I Built a Control Center in My Backyard

0:00 Sponsored by Drio. >> This is a dusty old shed, but when I'm done with it, it's going to be a control center. Monitor wall, live camera feeds, epic loud PA system for the entire property, wall-mounted knobs, dials, and controls for various things, cozy chair, and lastly, Chinese food, of course. First things first, I know you don't come here for carpentry work, so I'm going to hit you with the TLC sparkle transitions for the exterior. Yeah.

0:30 Yeah. Dopamine, baby. Before, after, dopamine, and repeat. For the interior, there's one thing we have to get straight, okay? And that is that we're going to need some air conditioning. This was like the hottest week in Texas. It was insane. Drio sent me the 740S. It was super clutch. I'll talk about it later in the video. One more dopamine. Yeah. For the flooring in here, I went with rubber mats so that I could continue my journey of working out for 17 years so that I could look like a dude that's never touched a weight before in his life, but might have pretty good genes. center, for sure, must have these three things.

1:05 First, monitor wall. The monitor wall is a staple of any good control center. Got to have it. Second, a camera and PA system to communicate loudly and clearly with anybody on the premise. And third, a bunch of knobs, dials, doohickeys, and various things to perform various tasks as you monitor and eat Chinese food, or Indian food. That's acceptable, too. First thing I wanted to do here was begin monitoring the situation. So, I started with the cameras. I went with wireless cameras that don't require an internet connection. That way, I could route them all locally, and nobody can spy on me. I also mounted this horn speaker, and then on the backside of it, I have an amp and a grown man walkie-talkie. This way, no matter where I am on the premise, now I can see the FedEx guy. I can just use my walkie-talkie to speak over the PA system. And I can tell him he's doing a great job. Camera two, camera four and five, and of course the inside the shop view.

2:02 >> This is pretty sick. >> Testing. Testing. Hey. Hey, you. Don't put that there. >> The rest of this stuff will be installing the control center into the freshly renovated dusty old shed. And this is the worst week to do this, literally 105° in Texas today. >> I'm sweating a lot. So, it's time. >> So, Dreo hooked me up with the 740S, which is going to cool me down with his dual hose design, keep the air pressure inside neutral, and not suck in hot air through all the gaps I'm still working on. Most other portable ACs create what's called negative pressure inside, so it's like sucking in a bunch of hot air, but not this. So, it cools 43% faster, and it's got dynamic compressor speed, so it's 32% more efficient as well. And dude, the best part, drain-free.

2:46 >> 72° inside, and that's after going in and out a whole bunch. >> You ever installed a portable AC? The most annoying part is emptying the water out or finding a way to plumb it outside. This thing evaporates it up to 90% humidity, no drain. So, I'm cooled off. Check my link in the description, use my code, they'll cool you off, too, with 18% off the entire website. >> And then I went back outside. See, I want to take this piece of wood, and then use it so I can measure precisely where all the monitors need to mount, cuz it's got to be perfect. You know what I mean? Like, at the monitors have to be perfect or I'm triggered. Like, I >> >> I mean, I don't want this It can't look dinky, and I don't want wires everywhere. So, not only will it help me know that I'm getting the monitors precisely correct >> Yes, nice.

3:25 >> by measuring, but also I'll be able to use it as a cable management kind of like buffer by spacing it off of the wall. I'm using the tile saw next time. I will securely mount the monitor wall as well as any desktops and electronics >> Huh. directly to the wall for maximum satisfaction.

3:55 And the entire rat's nest of cables will run through these channels that I left behind the piece of wood. >> Looking good. Home better control center. >> >> Yeah. Yeah. I do work out. I promise. >> There's something special about mounting a bunch of monitors on a wall as a man. Can't makes me feel like a kid playing a video game.

4:27 >> Okay. I'll take the wires. I'll get better at this. Oh, baby. >> How do I know so much about control centers, you might ask? Well, ask any man. >> All right, bottom row first from here on out. Excellent. >> Every nerd >> That's looking good. >> has desired one their entire life. I mean, you've seen the meme. You saw the AI-generated Star Wars-looking control center. And I was getting closer. Closer to finally being at the control desk.

5:00 >> That is a lot of monitors on a wall. That is a monitor wall. Check the box in the video. That's what I'm talking about now. Up next, I got to connect this all to my electronics and knobs and doohickeys and wires. >> Really, the backbone of every good control center is your electronic stack. >> LED panel? Big one. >> What do you have that's powering your control center? And what is it that you are in fact monitoring? When you grow up into a great big boy like myself, you'll end up understanding that rack-mounted pieces of equipment are the most satisfying things in the world.

5:37 Precisely 19 in with a standardized bolt mount system. >> No jumbled mess on your desk. You just >> pick whatever desired electronic that you want, type it in, and then type in rack mount after it. And it will fit. You'll slot right in, dude. All your knobs, dials, doohickeys, and various monitoring functions can all be powered from that. The only thing not mounted in this rack is going to be this Framework motherboard. I 3D printed some mounts for it that I designed a while back and put it directly on the monitor wall.

6:10 It's worth mentioning I had to turn off the Dreo air conditioner at this point because it got too cold. >> Getting cold in here. 105 outside. I'm freezing. >> First boot to begin the configuration. Testing. >> >> Oh, sick. Spectrum analyzer. >> >> Switches.

6:48 Oh, we're booting. Framework motherboard. Let's go. >> The last hurdle to finally being a man in possession of a control center was 2 weeks of programming crammed into one night, which is really just one night of programming for anyone. It's like that's the expectation. Finish all of the software immediately right now or else. And on a hot 90° July night, Texas summer heat, I sat my buns down on the coziest chair I've ever sat in. And I was, in fact, a man with a control center.

7:32 >> >> Now, let me show you what our all does. >> >> We see the shop over there. You checked out. We got three-way split up here. I'll probably add another feed and just four-way split that. >> >> Live feed of where the DoorDash driver will pull up, you know, when they pull up. Obviously, we got the flight radar here so we can track the flights. You can see the flights in that way you know where they are. Go over here oh, spectrum analyzer? Look at that Okay, we got and then what What's that?

8:21 Dude. For analyzing the spectrums, of course. Don't ask dumb questions. Green buttons changes HDMI input output stuff. Yeah, baby. V I system's going. You got the master switch. You hit that one, it's all gone. And then we got this. This is a light. This is receiving transmissions from planes that are within range. It feeds a MAP CHECK. YEP, IT'S DOCKING. >> There he is. He's on his way, baby. He's He's bringing the Chinese food, man.

8:55 >> And of course, I've seen the movies. I watched cartoons growing up. I was not going to get my next snack. >> Now, I feed it what we're doing over there so you know when to sneak up behind me. >> That's what happens to everybody in a control center. Not me. >> >> Oh, bro, here he comes. Here he comes, bro. He He comes with food, man. Oh, what? Oh, out to the shop door, please. Let's see if he heard that. I mean, it's pretty loud out there. He just pulled up at the front door.

9:20 Drove off. I didn't even get I got to monitor the situation. He turned He sent it to the wrong place, man. >> >> And I had to go with Mexican food cuz the Chinese food was probably closed. I was going to lie and say it was Chinese food like what would you What would you care? But I couldn't bring myself to do it. I'm sure you noticed the LED wall stock ticker. I'm so hungry, bro. >> >> Well, that's not going to happen again.

9:54 I timed it wrong. >> >> He was still in his car when I talked to him. Also, to be honest, it was a long walk. He might have heard me. And bro, I'm really doing it. I'm really monitoring this situation. >> >> And some say to this day, I am still out here monitoring the situation and have become a grown man.

10:26 Finally. >> >> And when I'm not in there monitoring the situation, I can just use the DREO app. Turn off the AC or make it cool, dry, fan, anything like that. So, if you need some cooling in a space with no infrastructure, no attic ducts, no drain, no window unit, the inverter power dual hose DREO 740S is the one for you. Link in the description. Thank you, DREO, for sponsoring the video.

11:03 >> We're watching, Nicholas. >> Just passing through. Two months ago, in this spot, there was probably a spider the size of a baseball. You know what I mean? Not now. Mhm. Control center now, baby.