Goose66

If you look in the ISY Log, you can see commands for devices listed, and the commands have codes like DON, DOF, DFON, DFOF, etc. When you are writing programs and putting in a control condition, "If Control 'Dining Light' is switched On" and "If Control 'Dining Light' is switched Fast On" are two distinct conditions. Note, however, that both of them will result in the status of the Dining Light being "On", so the condition "If Status 'Dining Light' is On" in a program will be true as a result of both commands. It is important to understand the difference between how Control conditions and Status conditions work in programming. Commands and status are two distinct things in the ISY.

Actually a "Fast On," to use the ISY and Insteon vernacular. The code for this in the log would be "DFON."

Ok, then I can see why my instructions were confusing. I agree that you want the A button in "Always On" mode and you should put it in a separate scene as a Responder so that your program can turn it off. It doesn't have to be in there by its "lonesome" - I have some scenes with multiple KPL buttons in there as responders.

Yes, I am equally confused that "If 'Outdoor Garage Door-Closed' is switched Off" works and "If 'Outdoor Garage Door-Closed' Status is Off" doesn't. That doesn't make any sense.

Isn’t the A button the On button? Maybe that’s where I’m confusing you. I converted my only 6 button to an 8 button when I moved a year ago, so I My be forgetting how it shows up in the ISY.

In Insteon, the settings for each device in a scene (present levels and ramp rates) only work with an On command from the controllers. A Fast-On command (double-tap of the controller button or switch) sends a Fast-On to all of the devices in the scene. Similarly, the Off and Fast-Off commands send Off and Fast-Off to the devices in the scene, respectively. Therefore, if you put button A on a 6-button KPL as a controller in your scene, pressing the A should set all the devices to the preset-levels (0 in this case) regardless of the previous status of the button or the devices, since the A-button is stuck in Always On mode, and pressing the F button (bottom button) should turn all the devices in the scene off, since the F-button is stuck in Always Off mode. Are all the devices you are wanting to turn off dimmers?

I too hoped that the Room function was going to be something passed through the API - we already have Room setup in the portal, so just needed the Echo to supply it. Also in the announcement, if I recall, was the ability of Alexa to do complex tasks when i say "Goodnight." Is that in the API or is that going to be something done through the Alexa app like the room groups? Again, here's hoping it's in the API.

The Else branch is hardly ever usable in ISY programming. Your original program is a case in point. This program is going to be triggered 1) at 10:30 PM and 2) every time the status of "Outdoor Garage Door-Closed" changes. So if the garage door is opened or closed at any time other than exactly 10:30:00.0000 PM, you are going to get a message (in addition to getting the message at 10:30 PM if the garage is open). You want something like Techman suggested with the message sent in the Then branch, except "And Status 'Outdoor Garage Door-Closed' is Off".

Maybe. AFAIK, on a 6-button KPL the On and Off Buttons are always in Always On/Off mode, so controlling the light on the button probably won’t work nor is it necessary to have the On button (button A) always send an On command. If the scenes are setup in the ISY and properly written to the devices, setting the devices to Off should work in the scene. Try restornig each device to ensure the links are written to each. The KPL button should be a controller in the scene and not a responder. Alternatively, sInce you are running a program anyway, why not turn off the devices in the program? The program should read “If device.button A is switched On” to get the proper trigger. Make your changes in the Then section. To change a KPL button LED state in a program, create a scene with the KPL button as a responder only. Then set the scene to off at the end of the Then section in your program.

Is that 5-button controller the old table top controller? I could never get either of mine to work with anything short of simple device on and off, and they died rather quickly (less than two years). I would suggest going to a newer 6-button or 8-button KPL that is dual-band. It may give you more reliability and work better with Insteon scenes.

The the LampLinc is a much cheaper solution and would allow you to use a conventional brass floor outlet with a screw cover, in case you ever need to sale your house.

Is the outlet underneath furniture? I connect the floor outlets in my living room via a 1 foot 3 prong extension cord to a LampLinc that sits under my couch or table.

Lucky for me my lifestyle doesn't include the need for a "lock down." Seriously, if someone wanted to listen in on my conversations, it would be a heck of a lot easier to stick a suction cup microphone to a window than it would be to hack my Alexa. Plus I don't often blurt out passwords to my financial accounts or anything in the house, anyway. I am certain far more personal information about me was obtained in the recent Equifax hack than could be obtained from listening to me watch The Tick on Amazon Video in my living room.

I'm not sure native integration into Alexa is such a great thing, anyway. Especially for things like individual light bulbs. What am I going to do - every time it's time to go to bed, do I say "Alexa, turn off the Hall Ceiling Can 1," "Alexa, turn off Hall Ceiling Can 2," "Alexa, turn off Hall Ceiling Can Thre...," well you get it. Voice control of individual devices is a cool trick to show your friends and all (and, yes, I know about Groups), but in practicality there is a limited number of things regarding home automation that I want to do with voice. The majority of these are multi-step, composite functions that may involve lights, security, AV settings, etc. Having the ISY accessible to the Alexa through the Smarthome 2.0 API and ISY Portal is ideal for me, because I can setup the scenes, programs, conditions, etc. I want to control on the ISY and make them accessible to both buttons on KPLs and specific voice commands that I determine. So I can say "Alexa, turn on the Spa" or press the "Spa Mode" keypad button and I get the same complex mixture of pool equipment control (now through my new node server), outdoor lighting, audio output to outdoor speakers, and the like. Try doing that with some of the items being native to Alexa and some not - it's too hard. And once Amazon releases multi-step programming in October, "Alexa, goodnight" and "Alexa, good morning" will allow me to link a goodnight and goodmorning ISY program to set conditions the way I want while Alexa reads me my calendar entries or the news. Again, try that with some things being controlled natively and some not - it's just too much to maintain!

Amazon Alexa devices don't send anything to the cloud service until you say the "Alexa" or wakeup keyword.

Thanks for clarifying. For me, the deciding factor for the ISY over Insteon Hub, HomeKit, SmartThings, and several others is the fact that it can operate independent of an Internet connection. Connectivity to cloud services (like the ISY Portal) is great, and I wouldn't even mind if the ISY Admin console was moved to the cloud. But having the core functionality depend on connectivity to the cloud (and/or mobile devices, in the case of HomeKit) just doesn't make sense for me.

Comparing ISY 994i with the Insteon Mobile App is comparing apples and oranges. The ISY 994i is more comparable to the Insteon Hub. The Insteon Hub plugs directly into the wall and provides an interface between the Insteon Mobile App from any location and Insteon devices in your home. The ISY 994i requires an Insteon PLM and a subscription to the ISY Portal to do the same thing, plus that doesn't include the app. You have a couple of choices for mobile applications (MobiLinc, eKeypad, Agave) and they each have associated costs. There is an administration module that comes with the ISY 994i, but it is more functional than pretty, must run on a PC or Mac with the JRE installed, and is more for configuration than control use (It would get very low WAF scores for a comtrol app). What you get from the ISY 994i is the ability to integrate many other, non-standard devices and ecosystems into you home automation system through ZWave and Zigbee modules, electricity monitoring, a basic programming capability, network resources, node servers in the beta 5.0.X firmware, and the like. But setting this up and maintaining it requires a hobbyist/technologist/programmer skill set and may not be right for everyone. The Insteon Hub is more plug-n-play, allows control and integration of Insteon dimmers, switches, outlets, thermostats, cameras, and the like, and comes with builtin mobile app and Internet portal capability. It has some integration capability with a few brands, like Amazon Alexa, FirstAlert, Sonos, etc., but is otherwise closed and doesn't allow custom integration (it may support IFTTT, though). It supports more of the latest Insteon devices, like the Motion Sensor II, for example, and it has better troubleshooting tools for your Insteon network.

So many new ceiling fans come with fancy DC control circuitry for the motors and lights that provides remotely-controlled, energy-efficient, multi-speed, quiet operation. But it also eliminates the ability to control with external controllers save the remotes that come with the fan. Anybody done any work on ways to get these types of fans integrated into an ISY994i-based home automation system? The one I have does not have a removable control unit (at least not without cracking open the motor housing). It doesn't even allow separate, external control of the light. It appears to at least allow the fan to return to its previous settings when power is removed and reapplied. I can live without speed control of the fan in the automation system, but I sure would like to be able to control that light separately. The remote is RF and not IR, as well. I am thinking I may have to buy an additional remote (at $50) and then hack it with a Insteon universal module.

Well, that certainly explains it. Back to the box o' crap from the basement... Thanks!

HELP! Just moved to a new house, plugged in my 2413S PLM, connected it to my ISY 994i through the same CAT 5e cable (I think) that it was connected through at the other house, and got no lights. At my old house, the ISY 994i had an external power supply that was connected to a UPS, but my understanding is that the PLM should provide power, right? Is there a special cable to allow it to power the ISY 994i or should any CAT 5e cable work?

I don't know that these include the same home automation features of the Echo/Dot or are compatible with the Smarthome API. It should let you use the UDI "Izzy" Skill, however. It would be useful if these would send a room identifier or specific unit identifier which could be tied to a room in the setup of the Izzy skill. EDIT: OK, I think I am wrong on this. Alexa Voice Service ("AVS" - what Nucleus and other non-Amazon products utilize) can use the Smart Home API, so cloud enabled devices like the ISY can be discovered and controlled. However, it can't do discovery and control of local devices (e.g., Wemo, Hue, Wink, Smarthings) like the Echo and Dot can.

+1

A couple of more tests between 7:30 and 7:32 EDT: Tried issuing the command "decrease the downstairs thermostat temperature" with both the thermostat off and the thermostat in Cooling mode (both those modes set by successful voice command). The response to the decrease command was always "I can only set the temperature..." regardless of the mode.

Sorry for coming to the party late - my PLM died the day before I upgraded to the V2 API. Anyway, new PLM arrived and I started testing. When I say "Alexa, increase the downstairs thermostat temperature" it says " I can only set the temperature between 32 and 104 degrees." If I say "Alexa, set the downstairs thermostat temperature to 76 degrees", it says "downstairs thermostat is an auto mode, aiming for 76 degrees" and sets the cooling set point to 76, leaving the heating settling at 68. This happens for both my Venstar thermostats and my Smarthome thermostats: 2 x Venstar w/ Insteon Adapter 1 Smarthome Insteon Thermostat Auto Mode, 78 Cool, 68 Heat Farenheit Tested between 7:00 and 7:25 EDT on Friday, July 1

Sorry - didn't read the last post. I will signup.