[slinkelist] Basic Need / Question from a Newbie

[Davis, John]

Hello All,

I have a couple Sony CD-changers, and I have been eyeing the Slink-e for
some time (and lurking on the list to see if it will do what I want it to).
I think it's for me, but I have some questions and need a little help:

I have automated my home and am also on a user list for a product called
Stargate. SG has the ability to communicate via serial ports and also has an
IR interface, and thus I can send commands in ASCII or IR to control
(automate) many things in my house. Is anyone by chance also using SG and
gotten Slink-e to work with it successfully to do all this neat stuff?

Also, we are not a TV-based household - although we do have several monitors
setup for video cameras, DVD/VCR video distribution, and use of PC's on the
network. Can the Slink-e interface be used in a TV environment? Does the
signal need to be modulated? Is controlled then via IR?

Or, is it better to accept that it is designed to work in a PC environment -
and then my next question is, can it be accessed over a LAN by multiple
PC's? The latter is actually much preferred, because (I believe) it would
dispense with the need for IR, and allow direct control through the Slink-e
interface.

Has anyone put together an installation like this? I'd appreciate your help
and insight.

Thanks,
Jcd


PS: Although I've wired my home to the nth-degree, I am actually not a
computer/web/electronics/programmer type of person, so I need answers in
basic language. Telling my to write a java-script app and run it on a
web-server will go straight over my head :o)


This e-mail, its content and any files transmitted with it are intended solely for the addressee(s) and are confidential and may be legally privileged.  Access by any other party is unauthorised without the express prior written permission of the sender.  If you have received this e-mail in error you may not copy, disclose to any third party or use the contents, attachments or information in any way.  Please destroy it and contact the sender via the Thomson Financial switchboard on (44) 207 369 7000 or via e-mail return.  Internet communications are not secure unless protected using strong cryptography.  This e-mail has been prepared using information believed by the author to be reliable and accurate, but Thomson Financial does not accept responsibility for the timeliness, accuracy or completeness of the information provided or for any changes to this e-mail, howsoever made, after it was sent.  [The content of this e-mail and files transmitted with it is  (c) TFSL - 2000]