Day 1

Today, my Uncle, Kaine (whose work I'll be shadowing through this week) took me to the main office of Forest Elite where he works. The business specialises in fitting and maintaining smart home systems - Computer systems which control in-home tech such as lighting, home cinema systems and motorised curtains and blinds. 

The first job I shadowed was a small maintenance job. The office is situated on the property of Mick, the head of the business. The house is used to demonstrate the Forest Elite's work. The house has a Home Cinema system, which has a rack of various equipment within it for use in entertainment. One particular piece of equipment was refusing to output sound to the Cinema's speakers, so Kaine had to try and figure out the problem. Eventually, he simply rebooted the Amp (the device acting up) and the problem was rectified. 

After this, Kaine dealt with an order from a customer, who wanted automated curtains and lights fitted in his home. The customer had listed what they wanted and where, so Kaine went through Control 4's catalogue to choose the items needed for the installation, and used this to build up an order form for the customer. Control 4 are the main manufacturer Forest Elite use for their smart home systems. 

After this, I assisted Kaine in fixing a Security Camera at the property's entrance. The camera has a controllable, pivoting stand, but it was not responding to control commands. So, we had to require both the camera and control panel correctly, so it could be controlled. 

And finally, the 'Cottage' on the property (a small guest house) needed to have its wireless control system for the lights added. This required the installation of 'Pucks', which are small units that are attached to the wiring of the lighting system's circuit which allow both normal switches and wireless controls to control the lights' activation and intensity. 

When the day was done, we returned to Kaine's home, in which I'd be staying for the rest of the week.