jsu1995

Another vote for the Elk system. Out of curiosity, what are your reasons for not wanting to go with the Elk?

That was going to be my suggestion -- sensors are cheap and you should have enough conductors since you used Cat-6 cable. As far as the two locations with the pairs used up; is there at least one conductor spare there? if so, you should be able to get by with powering all of the sensors from the same voltage source and only having the two data lines separate. You'll likely have to reference the ground to both hosts, but that shouldn't cause any issues.

That's awesome! Nice work, Xathros. . . . Although, I think you meant 300W (not 800W) for the defrost limits.

True. My GEM assumption was also based on the fact I know he has one and is always trying to find ways to control his ISY devices with it. Anyway, I'm am too interested in a similar program solution and am sad that you can't weigh in since you seem to be pretty knowledgeable about ISY programs.

Since his thread title states "Energy Monitoring," I would assume he is using readings from the GEM to determine power consumption at any point in time.

Do you not remember your old program, or are you purposely not posting it in order to see if someone has a fresh idea with a totally different approach?

I took mine with me when we moved three years ago. Thankfully, I only had about 6 Switchlincs a couple Keypadlincs and the rest were just plug-in modules. The system has since grown in our new house and is up to 9 Switchlincs, 15 Keypadlincs, and 4 Fanlincs. We don't plan on ever moving from this house, but if we did, I'm sure I'd still take most of it with me. I say "most"' because I might consider leaving a few items that may add significant value... like the keypadlinc in the main house that controls the two garage doors of the detached shop (via a couple of IOlincs). In that case, I'd also leave the Switchlinc that controls the shop lights. It seems that anyone would see full control of the electronics in the detached building as a nice feature and may, therefore, be worth me losing the $200 that those four items cost. On a side note, my entire Elk system would be coming with me also. I've got way too much money in that system to be left to someone that probably would never even arm it anyway. I'd get some cheap panel/keypad to throw in it's place and be done with it.

I have attached a complete list of IP/RS232 commands that are for the following Pioneer receivers: VSX-30 (RS232 only) VSX-31 (RS232 only) VSX-32 VSX-33 VSX-1120 SC-35 SC-37 I was specifically looking for the ability to set discrete volume levels on my VSX-32, and my problem is now solved with the help of this thread and the attached document. Thanks. Pioneer IP-RS232 Commands.pdf

I also use a Grace Tuner as one of our whole-house music sources and love it! It probably serves 90% of our listening throughout the house. (The other 10% is stuff streamed from our iPhone via an AirPort express when we want to listen to something more specific.) If you do go with a Grace Audio tuner, I would recommend spending a little extra for the full-size unit (GDI-IRDT200) instead of the Solo. It has a few extra features that are nice including digital stereo output, SD card slot, USB connection (to external drive), FM tuner, and a wired Ethernet port (in addition to Wi-Fi). You can also play music directly from a DLNA server (like a Synology NAS). A word of warning: the interface on the unit (both front panel and IR remote) is kind of crappy and needs a lot of work (in my opinion), but the free app is pretty nice. It's great to be listening to Pandora throughout the house and being able to open the app when you hear a song you like and immediately see who it is and give it a 'thumbs up' right there from your phone. Also, the app gives you easy access to all of your favorites -- this can be a mixture of stations from FM, Pandora, or other internet sources. I know this doesn't answer the OP's question of getting the music outside, but it does give you a great way to control some of the music that is fed to the system.

I've never had a problem with Elk inputs triggering programs. I have used both alarm and non-alarm inputs with very little lag (if any) in program execution.

That's an interesting take on the device limit. Are you sure that it applies to each individual Insteon device? I was under the assumption that the 25 device limit was only for IR/IP/RS32 devices in the base remote application and that the ISY module would cover anything attached to it. If the device limit includes each item controlled by the ISY, that that would be a stupid restriction... and a reason that I (like you) certainly would not purchase it. Does anyone know whether the $25 ISY module covers all devices that are part of the ISY?

I have been using eKeypad Pro, which has a customizable 'Favorites' screen, but I'm guessing you'd want more options to change the GUI than it offers. Have you looked at iRule? I just now started using it for IR stuff, but there is an ISY module you can add (for more money, of course). The customization appears to be pretty nice with options for custom buttons (including separate "pressed" icon), and you can place them on the screen(s) wherever you like. You can even do "drawers" that pull out from the sides for additional features without going to another page.

If the rep you spoke to is correct and that the reverse is controlled via an RF communication to a seperate module at the fan motor, then you might be able to leave the Fanlinc in place and wire the factory RF module to a circuit by itself without hooking up the wires that go to the fan/light (just wire nut them individually for safety). In theory, when you use the remote to reverse the fan, a signal would still be sent to the module at the fan via RF. It's all theoretical, of course, but it may be worth a try and keep you from having to temporarily swap out your Fanlinc every time you want to reverse the fan.

What is the specific problem you're having? Do you not have a remote and am trying to figure out how you can reverse it? Or do you want the ability to reverse the fan via your ISY instead of the remote?

The RF module must me using some power-line communication to a relay in the motor housing that switches the motor windings. The instructions say that the fan has to be running (power to it) in order for the reverse function to work, so that would make sense.