Hey guys,

My name is Scott, but when I set up my account I figured that would be taken thus Sc0tty was chose.

I stared about 11 years ago in the security industry retrofitting harwired systems in the Florida heat! I lost 40 lbs in about 3 months.

I left that company and went to work for a integration company. Keep in mind that 8 years ago it was fairly innovative to have one company do all the low voltage work in a home. I picked up on most everything quickly, and became a service technician. That's when I really learned a few things, as our installation guys were not very good. I still remember my first surround system. I too did not know what a S-video cable was.

I started with Atlantic Home Technologies about 5 1/2 years ago. I sold and programmed our first custom remote control about 4 years ago. A pronto TSU2000. That's when I found you guys. I was the newbie for sure, but derived quite a bit of knowledge from you guys. We now do hundreds of remotes a year. We mainly use URC, UEI, and RTI.

My name is Michael. I am the co-owner of MK HI-TECH Ltd. in Kingston, Jamaica. I was formally trained in electronics in North Carolina.(graduated 1976) My first job was manufacturing Zenith televisions here in Jamaica.( for export to Trinidad) I have worked for IBM, Cable & Wireless & Island Electronics Grand Cayman). I started my own business in 1988. It started as a satellite tv business but has morphed in to a CI business. We sell Lexicon, Mark Levinson, Revel, JBL Synthesis, SpeakerCraft, DVDO, Vutec, Krell, KEF, StereoStone, Xantech, Netstreams, RTI etc.

Hi, I'm CJ and I'm a DIY'er! My day job is the Town Engineer for a mid-sized municipality.

I've been an gadget-holic since a kid, starting with the 1st portable CD player that Sony put out in 1984 (just in time for Van Halen), the D-50. The CD player itself was pretty similar to the ones today, but the battery pack was huge! It was large enough that it actually encased the whole CD player and had a shoulder strap with which you lugged it around... I was 12 and thought I was cool.



I started in programming in Basic as a kid with my first computer on my TI99-4A. I later moved into programming my HP 48GX in RPL and System RPL (with a language similar to a combination of LISP and FORTH). I ended up finishing my engineering degree and was 2 hours short of a Computer Science minor and learned Pascal, C, Assembly, etc.

I first started on RC in 1999 when I purchased my first somewhat configurable universal remote control, the Sony RM-AV2000. I quickly found myself limited by the lack of flexibility in the GUI and moved to the Pronto TS1000 when it was introduced.

The lack of discrete codes and power sensing moved me to learning to program the Niles Intellicontrol and later combining the flexibility of the TS1000 with the intelligence (!) of the Intellicontrol processor.

I installed my first whole-house music system, the Elan HD, in my last house and was able to set up a fairly nice 8 source, 10 A/V-zone system. When I moved into my new house about a year and a half ago, I finally had enough know-how to determine what I really wanted.

I have since installed an RTI system for my family room entertainment system and a Crestron system for whole-house A/V. I currently have the RTI equipment up 100%. I have the audio and HVAC portion of the Crestron system working well, but need to start on the video distribution side. I am also in the middle of installing a home theater in my basement.

I have seriously considered going into control system programming for my full-time job, but haven't yet made the leap.

CJ

Ali!

Hello,

my name is Charris....(dah)

I have started my own integration firm (and also integration products distribution) 1.5 years ago kind of by accident. I had a Sonos at home, loved it, contacted them for distribution for my country, they accepted and now we are distributing Sonos, Tannoy, Artcoustic, Stealth Acoustics, Triad, Chief, Rako, Planar, Eubiq, Muxlab, RTI, Ekey and Centralite. We are based in Nicosia, Cyprus, Europe (small island in the Meditteranean - 600k population) and the distribution market is not very big so we also have an integration team that handles from the smallest project to 500k+ AMX huge ones. We also do Kaleidescape, Lutron, Vantage, AMX, Request, Escient and Pronto. We are also starting slowly to expand to Athens, Greece.

I am also in love with this industry and at the moment it looks like a dreamjob. We will see though if this will continue for long...

Hi My name is Todd and I have been doing electronics as a pro sense 1985 and before that I had been repairing electronics for my father sense 1979( I was 8 years old).

Hi. My name is Alan, and I've been knee deep in Home Automation for the last 30 years, since my days at MIT. I don't do this professionally (I'm a physician), but I live with Prontos, AMX, Vantage, used to have Phast, etc... I was also one of the original beta testers for ReplayTV and Tivo. Serial early adopter.

For years I was totally frustrated with the dreck that the local CI's did on their installations, so I taught myself to program, install, fish wires, cameras, security, access control, etc, etc, etc... My house is somewhat of a home automation showplace, with all the associates pluses and minuses.

My friends all have learned to pounce on this, so I'm constantly doing a friend's home, always gratis, but I love the challenges and the finished product.

Hi. I'm Matt. I've loved electronics since I was a kid (seems so long ago) like pretty much everyone else in the industry. I was lucky enough to be hired by a company ten years ago as an installer. I am now a partner in my own company with two other guys in Lincoln, NE. I am now the system designer, installer, and programmer. Our company is Digital Theater Experts (DTX) and we are going on four years old.

We sell B&W, Rotel, Classe, Denon, Meridian, Dream Vision, Pioneer Elite, Focal, TruAudio, Crestron, URC, Genelec, and MIT cables.

WOW! It has been quite a while since I posted on this great web-site. Back in the days I used to post, promote, help with RC contests, etc. Daniel was always the man helping us with killer graphics. Etronixs.com and than it was changed to Avsmarts.com

~Yes I was one of those guys, to put remotes on the web!

~Pronto TSU-2000

~Sunwave remote AKA Crisp Solutions 515- a dear man by the name of Uli !

~Weemote, damn we used to sell a ton of those babies!

~We were the first dealer to receive the RTI T2 remote control in the U.S.! And by receiving them - I believe our first order was around 65 units.

~Helped promote the first Remotecentral.com t-shirt (Think I still have some somewhere.)

This is one of the earliest contest links I could find:

[Link: remotecentral.com]

Me, I'm ERIC from Northwest Indiana - My father started a Lafayette CB Radio store back in 1974 and yes, I was born into the electronics industry. From their he went into mobile electronics, the killer Atari game consoles and than we sold our first cell phone in 1984 -
I started a home theater division and than did the e-commerce thing for awhile. We currently have 4 retail locations which are primary AT&T stores and also a mobile electronics & home division. I have a 6 year old son and a fantastic girlfriend and enjoy boating, outdoor activities, and of course all kinds of electronics.

I don't post much anymore, hardly have the time my son and work keeps me real busy but I do read the forums everyday. I enjoy reading all of the post, news and information that helps me learn, think and make $$$$

For the home line we carry: Denon. LG. JVC. Universal. Panasonic. Russound. Xantech, etc.

P.S. Hey DANIEL - How the heck have you been?

Hey, Been here a Long time and been in the Industry longer. Started out in Car-fi back in the mid to late 80's. THe SHop I worked for (ANd eventaly managed) did both Home and car so even though my first love was High Quality Car Audio I was sucked into the B&W 801's we had on the floor many a night.

ALways the COmputer geek, when I moved on to a Home A/V Specialty store in the Mid 90's I quickly Was turned onto Programming the Control System... Crestron and soon after that PHAST. (Yes, I Was TOrmented by that system and Stayed inthe Industry! WHeres my Medal?)

After that I did mostly Custom Department management and Programming through a couple other companies until i landed at my current Place of Emplyment inthe SOuth Chicago Burbs.....

Here I Program the AMX Control Systems and Help the sales guys with System design whenever possible.

Hi,

My name is Corey Bane.

I am the Sole owner of Bulldog A/V. Quirky name, but people remember it.

Currently a 3 man show.

I started selling computers about 9 years ago straight out of high school. I realized I was a good sales man because I actually tried to help find the right solution for people.

A few years later I was recruited by a local Home Theater store and honestly didnt even know the term "whole house audio" or "automation". Honestly, they asked for me to define those terms and I had no idea what they meant. After about 6 months of picking everyones brains I was closing some deals. The store was poorly managed and went under, so I went to work for another AV company in the area. Same story hear with management so I went out on my own. Really struggled for the first year. Now we have visible hi profile projects through out San Diego and we are growing.

I would consider my strengths video, audio, automation, structured panels, racks, networking, control system layout design, and customer service.

Thank you for your time.

I grew up surrounded by my dad's high-end stuff 'suffering' with his hand me down separates as he upgraded instead of getting the one-piece stereos with the cool lights and meters I wanted. By the time I was 14 I realized the error of my ways and began to appreciate the stuff. Got into car audio at 16 and actually remain there to some degree although I haven't upgraded in awhile.

I worked summers at Best Buy through college thinking I could buy at cost. Never really bought any audio as my tastes were above what they sold though. Meanwhile I got in pretty good with a local dealer who generally took me to CES.

After I got my Architectural Engineering degree I went to work for a design firm in Saint Louis. That 14 year stint encompassed Power, Lighting, Fire Alarm, IT, AV, NurseCall design as well as being national CAD manager and software developer. It was a 700 person firm with 14 worldwide offices so the biggest perk was the travel and being able to sit down with Autodesk each year and discuss the future of their products.

Last year I jumped ship and went to work for Cignal Systems which is a small (coming for a 700 person firm to 10 people) AV systems integrator for commercial buildings, theaters and production studios. Our sister company Logic Systems does live sound for national and local acts so I get to play with some really cool professional gear in the shop.

I'm the only CAD guy and programmer now but am still part of the AutoCAD beta team. They call me "the Engineer" around here because these are all life long audio guys who got here from the music business. They come at everything from a practical perspective and I come at it from a theoretical. It's a great compliment and huge learning experience for me.

Name's Mark by the way.

Hey all - I'm Brad, and fairly new to RC. I lurked around here for while, and finally became a member not too long ago. I've picked up a few great ideas so far, and thank you all for the advice and info!

I grew up around electronics (like most of us I think) - attempting to fix gizmos and gadgets whenever I broke them. My fascination for all things requiring power led me to college for an Electronics Engineering degree. I spent many years in the entertainment world - as a live sound tech, commercial installer, and as a DJ (paid the bills for college!). I somehow managed to branch off into installing amusement rides for a Cali based company - and that's where I had my first real taste of automation with an Allen-Bradley PLC5. I left the entertainment world in 2000 - to become (of all things) an Air Traffic Controller.

While I am still a controller, my life-long passion for audio has brought me back to the industry. I started my business (see member name) last year, and have grown it into something feasible. The plan is to cross-fade into this full-time - even though some think I'm crazy for wanting to do so! It helps to have a supportive wife though! A couple of friends of mine have run a store for several years now (20?), and they have been an excellent source of advice and motivation. Hanging around in their store starting when I was about 16 helped a lot and fed my addiction.

Located near Vancouver, BC, I am currently an authorized seller of Marantz, Boston, Totem, Sonos, PSB, RTI and much more.

Love the site - good to meet you all!

I'm just an installer, who kept working.. then I look up and it's 11 years later.

seth

I’ve been in the business many years, starting with the service department at Bryn Mawr Stereo (later acquired by Tweeter. We did installations. They were all custom. We didn’t call it custom install though! Who knew?!

I worked at several other retailers, then manufacturers. Worked with Henry Kloss (projection televisions), started and ran the consumer division of Lexicon (once upon a time it was only a pro audio company), helped get custom remotes started (Lexicon 500t and 700t), sat on the original board of CEDIA, consulted for a bunch of companies, ending up at NetStreams when I saw where it was going.