{S Gotmail

If i’m doing the dishes and want music to only play in the kitchen I can press a Logitech Pop button and have music playing instantly in the kitchen.  They also have 2 other settings which is a double press, and a long press.  I have all mine configured the same so “Double Press” would skip to the next track.  “Long Press” will pause the current speaker (or all speakers).

One of my biggest downsides was every time I pressed the button to play something it would either pickup where it left off or it would start at the beginning of the list again.  I searched everywhere but I could figure out how to make the Logitech Pop button start with “Shuffle“.

I was playing around with some of the music services Sonos had to offer and I saw that Plex was now a beta option.  Since I’m a huge Plex user for all my Video, tv shows and movies.  I figured I would try adding some Music and letting Sonos stream from there.  (In the beginning it took awhile to get Sonos to actually talk to Plex I think it was something to do with the routing with Google Wifi, however not sure how but we fixed the problem).

When I added the Plex account I noticed it had a “Shuffle” all songs option.

Here are the steps for Adding Plex to your Sonos and having Logitech Pop start with “Shuffle” on press.  (Assuming you are already a Plex user).

Step 1.  Login to your Sonos app on your android device.  Click the (3 arrows at the top to display Options in Sonos).  Once there Click on “Add Music Services“.  Choose Plex.  It will ask you to login to your account.

Step 2.  Verify that Plex music service will play to one of your Sonos speakers and that “Shuffle All” is an option.

Step 3.  Launch the Logitech Pop application on your phone and update your Play buttons to (Shuffle All) from your Plex server.  Viola it was that easy.

I know it sucks if your coming from Spotify or Google Play and you have to physically store all of your Media on your server or computer.   Also if your computer or server is not running 24/7 you can now use Plex’s Cloud option.

I’m starting to love these buttons more and more they recently came out with an update that now I can control my Lutron caseta switches; Phillips Hue Bulbs and other smarthome options all with a press of a button.