Homemade A/V & Automation Rack Wins DIYer A Prius

Keen A/V addict Simon Smith set out to save money by building his own component rack from scratch. However, as the install continued – complete with multiple audio zones, MythTV-powered PVR and even a fire suppression system – his hobby won him a new set of wheels. Courtesy of Intel and the ZDNet Homebrew Challenge, a brand new Toyota Prius hybrid is sitting outside Simon's house.

The car – worth around £20k in the UK – is almost as gadget packed as Simon's house, and of course is the ideal excuse for him to keep buying A/V kit. Next up is active ventilation and some improved lighting. If you're interested in home automation or distributed media then it's worth checking out his build log.

Currently he's fitted: UPS, self-built rack fileserver, self-built testing machine, 4u of reserved space for another computer, APC remote reboot switch, keyboard/trackpad with 19" monitor, 24 port patch panel, 4 port gigabit switch, cable tidying brush strip, 24 port 10/100 switch, 5 port gigabit switch, router, cable modem, WAP, 240W rack-mounted amplifier, 8x8 matrix switch for the distributed audio, 2 more amplifiers and the all-important fire suppression system. That last component was a £15 win on eBay. Two optical smoke sensors trigger a canister of FM200 gas.

[via Automated Home]