io_guy

I've tried the Venstar, ecobee and Honeywell web portals, they're all very similar in look and functionality. telljcl, Your "double press" issue with the Venstar may be the screen timeout. The Venstar dims the screen a little after a certain amount of idle time (adjustment), after which your first press just wakes the screen. Honeywell does the same thing (the older H touchscreens turned the screen off). It's also good to remember that these are resistive touchscreens (not capacitive like a phone), so their press quality sucks in general. The Honeywell and ecobee I tried were no better. One huge advantage of the Venstar is that you (Venlink) connects locally, which is why I switched to it. The ecobee, Honeywell and Nest (once they get working APIs) are all cloud based.

Yea, I saw you were mentioning a 9V battery for power. I'm doubting it will last very long, they typically are rated around 500 mAh. You're likely pulling a couple watts with the CAI and sensors.

You need 5V to supply the 1-wire interface, 3 won't cut it. When I used a CAI I added an external 5V supply because it was quite unstable pulling off the terminal. I also had to add pull resistors at each sensor location - the bit-banging is a little fussier for signal quality than the hardware 1-wire chips.

Another option is a Raspberry Pi and a Sheepwalk module. http://www.sheepwalkelectronics.co.uk/index.php?cPath=22 These are hardware based, not bit bangers. A lot of use use the RPI2, but the RPI3 is also available for massive networks.

I've debated this myself. I would likely leave the system in place and tell potential buyers that I'd remove it if desired. I don't see value in moving 5 year old switches and dimmers to a new place. Especially since if I buy new I get I2CS & dual band.

For me, the interface is a far 2nd to functionality. The big thing that keeps me from even trying another solution is that everything new that comes out seems to rely on the cloud. I'm not budging until something comes out that is non-cloud and has the ability for me to write native modules.

All my subscriptions were lost as well. I've re-subscribed to the AutomationShack forums but I don't seem to be getting alert emails. I've also lost moderator privileges to those forums.

if you have a program or app that is to take actions based to current events, you don't want it reacting events that happened hours previous or days previous. A simple example might be an action that happens WHEN a door is opened , as opposed to IF a door opened I don't see the issue here. On connection, your program's code should just ignore the first value change, since it's current status. I have a ton of programs that do this. You could also pull original values via REST and compare. There's 100 ways to skin this cat.

Don, Can set_alarm be used on all cameras or just MJPEG? What about 264 (both previous and new in-house firmware)?

I use two IOLincs for my garage and an EZIO8SA. All working great.

I felt the same way however things have changed a little. When the original repraps came out they were pretty much printed plastic and meccano. Nowdays, to get bigger print areas and higher accuracy, they are extruded aluminum, steel, wood, etc. The amount of printing is quite a bit less. My original reprap was "ok". But when I started using our commercial unit at work I couldn't go back. The newer home-user models (with much less plastic) provide much improved accuracy (and the heated bed helps a lot too). Don't believe the hype on .1mm@.012mm. This is simply the resolution of your stepper - the accuracy of a home extruder will not get you near that range for any consistent period, especially without a heated enclosure.

The Printrbot is also a good option for a home unit. I've built several of the original style and the new "simple" looks great (and cheap). I would recommend making sure the unit you choose supports ABS and not just PLA. PLA is very brittle, especially for parts that see a little flex.

They either have a special NDA with Nest for their beta API or they Reverse Engineered the cloud connect like the other HA companies did. I see a huge number of requests for UDI to make modules for various devices here on the forum. What everyone needs to remember is the ROI. If 100 ISY users purchase a Nest module @ $40, that's a whopping $4000 for ISY. It's doesn't make sense financially for them to do this. If you look at other HA companies, they rely on 3rd party developers to fill that void. In my opinion, UDI's time/resources would be better spent creating an API interface of their own to allow 3rd party developers to more seamlessly interact with the ISY. ----------------------------------------- Anyway, If you want to connect your ColorTouch, here's an option: viewforum.php?f=103

If your sensor makes its way back into the house you could use a Raspberry Pi and OWLink.

My T5900 arrived and am talking to it without any issues. Will release VenLink by the end of the weekend.

Good news. Venstar have gotten back to me and are shipping me a development unit. Once I get it I should have "VenLink" up and running within a couple days. I'll provide access to all items within the API - VenLink will set each of the values as variables within the ISY. All control commands to the Venstar can be sent directly from the ISY, but I'll also include a more user-friendly way through VenLink.

I've contacted Venstar about getting a test unit. If they'll supply, I'll write a Link program.

This can also be done with DSCLink since version 1.1.4. There is a repeater option in the config to send all DSC alarm data though the relay server.

Odd. I just grabbed it from my comp again (didn't close the browser), not sure why it didn't post properly.

There is no iTach receiver for ISY. The only way I know is using a GC-IRE connected to a computer running GCLink (what I'm currently doing). I personally wouldn't use Insteon IR modules for anything (but that's just one guy's opinion).

An IP2IR (or WF2IR if you want Wi-Fi) receives commands from the network module of the ISY and sends out IR. You can setup virtually any type/number of IR commands. To use it, you would write an ISY program. When it sees the "Night" press, it sends a network resource. I do the exact thing in my setup. There's a couple topics on the forum describing how to set the iTach up. There's a little learning curve, but once you understand it, the device is awesome. viewtopic.php?f=20&t=5087 viewtopic.php?f=20&t=11938 Receiving is tough, because of hardware placement. The Insteon solution is the easiest in terms of placement (power lines are everywhere) but I see a lot of people having trouble with it). Ideally the IR could be wired directly to the ISY and just use the ISY's IR receiver.

Any chance you can still return the unit? If so go pick up an iTach IP2IR. Way more flexible and works great.

What was the reason you switched? Would you mind sharing a few pros and cons for CAI vs Pi? The CAI uses the processors IO bus for software one-wire support over likely i2C or GPIO (this may be incorrect but I can't find a maxim chip on the thing anywhere). For me, this was unreliable - the sensors would sometimes not be detected on startup and my wire lengths were limited. At the time you also needed a separate program (WCLink) to connect it to the ISY. This has changed with the latest firmware, but it's still a little ugly to handle. The CAI board is tapped out for memory and new features. Since switching to the Pi (must be close to a year ago now) and a hardware controller, I have had zero failures with the system and that is with a one-wire network twice the size. A hardware one-wire controller on the Pi can use virtually any sensor, not just temperature. You also then have a Pi to run anything else on. Personally I run about a dozen home automation programs on mine, linking various devices in my house.

The always on computer can be a 2W raspberry pi. No cloud required to access directly, DSCLink uses the TPI. No system, cloud or TPI can disarm your system without a passcode.

For $125 you could buy an EVL3 and Raspberry Pi and install DSCLink. Then you can have full control of your system from the ISY and the cloud. Same thing can be done with the Honeywell.