Turning power outlets on and off with my computer?

[nitz]

Basically I want to be able to cut/turn on power to an outlet using hotkeys on my computer. What I'm looking for is something like this:

http://www.pwrusb.com/index.html

but I can't seem to find this product anywhere, doesn't even look like they sell it on their own site.

Seems like every solution I find is a DIY thing which is more complicated (and potentially dangerous) than I want to tackle right now, or it's something that's way too elaborate/expensive for my needs.

Does anyone know where I can get a power bar that plugs into a PC that I can then control via software/hotkeys?

[Ed_McCarron]

X10 stuff is cheap and easy -- but not directly connected.  Think the newer stuff is even more reliable.

[nitz]

Thanks, had a look at some x10 stuff, looks like it would work, but the cheapest option I could find is a kit with a bunch of software and such costing $62 and it's overkill for what I want to do. I really only want to control 1 or 2 devices via autohotkey scripts and wouldn't want to have other programs running in the background.

Maybe I'm missing something and there is a less expensive x10 way, someone let me know if there is!

[Howard_Casto]

Controlling house current with a pc takes some specilized software and hardware.  If you are wanting to purchase a kit, 62 bucks isn't bad at all. 

Typically speaking you need an avr hooked to you pc, similar to a ledwiz to pump out the signal.  Then you need a transmitter, a number of recievers, and a relay at each reciever. 

There are x10 kits periodically on ebay (NEW) that come with just one reciever, and you can get an additional one for 10-20 bucks.  But those kits usually run around 35, so 60 bucks for one with multiple recievers that's a good deal. 

It's also about as cheap as you can get unless you build the entire thing from scratch. 

[nitz]

The kit doesn't come with any receivers though. So add another $24 for a couple receivers, then add shipping and I'm in for over $100 and all I'm really looking for is a relatively cheap, easy straight forward solution like the vaporware I linked to above. This is just something I want to mess around with, not something I want to spend a lot of money on. I was hoping there was a power bar that does this that I could maybe get for < $50. Doesn't look like it though.

EDIT: I should mention that I don't consider fleabay an option since I swore off it last year. Just got fed up with idiots ripping me off.

[Howard_Casto]

I have pretty good luck with ebay so long as a buy from someone with an ebay store and not "some guy."   

About the only thing I've ever been burned on was a maddog cd that was supposed to be a windows xp version but ended up being the dos version.  When I asked about a refund the lady who I bought it off of said to send it back (I pay shipping) and she would exchange it.  Well I only paid 5 bucks for it and it would be 8 bucks shipping so I just kept it. 

Anyway I would check ebay.  You can't really get a discount on home automation stuff unless you buy it off the ebay.

[nitz]

Well, I may consider it if I could get it through an ebay store. But I dunno. I always bought from people with at least 98% feedback and lots of votes, and still, some of the crap they pulled was ridiculous. After the third time I got burned I said, "That's it. Never again!" I did have some great experiences with some folks, but like everything else in life, all it takes is a few jerks to ruin it. 

I'd have to think about it. Thanks for your help guys.

[Vigo]

Just a suggestion:

Would it be possibly to buy one of those remote control outlet supplies, then get an arduino board, and soldier wires from the button leads on the remote control to the arduino outputs. Then, I think it is a matter of creating a simple button press program with the arduino software.

I have never used an arduino before, but from everyone I hear they are easy peasy to program commands into. It is a solution that is under $50, and I think I would even be able to do it if I wanted to. It is safe too, because you would not be tampering with the actual AC power.


It's pretty much a quick hack of what Howard mentioned in his first post.

[nitz]

Thanks for the suggestion Vigo, but I found an ebay store with an awesome rating (99.6% and 25,000+ votes) that has all the X10 stuff I would need for about $40 shipped - very reasonable. Looks like the easiest way to do it, so in spite of my leeriness of ebay, I think I'm gonna go for it.