I'm new to the forum, electrical field engineer, & planning to wade into the world of X10 in the very near future... automation, mostly, and security if that goes as planned. My FIRST question is this (more to come):
I want, for starters, a localized control over the basics--garage door, outdoor lights, family room lights, etc--and want to see status of each at the same place, on the same device, if possible. What I was envisioning was a small switchplate or controller with buttons controlling & showing:
GARAGE: illuminated/LED when open; toggle open/closed when pressed
--open status of the door would have to be from a window sensor (one address), where command to close/open would have to be sent to a universal module (different address)--POSSIBLE?
OUTDOOR: illuminated when ANY outdoor light is on; toggle on/off when pressed
--LED display of status of ANY lights (ANY of the X number of addresses associated with the lights)
...you get the idea, I think. I checked the SmartHome website and found this KeypadLinc 8,
http://www.smarthome.com/12074w.html, but I don't think it can be programmed to SEND an address command and DISPLAY status of a DIFFERENT address on the same button. Is there a product out there that can do what I'm describing?
I looked around a long time before posting--lots of good info on the site, & I look forward to diving into this.