mvgossman

Thank you, "Geddy", I've been fat dumb and happy for a long time with the system I have. I wasn't aware of the new PLMs, that was a crisis for the unlucky people whose systems were hanging by that crucial device as I recall. I guess I'll go whole hog with the eisy and get a USB PLM. I've got too much invested in Insteon switches to bail on it, nothing I've found has the functionality I want. I'm finding Insteon switches and other things to be pretty easy still on eBay, thankfully.

Thank you, I'm afraid Nodeserver is greek to me, will look into that. Mobillinc does seem rather dated. What is the app on the iPhone called that allows access to the full range of features?

My ISY994 works perfectly, no complaints. The only reason to upgrade to the eisy for me would be for irresistible features, and I suppose better stability and room for growth in the future. Naturally, I'm worried about encountering a major problem and wishing I hadn't undergone the major surgery. SO! 1. Is the interface for programming scenes, devices, etc. still done through the iOx Launcher Admin panel via Java? A nice new feature would be a more robust Admin panel. 2. Is the MobilLinc Pro app still usable? 3. And while I'm at it, is there a way to interface to a different PLM? I've been fortunate, my two PLMSs (two homes) are going strong, but my luck could run out. 4. Any other great features to be gained?

I agree... I was joking about the cost because it's so reasonable.

Thanks! I didn't find anything specific in a search with respect to the VTEXT for Verizon being down, but now that I know it's truly down, and possibly no workaround, I just installed Pushover, and it is great. I suspect I'll find this useful in other situations. I just realized that you can set the Mail app to put up on alert notification whenever an email is received by a certain email address. One could have a special email address only used by the ISY. I'll have to think about this before I put forth that massive cost of $4.99 for lifetime Pushover use. Still, Pushover also integrates with multiple devices very nicely, although I can't get the notification to work yet on the Mac, I've got a support question to Pushover in for that.

I use Gmail to send text messages from the ISY994 to my Verizon cell phone. Not long go, it stopped working, and found out about the Advanced Security issue at Google that required you to set up a unique password to allow an external app (like the ISY's email capability) to use Gmail as the email client, and it started working again. Within the past week, I stopped receiving texts again. I researched it, and supposedly Verizon has stopped passing through to Verizon's "2125551212@vtext.com" email to text feature. It also doesn't work with an email client on a regular computer to send a text to the vtext email address when using Gmail, but when using an alternative email address service (in my case, my office's domain name that uses Microsoft, I receive a text just fine. Is there a workaround to salvage the Gmail method? If not, what's the SMTP configuration for an alternative email address? I only have one other email, a Yahoo address, and I've tried everything and it won't work.

I've had some glitches with my T1800 Venstar thermostat which I use via the ISY994 and Mobilinc. It's not pleasant when I'm heading to the cabin 6 hours away and it's 50 degrees in there. So I'm considering replacing it with something else, anyone had a positive experience with one? There are a couple Honeywell ones. There's the Nest which I figured I wouldn't want in the cabin setting since I'm there irregularly and have no need for it to learn my temperature habits, but it does have a manual mode I just learned. There are many others. Mitch

I figured out the problem after searching for others who have had this issue and drilling down to the specific issue of the motion variable appearing as a light. I have the Alexa ISY Skill V2. I just updated to V3 and it works perfectly Thank you very much for the help, now I have to figure out what else I've been missing out on. Here's the thread that clued me in, even though going to V3 didn't seem to help this chap.

Tmorse305: That's a good clue that the description differs radically from yours. I flushed everything on the ISY itself, the ISY Portal, and Alexa app and started from scratch. Pic 1 is the entry on the Variables page for my ISY Console UI. It appears on the ISY Portal as Pic 2. It appears on the Alexa app as Pic 3. Note that the description is nothing like yours, it's the same name on all three, yet yours says ISY State Variable Address. I sense that I'm missing a step. I read something about "exposing" the variable, is there this step or some other step I'm missing? I don't know if it matters, but I am running UI and Firmware 4.7.3. I see there's a 4.7.5, but doesn't appear widely adopted yet. One thing I have not done is cycle the ISY. Mitch

I may have found an important clue to what's going wrong, last paragraph But first, I definitely did remember to do "discover devices" before and it showed up in the devices list on Alexa app as it should. Most definitely it was a variable defined as a Motion sensor, and as a "state variable" on the ISY Console. To start from scratch, I deleted the device from ISY Portal, and did a "discover devices" fully expecting nothing to happen since it doesn't tell you that it notes that devices have been deleted, and checked Alexa app to verify that the device was gone, and it was. I re-added it it, see pic 1. I went to the online Alexa.amazon.com and the Alexa app and verified that it re-appeared as a motion sensor variable, and it did, see pic 2 and 3. But when going to create a routine, and selecting "when this happens", then "Smart Home" where the doggone thing should appear, it just doesn't, see pic 4. I even removed it from the ISY and re-installed it, and nothing appears in the Smart Home Alexa list on the app when making a routine. See pic 5 and pic 6 though for a clue that something's wrong. This is what you get when on the Alexa app you go to "All Devices" (pic 5) and select the motion sensor, and when you touch the GEAR ICON upper right you get pic 6. I see that the descriptions says "Motion (variable)" no doubt because that's what I named it on the ISY Console, but the "Type" is "Other"on the Alexa app. Should that say "Motion Sensor" as type since that's what's selected on the ISY page (Pic 1)?? If so, why doesn't it?

I did confirm that it is designated as a Motion Sensor on the ISY Portal. Can you show a shot of you "When this happens", which button you select (I assume it would appear under "Smart Home", and what it looks like there? See screenshot on computer of the ISY Portal definition and its definition on the ISY console.

Incidentally, the whole range of my Insteon Devices is there which is handy. I don't know why my August lock is there magically, but I like it. I just programmed a routine to turn on a local radio station when the door is unlocked.

I'm stuck again. I finally got the Variable to appear as a motion sensor device (#1). Clicking this produces this screen (#2). I proceed to the Routine definition (#3).Add new (#4). On the "when this happens" page (#5) I don't see anything about a motion sensor or variable or anything else under any of those categories. What am I doing wrong? If I click Smart Home, I get seen #6, nothing there either.

Thanks for taking the time, I see it now, I was looking on the Alexa website, I see routines are only on portable devices.

I'm mudding around in circles trying to make this work. Can you help me with the particulars? I've got my ISY Admin console, I created a variable called "motion". How do you expose it so that the ISY Portal/Alexa Echo detects the variable? My goal is to have a motion sensor detector change the variable, ISY Portal detects it, and causes Alexa to speak "Hello Mr. Burglar, Sheriff is being summoned". I assume that you'd have to manually change the variable, wait a minute, and change it back manually in that program so it's ready for another detection? The program would also do this only when the "someone's home" KPL button is on. Once I understand this, I can see this as being extremely powerful.

No way would I go cheap on Amazon's Smart Plug or any other plug that is not ISY controllable unless I absolutely know I will not need to control it. The price difference is not a meaningful one worth sacrificing functionality that might be nice to have later. I went cheap this once just because it is absolutely one that would be turned on and off in the room with its Echo Dot and nothing else. I also don't need dimming. Having said that, you can set up some simple routines for the Amazon Smart Plug, such as turning off at specific times and sunrise/sunset. Nothing like the ISY, not even close, but there's a role for the Amazon Plug here in this one situation. Has the price of the Lamplinc gone down? When I went to verify the prices, I found $24.99 for the Amazon and $49.99 for the Lamplinc. I could have sworn the Lamplinc was more in the past, maybe they're feeling the competitive price pressure. If you need dimming and ISY control, being twice the price is well worth it.

I bought an Amazon Smart Plug for $24.99 because I know that I will not need to control it with the ISY994i, and it costs less than the Insteon Lamplinc. It's a neat little device, and simple to set up. So is there in fact a way to control is from the ISY994i in case I need to have another controllable outlet and want to use the Amazon Smart Plug? I searched for inquiries on this matter in the forum, I'm kind of surprised that hasn't come up! Mitch

Very strange - maybe the light flicker I had is due to some other strange interaction with the power supply on the UPS, triggering enough noise on the system to generate a signal to the Insteon dimmer switch on that circuit. Simple question - how does one look to see what insteon commands are being sent in the past x minutes? I could turn off all breakers except the light flickering circuit and the ISY994i's circuit and observe the traffic.

PLM is not plugged into the UPS, didn't even try since I'm aware that it wouldn't work. At least for my UPS (APC model) the ISY994i definitely causes this strange behavior in my system. The only explanation I can think of is that the current draw from the ISY's transformer somehow causes sudden quick current draws and the flickering. It's exactly the same kind of flicker you see when your AC unit or even refrigerator kicks in. Is it normal for the Tx and Rx lights to flicker in a regular pattern, like a heartbeat, when there is no Insteon traffic? Mitch

Some months ago I started noticing that two sets of ceiling lights in the house on two different circuits, using Insteon dimmer switches, would flicker intermittently,. just a fraction of a second dimming, then normal. Very annoying. I found the time today to try to track down the cause by isolating one of the flickering light circuits and starting up other circuits one at a time to identify the offending device that's causing the flickering. I narrowed it down to the ISY994i - flicker stops when unplugged! I plugged it in again, unplugged the cable to the PLM, no change, flicker returned. I unplugged it from the network cable to the ethernet switch - no change! I unplugged it completely again and the flickering resolved. Well some months ago I had a power surge that trashed some Insteon switches so I got scared and get two uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) for a desktop computer at one location and at the wiring cabinet, and a whole home surge protector, and plugged in critical items such as my Apple Airport for protection into the UPS. I figured why not also plugged the ISY994i transformer into the UPS. So I tried unplugging it and instead plugging it into an unprotected outlet and the problem light flickering elsewhere went away! Everything's fine now. Is there some weird incompatibility of the ISY994i power supply or the ISY994i being unhappy with power coming through a UPS? Sure seems that way. I was initially concerned that there was a problem with the ISY994i because the frequency of the flicker of the Rx Tx LEDs is not too different from the flicker of the lights on the lighting circuit. Is this flicker normal? See video. Mitch

I reviewed the link you provided, Brian, I bet it is a power supply issue. I have lost many an Insteon switch to power surges with thunderstorms, I recently installed a whole-home surge protector that is supposed to sacrifice itself to absorb the load, but it's still working so enough must have slipped through to the 2413S PLM to do it in. Or it just died. By the way, the green light on it is lit and looks normal. Going to Smarthome. I might take a crack at the power supply repair later to have a spare.

Sorry I meant to point this fact out: Yes the ISY994i boots up normally, only the leftmost blue LED is on and not flashing. Inquiries to it from the Console (and iPhone app) produce a momentary flash of other LEDs which I believe is normal. I have restarted the PLM well before ISY. The PLM diagnostics shows the PLM is active, I forget the exact wording. The PLM table comes back empty. I will look at the link provided, thanks. It's enough of a PITA to not have the ISY to justify spending $79.99 to zero in on this and get it going.

Was away and returned to find my ISY994i wasn't processing programs and cannot control lights from the Console. I suspect a lightning strike/surge. I do have a backup of the ISY but everything works OK except each and every device in my system is inactive on the console (a million "OK" buttons to touch to be sure). Restore of the Modem does not work from the Console. I did a factory reset and tried again, no go - failed restore message. However, Diagnostics says it is communicating with it. Before I replace it, any other ideas to bring things to life? Could it in fact by the ISY? If it is dead, what is the correct procedure to install a new one? Restore Modem? Anything else? Restore Devices also? I do lack a basic understand of what the division of labor is between the modem and the ISY. Thanks!

I'm sorry, I'm a little foggy on how to do this. If anyone has time to outline it and get me to understand I'd appreciate it. What I want to understand is this - take for example my stair lights. There are two circuits with two switches each but I always control them all at the same time. I have a scene set up to turn them on and off with any of the switches as a controller to go to 10%. I also have a program that turns them all on at sunset and off again at sunrise. What I want to do is have a scene that turns them on via a program to go to 20% at a half hour before sunset. So how do I make a separate scene that the program triggers to set them all to 20% without colliding with the scene that causes each switch to trigger the scene to set them all to 10%? I foresee the switches now causing the scene to go to 20% after I make this new scene incorrectly. As you can see I lack a fundamental understanding of all the settings available when setting up a scene, where you click the scene itself and the individual devices in the scene there's a whole selection of individual settings for the devices and a copy button which I don't understand. I'm seeing that this thread could be very useful to newbies. I'm not a total newbie, just new to this particular aspect.

Thanks again, another related question on Scenes. When you click on the scene name in the console, each member of the scene is present with its own ramp rate and on level. Is this to determine what happens when the whole scene is turned on with the ISY? And each item in the scene container, when highlighted shows itself in red and the other in blue. Is this in order to determine what happens when each is manually turned on and what to tell the others to do completely differently, if you wish, from the Scene attributes mentioned above? If I am on the right track here, then in order to have different programs to do different things to the scene from when you press the switches, or to have different intensities with different names, you'd create a scene whose global attributes are as you desire? Mitch