Where It All Began

At around the age of 12, I enjoyed pulling apart old radios and speakers to see how they worked. I remember collecting speakers from numerous gadgets, wiring them all together around my bed to create a sea of sound, using my dad's old amplifier to power it all. I had a feeling of pride and excitement. I guess this was my first experience with surround sound. Once I felt the enjoyment of accomplishing something on my own, I knew I was hooked!

I had a huge interest in video games from an early age. I progressed through the Atari, Nintendo, Super Nintendo and GameBoy, Sega Master System, Sega Mega Drive, PlayStation and then Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One X and currently an Xbox Series X alongside a Nintendo Switch for good measure. I have amazing memories of playing console games like Final Fantasy and Secret of Mana, Mortal Kombat, Raiden and Bubble Bobble, countless hours of Tetris, Halo, Assassin's Creed and Zelda, Metroid and Super Mario. This list could go on and on.

As I got older, I took an interest in Video Games on computers as some of what I wanted to play was only available on PC. My first addiction for PC gaming was Star Wars Galaxies, which got me into the world Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG) and then I was hooked on other games in that genre like World of Warcraft. It eventually led to my obsession with Destiny and Destiny 2 which I still play to this day.

But getting into gaming on PC led me to my next obsession. I always wanted better performance, better graphics, larger screens, more memory. MORE, MORE, MORE. I began tinkering with building my own gaming rigs to push performance further and further. I loved seeing how different components led to different performance outcomes. Swapping out graphics cards or dialling in settings for my CPU or Memory. There was never a feeling that I was finally done with a build, always changing or upgrading something.

From PC gaming and being around computers all the time and having great performance, more than I needed, I started looking into what else I could do with what I had. I wanted to be able to store my own files, my own photos, my own videos and I started researching how people did it. Soon I was buying larger and larger hard drives to store all my data, then securing them from loss in case of a disaster. I dabbled in Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices and settled on custom built towers with heaps of storage space for whatever I wanted to throw at it.

A Career in Technology

As my passion and obsession for computers and technology grew, I knew I wanted to do this forever in some form. At the age of 20, after working in many different places from 14 years old, I got my first IT job working at a computer retail outlet. I was responsible for discussing problems with customers and offering solutions and selling every type of computer gadget there is. I was already very familiar with everything they sold, so I quickly developed a keen eye for what customers wanted and needed. I hit my sales targets month after month which led to me receiving small monthly bonuses in my pay cheque. At that age with no real expenses, I couldn't help but funnel that bonus money into more computer parts which I got at cost for working there. However, I quickly got bored of being around the same technology and offering the same solutions day after day. The pay wasn't great, I was getting older and had more responsibilities, so this career wasn't going to work.

A couple years later I got a job as an IT Consultant, as I wanted to work with corporate clients and businesses to offer my knowledge and solutions. They flew me around the country to deploy projects for Windows Servers and Microsoft Exchange mail servers primarily. I advised on network rollouts, Wi-Fi and reliability, storage solutions, Print servers, etc. This led to me getting my Microsoft certifications which demonstrated my knowledge in those products. I eventually got to a point where I knew the industry well and wanted to do more, but the size of the consultancy and its client base was small, and I found myself needing more of a challenge. I decided to move on and transitioned into a much larger IT consulting firm, with larger clients. I further developed my skills and was promoted as an IT Systems Engineer in the Projects department which kept me engaged and fulfilled for many years to come.

I was also buying and setting up gadgets and providing advice and technical support for my family and friends for years. I'd get calls from my mother on how to set up things on her phone or her laptop, or why isn't the internet working, or the Wi-Fi slow. I was purchasing new phones for everyone after discussing what they needed and migrating everything from old to new. I was researching best TVs, Soundbars, computers, laptops, tablets and appliances. If it took power, I was researching it and getting to learn the ins and outs of models from year to year and providing my personal opinion on what to buy. I spent 40+ hours researching solar panels and inverters so I knew how they worked, which brands were good and what features were a must have before I took the plunge and installed solar on my roof. I even argued with the solar consultant about the placement of the solar panels. Family and friends would have me over for dinners, or BBQs, knowing that I would see their new purchase after taking my recommendation, and I couldn't help walking away and playing with it, and checking it was connected properly and running as it should. I loved helping people experience what I was experiencing every time I setup a new piece of tech!

Building a Smart Home

Parallel to my IT career, I eventually got married, had kids and got our family home. And just like anyone in a new house, I wanted to personalise it and make it my own. I loved the idea of setting up security cameras around the house, and with my knowledge in networking, I ran all the cables I needed and mounted 6 cameras around the house. Needing a way to store the footage, I already had the knowledge and hardware to keep as much recorded footage as I wanted. For security, alongside cameras, I wanted to control more than just what I could see around the house, so I began with controlling the lights. When I first started, the only way to do automatic lighting was extremely expensive business grade systems which was way out of my price range, or cheap solutions that could be bought from retail stores. It started with a protocol called X10, and some devices on Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi not being a great fit for automation devices due to its power draw on battery operated devices, I investigated alternatives and I noticed standards for Home Automation began to evolve. I discovered Z-Wave and Zigbee, both of which are going strong to this day, but Zigbee is cheaper, more compatible and more widely used in Australia. I implemented Smart Thermostats, Smart Locks, Smart lighting for all the rooms alongside bulbs for lamps and LED strips, Garage openers and Smart blinds. The world of Home Automation opened my eyes, and I felt that same passion and obsession I always craved!

What was obviously lacking was a way to put it all together and control what I wanted and how I wanted without being locked behind certain brands or types of devices. If I wanted a way to open the garage remotely, set the climate control, turn on some lights, and inform the rest of the household that dad has arrived, I needed a way to do that. For years I experimented with solutions promised by manufacturers to be the only solution you would ever need. I started with a Vera Lite, moved on to Vera Edge, then hated the cumbersome interface and switched to Hubitat. It was a lot more compatible with my devices, but the interface and automation engine left a lot to be desired. There was always something lacking with every solution I found. Either it was way too expensive, or too complicated to use, or support was dropped because the manufacturer went missing. And then it happened!

Discovering Home Assistant

I discovered an open-source solution called Home Assistant. Open-source means it is created and contributed to by enthusiasts and anyone can view the code and how it was created. It promised local connectivity to all devices, a great user interface, compatibility with everything and anything I threw at it, and the best part was, the software was free. FREE!!! I couldn't believe what I had discovered but I knew I had to try it. I had some old computer hardware lying around, so I pulled it out from a cupboard, downloaded Home Assistant and installed it. It had everything I was looking for: local connectivity, fast performance, high compatibility, and it was free. It was a learning curve, but with my experience in so many other areas of technology, I got it running and had an immensely good time doing it. I moved all my devices from other systems I had been using previously and haven't looked back since. Then I had an epiphany. Everyone needs to have this in their homes. Who wouldn't want to be able to know when the dishwasher was finished, or when the washing machine needed to be emptied after a wash cycle, or if the garage door had been left open. I started looking for opportunities as to where else I could install it as I craved the exposure to another property that was different to mine and what challenges it would bring. And this turned out to be what I loved doing!

I deployed Home Assistant at my parents place first. They always trusted what I said and done, so when I told them what I wanted to do, they said go ahead as long as it didn't disrupt their everyday lives. We deployed cameras, contact sensors for all the external doors, smart lighting, under bench kitchen led strips, Sprinklers, garage openers and sensors. Google Home devices were already scattered around the house for my mum to listen to music anywhere she wanted, alongside Sonos speakers in the alfresco. I knew all this could be integrated with Home Assistant and they'd be able to use voice control to turn off lights, or turn on the sprinkler, or turn on and off the TV. They loved it. I loved it more. Soon I had Home Assistant installed at numerous friends' places, all with different desires of what a smart home should be. Some went big, some went small. But none of them realised how inexpensively it can be done. Home assistant could be deployed on all matter of hardware, even cheap low power computers that cost a few hundred dollars. But starting in this manner, makes you appreciate the power of what it could do. Then devices can be added to over time. Automations get more creative, and before you know it, you're thinking of your own scenarios and what can be solved with Home Assistant. I'll never forget how proud I was when my wife came to me in my study, with a look of excitement on her face and said, "You know what would be awesome? If we had a way in the dining room to know when there was enough excess solar being generated to use the dishwasher or washing machine and it not cost us anything."

Putting It to Work

My mind went into overdrive with a new challenge. We started discussing what it could look like and what I could use to do it. We found an old ornamental lantern we used for decorative purposes, and I ran some spare led strip into it and deployed a $20 self-soldered controller with open-source software called WLED in a case that I 3D printed that could be controlled with Home Assistant. Within the hour I had a prototype ready to go and I put it in the dining room. I created an automation in Home Assistant that took the amount of electricity being generated by the solar panels, and subtracted the amount of power the house was currently using. If the excess was above 2 kilowatts for at least 10 minutes, it would set the lantern to a pulsing green light, indicating we had enough power to run an appliance. And that was it. It worked and we have it in our dining room, and we use it every day.

I also wanted to implement automations and smart controls that could benefit the kids. I wanted to keep the kids safe as their reliance on the internet and social media increased as they got older. Not to mention the amount of screen time on devices they had, and I needed to do something about it. I deployed solutions within Home Assistant that let me control what sites the kids were not allowed access to. I used controllers to setup a separate Wi-Fi network just for the kids, so I could turn off the Wi-Fi at bedtime, and to ensure they couldn't access anything on my network I didn't want them to. I also ensured they all had their own separate accounts for Gmail and video games and consoles so I could implement different parental controls for different children. When my last child was born, within a week of him being brought home from the hospital, I created him his own Gmail account that he would eventually use for all account sign-ins for any services he needed. I also used this Gmail account to email him from a very young age so that he would have something to look back on when he got older. I emailed him about the favourite songs or TV shows or movies he had at the time, or what was going on in our family during that part of his life and sent him photos of family events, so he'd never forget. I hope one day he reads those emails and has a record of what his childhood was like. And lastly, I setup the kids with Bluetooth electric toothbrushes that can be monitored with Home Assistant, so I knew they were brushing their teeth when they were supposed to and for long enough. Some people laughed at me for keeping track of that, but it was an easy thing to do and implement that cost nothing extra.

Starting PashaK

Every now and then, a family member or friend would make a comment that seemed to get louder and mentioned more often. "You should start a business doing this for other people." I considered it for a long time, and I almost done it a few years back. And then COVID hit, all my plans were parked, and I couldn't move forward. I couldn't leave the house to go to people's homes to deploy anything, it wouldn't work. But the time eventually came to try again and so here we are, with a business of my own, wanting to share everything I have learned over the years with people as I truly believe everyone can benefit with Smart Technology to make their lives easier and give them more time for the things they love to do.

I am a down to earth person with a sense of humour in overdrive and I'm a kid at heart. I love technology and helping people and pushing the boundaries of what's possible. My passion for all things technology has always been a big part of my life and I want to share it with the world.

I would love to hear your thoughts and comments on my story. Thank you for reading.