ISE 2012: Top 10 Intriguing Products
Super Bowl: The Ultimate Home Theater System
Inside Former New York Giant Amani Toomer's Home Theater
Neat-O: Wired for Prime Time Makeover
Print
Email
Comments (5)
Share
Bugs in the System
Integrators usually troubleshoot first and hunt for bugs later; Audio Command Systems found bugs in an Audioaccess system right away.
This story gives a whole new meaning to a "bug in the system." Michael Curtin, an integrator with Audio Command Systems in Westbury, N.Y., offers these details:
UPDATE: Check out more creepy stuff discovered by installers.
A top designer called me to meet one of her best clients at their Long Island Home. The client is important to the designer so I wanted to make sure that everything went perfectly.
The homeowner said the multiroom audio system (AudioAccess) initially was acting buggy, changing channels and volume levels in a sporadic way, but was now not working at all.
The first thing the guys found was that a fuse was blown on the main controller. A tone and test of all the lines in the house told us that there must be more keypads than the number of zones the system supports (six). We asked the client, who told us of a little-used control out in the shed by the pool.
When the guys opened the box up they found the keypad to be the warm and snuggly winter home for some determined Halyomorpha halys aka the stinkbug. Apparently these foul smelling critters have the ability to project a nasty smell when prodded, touched, threatened or as the homeowner told us … squooshed. We decided it best not to disturb them, lest they emit their God-given gift.
The guys went to the local Radio Shack and brought back a can of compressed air intending to freeze the buggers; however the stinkbugs apparently knew their welcome had been worn out as they all completely bugged out when the guys arrived.
We replaced the fuse on the main controller turned on the system and voila, music once again rocked the house all without the help of our star programmer!
UPDATE: Check out more creepy stuff discovered by installers.
Subscribe to the CE Pro Newsletter
Read more News stories
People On the Move: Revolabs, Linear LLC, CrestronRoom Acoustics: What Installers Need to Know
Orlando Police Chief Advises Residents to Get Surveillance Cameras
Neat-O: Elan g! Controls 11 TVs, 54 Speakers, 20+ Audio Zones
Stupid FCC Proposal Would Kill Basic Cable, Thwart TV Innovation
More in News
About the Author
Julie Jacobson, Editor-at-large, CE Pro
Julie Jacobson is co-founder of EH Publishing and currently spends most of her time writing for CE Pro, mostly in the areas of home automation, networked A/V and the business of home systems integration. She majored in Economics at the University of Michigan, earned an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, and has never taken a journalism class in her life. Julie is a washed-up Ultimate Frisbee player with the scars to prove it. Follow her on Twitter @juliejacobson.
5 Comments (displayed in order by date/time)
I posted the video at wiremunky. A+ to these guys for filming it and a gold star for uploading it to youtube!
Cant wait to encounter something crazy to upload :D
And double-thumbs-up to Michael who did such a great job writing it up. I just asked him for a few notes on the back-story and darn if he didn’t write it better than I could. Michael, ready for your next REAL story!
Programmers don’t have bugs in any system. We have features that you may not want or have not yet programmed.
“Programmers don’t have bugs in any system. We have features that you may not want or have not yet programmed.”
I am stealing that one.
Page 1 of 1 comment pages
Hilarious