ChristmasBuddy
New member
Looking for some guidance here.
I have read recently about a device that can be added to appliances for controlling through home automation. I have seen a few posts here about it; Sonoff.
Here is a link on Amazon for those that don't know what I am talking about as well as a Youtube video.
https://www.amazon.com/Sonoff-Elect...ie=UTF8&qid=1522324693&sr=1-3&keywords=sonoff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRCH67wfwNE
There are serveral people that have mentioned they would like to control the power to various parts of the lighting show (if not everything). I do see the value of that.
BUT what if you wanted to control an element/prop within a specific show?
Here is what I have done so far. I have researched and tested some simple Arduino and solid-state relays and they work great. So I know that a single relay can control my element.
My element is a window candle. It is a 110v powered lamp. I have have one in each of my eleven windows on the front side of my house.
I don't want to buy eleven Arduinos or Raspberry Pi to do this. So I looked at the ESP8266 for providing that connectivity but the additional electronics started to push the costs beyond tolerable; relays, buck-converter, etc. The cost for one was over $15.
So I was actually thinking about the OneStick but the problem still came to cost and the fact that two power sources would probably be involved for each candle.
Then I read about the Sonoff.
This solves several problems such as cost, and control of the actual candle.
The only problem that I see at this point is how to activate/deactivate from within a Show.
I read that RDM could be used but I wanted to make sure that my idea was doable. Next what would be the next step to accomplish this idea.
I use Vixen but if xLights is better for this then I can switch.
Any ideas?
Thanks for your help.
I have read recently about a device that can be added to appliances for controlling through home automation. I have seen a few posts here about it; Sonoff.
Here is a link on Amazon for those that don't know what I am talking about as well as a Youtube video.
https://www.amazon.com/Sonoff-Elect...ie=UTF8&qid=1522324693&sr=1-3&keywords=sonoff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRCH67wfwNE
There are serveral people that have mentioned they would like to control the power to various parts of the lighting show (if not everything). I do see the value of that.
BUT what if you wanted to control an element/prop within a specific show?
Here is what I have done so far. I have researched and tested some simple Arduino and solid-state relays and they work great. So I know that a single relay can control my element.
My element is a window candle. It is a 110v powered lamp. I have have one in each of my eleven windows on the front side of my house.
I don't want to buy eleven Arduinos or Raspberry Pi to do this. So I looked at the ESP8266 for providing that connectivity but the additional electronics started to push the costs beyond tolerable; relays, buck-converter, etc. The cost for one was over $15.
So I was actually thinking about the OneStick but the problem still came to cost and the fact that two power sources would probably be involved for each candle.
Then I read about the Sonoff.
This solves several problems such as cost, and control of the actual candle.
The only problem that I see at this point is how to activate/deactivate from within a Show.
I read that RDM could be used but I wanted to make sure that my idea was doable. Next what would be the next step to accomplish this idea.
I use Vixen but if xLights is better for this then I can switch.
Any ideas?
Thanks for your help.