andrew77

Hi Paul, Javi pointed me back to your post here. I have everything running fine but I mentioned I'd like to be able to walk into the theatre room and say "Alexa, let's watch a movie" and have the appropriate theatre A/V gear turn on to the right settings and have the lights set to the right scene for watching or pausing a movie (Movie Pause would have the same scene just brighten a bit) Although I've learned quite a bit since getting the Echo Dot I'm not sure what you mean by Jimbos Nodeserver although I think what you are able to do is exactly what I'd like to accomplish. Hi Javi, I'm not sure what you mean by 'assigning the program in the portal as A/V? I looked around the ISY Portal and I don't see anything like that. Am I looking in the wrong spot? Drew

Hi Hurting2Ride The three kitchen lights (I've grouped them in Alexa iPhone app as Kitchen) turn on and off at the same time. The ramp rates are a little different for each of the lights but I assume that's due to my settings for each and the fact that some are LED and others are still tungsten. If anyone thinks of a way to link the two scenes (Alexa and Insteon) that would make this even better. I don't even know where to start. I would love to sit down and say, Alexa Play a Movie and have the lights go to the 'watch movie' setting as well as have the theatre equipment turn on at the same time. Drew

I have Harmony Hub activity (Turn on Apple TV Downstairs, Turn on Blu ray Downstairs, etc.) And I have corresponding ISY scenes that I trigger with a remote or voice command. Can I 'link' the two to be able to say, "Alexa, let's watch a movie" and have it trigger the appropriate harmony hub activity and the matching ISY scene? Drew

Hi Javi thats exactly what I was thinking earlier this week. I haven’t used Groups yet but I will pick away at it this weekend. Drew EDIT: while drinking coffee and screwing around in the Alexa app... mission accomplished. Open Alexa app on iphone Add Group select all lights you want in aforementioned Group Done

Hi guys, Just giving a little nudge asking if anyone knows why I can't brighten/dim some scenes and if theres a workaround. Drew

Just a check in. I have pretty much everything running perfectly thanks to everyone that posted here. Thank you. I have found that when I ask Alexa to brighten a scene she says "____ doesn't support that". Is this because she can't alter a scene made in the ISY? If so, is there a way around that? I'd like to be able to activate a scene and then tell her to brighten it or dim it. Drew

Hi Javi, this is good news. Thank you for the post. When you say the wiring will be the same you are confirming I hook the ground to ground and the other wire to IR IN? As far as length goes the wires from the back of the Hub will be less than three feet easily. Drew

My bad. I had the "Control TV and Receivers" selected on one of the APPLE tvs. Still, any thoughts on if thats the way to wire the hub to the connecting blocks? Drew

Hi guys, Just got the Hub set up. I have it sitting in front of the gear and it triggered everything. But it also triggered the other Apple tv4 and the other receiver even though they weren't in the Harmony Activity. Thoughts? Also, I'm wondering if I have to direct wire it through the 2.5mm mini mono jacks in the back of the hub to the connecting blocks (I have one for upstairs and one for down. Heres the diagram of the blocks. I assume I'll hook Ground to sleeve and tip to IR IN as I don't think I need to send 12V into the back of the hub. Again, thoughts before I undertake the wiring? Drew

I really like the Apple TV 4 Siri remote for a lot of that stuff. I'm just wanting to voice activate the gear on and off mainly. And to switch between Harmony activities. Volume etc I'm okay with. Did it work fine for that stuff?

Excellent, I'll start to look around

When I get the Hub will I still need the remotes? Won't I just give Alexa voice commands to start up the gear? Are the 2.5 mm plugs stereo looking plugs or mono looking plugs? (I realize I'm not using them for audio but the IR stuff only has one black band on the plugs) I imagine I can get some connectors at any electronic supply store. Drew

This may be a stupid question but could I then just plug each IR connecting block in to the back of the Hub and just leave the hub in the closet as well? So that when I say "Play Apple TV Downstairs" it would blast IR to the blocks, in turn blasting the IR bugs on the gear? Drew

I've been reading up on the Hub and it only seems to have two IR inputs in the back. I have two IR connecting blocks with four or five IR blasters each. All the gear is in one room except the projector downstairs and the TV upstairs. How would I hook this all up to the Hub? (I want to be sure I can do this before I buy more gear. Sometimes these upgrades lead to three or four different purchases before the project works ?) Drew

Hi Paul, I just have the Harmony Touch and the Harmony Ultimate One, not the hub. Don't I need the hub to make this work? Drew

Hi guys, I'm new to Alexa but I've got all my Insteon lighting and scenes etc running great. My question is if I can control my home theatre stuff with voice commands. All my A/V gear is in a media closet downstairs. I have two Harmony Remotes (one for upstairs, one for downstairs) that that I point at IR receivers that send the signal to a IR connecting block. This in turn is connected to many IR blasters that trigger my apple TVs, blu ray, receivers, etc. and turn on specific activities like Watch Apple TV or Watch Blu ray. Is there any way with the gear I have to make this voice activated through the Echo Dot? (Or if I buy a little more gear?) Drew

I'll plug away at this to see if I can be more exact with the issue.

Thank you Paul, Worked like a charm. Some devices seem to be able to accept the command "Dim 20%" where others don't. Anyone have that pop up before?

This works great. When I ask Alexa to turn on theatre room, she always says "I'm sorry, I can't find a device called T-eatre Room" (I pronounce it properly) Any ideas?

I have the Big Room off scene working but I have to say "Turn on the Living room off" If I say Turn the living room off she says okay and does nothing. Right now I'm making a scene called Living room that will have all the devices in it. Then I'll tell Alexa to turn it off and just trigger that scene. Is there an easier way? Drew

Hi Larry, thanks for the reply. If I understand you correctly I should make a scene called Big Room Off in the ISY GUI and then trigger the scene from Alexa. That makes sense. You've touched on something I've been wondering about since I bought the echo. Can I turn on my tv gear by saying Watch TV? (I have apple tv, blu ray, receivers, projectors< etc, all hooked up with IR that I trigger with two Harmony remotes) If so, what gear do I have to buy for that if possible? Drew

Okay, I misunderstood then when he said Alexa allows this. Is there a way to input the names to do this? Or do i have to create scenes solely for voice commands? Would Routines be the best bet? I guess I'm hoping to be able to label the devices in the Portal with subsets like Big Room and be able to shut off sections of the house. i.e. Alexa Shut off the basement would then shut off Library, Basement Hall, Theatre room, Various lamps, all of which are labelled Basement under the room setting in the Portal. Drew

Hi guys, I've tried to implement this idea. I'd like to say "Alexa, shut off the big room" or "Shut Off the basement lights" and have all the lights shut off but she keeps saying there are many devices named this... In the portal I've named the devices like this for all lights in the big room Room=Big Room and then for each device Big Room Ceiling Big Room Wall Sconces etc... Did I misunderstand the post I quoted here? Drew

I'm finding Alexa App on the iPhone doesnt seem to update with the input I'm putting in on the ISY Portal Is there a way to refresh or speed that up? I' also lost on how to get Alexa to trigger scenes. I keep getting her saying "I don't know..." Drew

Hi guys, I have everything set up and I'm having marginal success. I can say "Turn on Theatre room" and it asks if I meant "Theatre room" then it turns it on or off. If I ask it to turn it on at a certain percentage it always says "Sorry, I couldn't find a device called "T-eatr Room" I also tried to tell it to trigger a scene but it didn't work. If I tell it to shut off Andrew's Office it asks if I meant Theatre room. (Theatre room was the first device I entered if that helps) In the iPhone app all I see is theatre room. Do I have to 'push' the portal input to the app somehow? This is what I've typed in. Am I doing something wrong?