dbwarner5

also assumes that the xbox is plugged into an isy controlled outlet and that the child cant unplug it and plug it in elsewhere. Router would be a safer way to go. But to build on Mr Bills thoughts, you can easily have the timer program when it ends, disable the program / switch until the next morning.

also look at this wiki https://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=ISY_Portal_Amazon_Echo_Integration_V3#State_Variables Two sections: State Variables and ISY can talk to you. Holler back if you continue to have trouble

@RichTJ99 For me the most strait forward method is to have Alexa trigger an ISY program either directly, "turn on xyz", or through a simple routine that turns on a variable". I have a ton of Alexa routines, but after a while they get hard to track / read/ edit etc. so I am slowly migrating everything I can to the ISY where editing is easier etc. For example, at night, I simply say to Alexa. "goodnight" and that triggers a variable which triggers ISY to run a whole series of integrated programs, arming security, slowly changing lights that mesh with my nighttime routine etc and step up automatic morning routines such as alarm clocks, coffee lighting, master bedroom fireplace etc. Much easier in ISY.

Great.. for programming, since you only have 8 buttons and 8 zones, you can write a set of programs that if button A is pressed, and the zone is off, then turn it on, otherwise, turn it off. That way the landscaper can turn them on and off easily.

yes, you would need an X10 transiever to receive the x10 signal from the remote and then propagate it into your house wiring system, of which then the EZFLORA would pick it up just like any Insteon type signal. You would need to set up the x10 codes appropriately. It wasn't clear what 8 button remote control you were referring to above, but if its an Insteon 8 button Remote Linc device, you can easily program any of those buttons to turn on each zone for x minutes and then turn it off..... In this manner you could get 8 zones directly. An alternative programing technique if you have more zones is to have certain buttons cycle through a few zones.. with one button as a dedicated all off. If you have 7 or less, then you could still have a dedicated off button and each other button would turn on zones 1-7. The landscaper would just have to be using the remote, somewhat close enough to the house to ensure the signal gets picked up. I do something similar with one where I use the buttons to control the garage doors., So in the winter when out snowblowing, I can easily open and close the garage doors and that works from quite a distance out.

Good luck! I used 5 MSIs for driveway detection for many years w/o any problems. Life span was typically about 3-5 years. I have had to replace now 3 of them with MSII.One is protected, two are not. I tried putting clear nail polish across all joints etc. So far, I have had 3 fail. Likewise, I have replaced some very old X10 motion sensors inside the house is certain rooms / closets with MSII's. What a disaster that has been. Like you, I have had to write / re-write programs to get them to all to work consistently and reliably. and even then I really am never sure if they will work. Some work fine, some dont. Go figure. For the driveway, I have decided to move away from MS and go to two photoelectric beams (https://www.homedepot.com/p/SPT-Wired-Indoor-Outdoor-Photoelectric-Dual-Beam-Motion-Sensor-up-to-550-ft-Indoor-180-ft-Outdoor-15-946A/308004053?MERCH=REC-_-rv_categorypages_rr-_-NA-_-308004053-_-N) and connect them to two I/O lincs that I used to use to control garage doors (before garage door openers went to encrypted signals). May also use Insteon wireless open/close sensors for linking to ISY of which I have two that I havent installed yet as planned on two pole barn doors, but generally want to get away from batteries.

As mentioned above, you can connect any constant power line to the motion sensor shown above and micro switch, along with the micro switch sense wire to the motion sensor load wire. Then use the ISY either via programs to have the micro switch turn on the lights you want, when you want, based on schedules, sunrises, sunsets etc. I think from memory, it would be: incoming white to both Motion Sensor white and to the micro switch white. Same with black. Then the red load from the motion sensor to the sense 1 of the micro switch. The load of the micro switch would not be used. In this manner, the motion sensor should trigger the micro switch on and off, which the ISY can read and react to, however you want or need, such as turning on the other switches you want on via a program.

I bought a 100' ethernet cable for <$10 and just move my ISY around the house, plugging into wherever I have an ethernet connection. Works well for locks that are already installed and need attention etc. Just dont trip and additional advice; do this when your wife is out as they typically dont like blue cables snaking all around the house

I have three of the above. All work adequately. Having gotten the Notification Nodeserver working well on my Polyisy, I am trying to set up some programs to notify me if at anytime a lock is locked and it jams (typically when a door doesn't get closed fully), I will get a high priority notification from the Nodeserver. Notification end is all working fine. The issue is that if the lock jams, for some reason, the ISY programs will not run. There are settings for status = jammed, but they dont do anything either. Lock status is never reported to isy as jammed, so there is no way to determine it that way. Instead, I have two programs, the first one simply tells me it is locked or unlocked. And in the Then (locked response), it calls a second, disabled program that tests if the lock is actually locked and if it isn't, then it runs the high priority notification telling me that the lock is jammed. Seems simple enough. The problem is that the first program won't run if the lock jams. It only runs if the lock completes it cycle, which is stranger since the trigger is based on the lock getting a lock command not completing it. One option as a workaround is to have each of my locking programs (there are many), call the jammed lock program. This would work fine, as the first program always runs if the lock is successfully locked or unlocked. The trick is calling the jam test program consistently. While I can add that to many programs, it will not pick up a remote locking ie from Mobilinc. Again a simple workaround is to put a program into mobilinc that locks etc. vs manipulating the lock directly as a device. Anyone else have any experiences with this? Havent looked at the event viewer yet to see what is happening and why the isy isn't picking up that the lock was told to lock. Here are the programs. Lock Front Door Notification [ID 0225][Parent 020B] If ( 'Lock - Front Door' is switched Alarm Remotely Locked Or 'Lock - Front Door' is switched Alarm Key/Manually Locked Or 'Lock - Front Door' is switched Alarm Locked by Touch Or 'Lock - Front Door' is switched Alarm Locked by Keypad ) And ( 'Lock - Front Door' is not switched Alarm Key/Manually Unlocked Or 'Lock - Front Door' is not switched Alarm Remotely Unlocked Or 'Lock - Front Door' is not switched Alarm Unlocked by Keypad ) Then Set 'Notification Controller / Notify Front Door Lock' Priority Normal Set 'Notification Controller / Notify Front Door Lock' On Run Program 'Lock Front Door Jammed LD' (If). ** this is the line that would call for the jam test program, but this program doesn't trigger if the lock jams even though the if has "switched remotely locked", which I would think would trigger it regardless of the lock's completion status but doesnt, If the lock completes unlocking or locking, the program runs fine. Else Set 'Notification Controller / Notify Front Door Lock' Priority Normal Set 'Notification Controller / Notify Front Door Lock' Set Device Off Message Unlocked Set 'Notification Controller / Notify Front Door Lock' Off Lock Front Door Jammed LD - [ID 0222][Parent 020B][Not Enabled] If 'Lock - Front Door' Status is not Locked Then Set 'Notification Controller / Notify Front Door Lock' Priority High Set 'Notification Controller / Notify Front Door Lock' Set Device Off Message Jammed Set 'Notification Controller / Notify Front Door Lock' Off Wait 2 seconds Set 'Notification Controller / Notify Front Door Lock' Set Device Off Message Unlocked

Think of it this way.... the KPL button is not directly connected to the light that it is controlling. So if a program turns on the light, the KPL has no way of knowing that, since in reality they are two different devices in your system. Previously, it sounds like you had a scene where the light and the KPL were both in the scene. This created a connection to each other, so that if you turned on the KPL, the light would turn on. No problem there. However, now if you have a program turn on the light, this is an independent device from the KPL and the KPL won't turn on. To keep them in sync, you need to create a scene with just the one KPL button in it. Then your program would turn on the light, followed by turning on the KPL only scene, and hence keeping them in "sync". Hope that helps you get the general concept so you can apply it to your goals above. Here are some of my KPL buttons.. I call them all KP's to recognize them as such. Sometimes when I press one, I want the others to do certain things, so sometimes I have multiple KPLS in the same scene.

The way I handled this is when I am writing a program that needs to repeat every year, (like a birthday greeting to my wife from ISY..lol), I just put in a ORs with 5 years of dates. Its quick and easy to do when you are there writing the program as the JAVA script mimics each new line.. Yes, I still have to update it, but not for 5 years......cheers!

hmm.. interesting. My Insteon switch on one is 6 button KPL, the other is a basic Insteon dimmer switch. Yes, the Hues are dimmable downstream from them, but I never dim the Insteon switches. They are only on via a Fast On to full power. I havent had problems with these yet that I am aware of, but I agree, it would be better if these were on/offs vs dimmable. Is this what you meant? This is beyond my technical skills / knowledge. Should I change these out for on/offs for long term issues? thanks.

That is my case. The lights are cans in the ceiling over the bed for reading /spot lights on each side. No optional power disconnect besides at the switches, and hence my reluctance and laziness not to hot wire the sockets by bypassing the switch. While the ISY automatically turns the switch back on, and hence giving power to the cans at all times, the stop-gap pull tab at the bottom of the Insteon switch allows me to safely disconnect power any time I feel the need to do so, quickly and effectively. As in most things in life, no perfect answer, just choices and tradeoffs. Cheers.

One additional point, to "manage" the blink, in the HUE app, you can set the power on setting. I have set mine to a very dim red. So when the Insteon switch is switched off manually, the power is cut to the hue, then the isy, turns the switch back on, giving power again to the hue, which will then cause it to turn on, followed by the isy turning the hue off, per my program. This "on" of the hue is a very dim, quick flash of red. Again, either way works. As lilyoyo1 has pointed out, option one is much simpler. Honestly, I actually set mine up under option two somewhat for safety, but also because I have been too lazy to open up both switches and rewire them.. lol...

There are two options you can explore for this. 1) Keep power going to the KPL but bypass the switch to the light so the the light has constant power (cap off the red wire from the switch and attach the load from the light to the black incoming to the switch, hence giving the light constant power while also giving power to the switch). Then use the A button as part of a scene or program to control the hue light. The positive of this is that the hue has power 100% of the time. The negative of this is that it has power 100% of the time and could be a safety issue, ie changing bulb etc. 2) Leave your wiring as it is, but write a program such that if the KPL light switch is turned off, the switch will turn back on and a command is then sent to the hue bulb to turn it off. Positive of this is the safety factor. The negative is that the hue bulb will "blink". I chose to use number 2. The program is simple. I am using resource command to turn the hue off., Mbed Doug reading On - [ID 01CD][Parent 01CF] If 'MBed Reading Doug' is switched Off Then Set 'MBed Reading Doug' Fast On Wait 2 seconds Resource 'Doug's Reading Off' Additionally, I have added a series of programs that will cycle the hue light through 5 different settings each time I press the on button at the switch. Here is an example of the first two and the reset program. Mbed Doug reading 1 - [ID 01C8][Parent 01CF] If 'MBed Reading Doug' is switched On Then Resource 'Doug's Reading on bright' Enable Program 'Mbed Doug reading 2 LD' Disable Program 'Mbed Doug reading 1' Mbed Doug reading 2 LD - [ID 01C9][Parent 01CF][Not Enabled] If 'MBed Reading Doug' is switched On Then Resource 'Doug's Reading on full bright' Enable Program 'Mbed Doug reading 3 LD' Disable Program 'Mbed Doug reading 2 LD' Mbed Doug reading reset loop - [ID 01CE][Parent 01CF] If Time is 1:00:00AM Or 'MBed Reading Doug' is switched Off Then Enable Program 'Mbed Doug reading 1' Disable Program 'Mbed Doug reading 2 LD' Disable Program 'Mbed Doug reading 3 LD' Disable Program 'Mbed Doug reading 5 LD' Disable Program 'Mbed Doug reading 5 LD' Depending on your needs / interests you could modify these programs so they are "time dependent" for cycling to the next one etc. Hope this gives you some ideas. if you search the forum for hues, you will see similar discussions.

@hbskisurf to the point above, common practice is to include the same condition that enables the folder in the IF of the programs you also want tested when the folder becomes enabled. See the last two lines in this (old) wiki description. https://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=ISY-99i/ISY-26_INSTEON:Scope,_Precedence_and_Execution_Order#Statement_Execution_Order. (couldn't find the newer one easily and still had a link to the older one)

Similarly, to Larry, I have my doorbell linked via ELK to the ISY which notifies me and works in conjunction with an Insteon Motion Sensor that also turns on porch lights / spotlights and notifies me, etc. and lastly, I have a SEPARATE, not integrated, security camera system that is set up to email me pictures of motion at the front door. So essentially, I could not easily figure out. any integration between my camera system and ISY, so I get the notifications via ISY and have a special email set up that receives the pictures from the camera system. The ISY text notification, alerts me to motion, where I can then either look live on the cameras, or check the email for the pictures. This has me thinking though.. so what?.... so I need to set up an easy way to trigger my outside siren ./ strobes (elk/isy) if I dont like what I see, otherwise, what's the real point? I am not there and cant really do anything anyway.. lol. So in reality, it is just for curiosity and information vs any real actionable events... Welcome to any ideas that others are doing in this type of set up.

@asbril Another attempt to explain variables......Think of a variable as basically a holding spot for almost anything. The first step is always to create the variable. This requires deciding if it's going to be a STATE variable or an INTEGER variable. Only STATE variables will cause programs to run if they change. Integer variables can still be used as part of an IF, but they will be a "condition" that is checked when something else causes the program to run, such as being called by another program, or some other IF condition causes ISY to test its conditions. Generally, Integer variables are a way of keeping track of things. Example below: So the Integer variable below can change all day long, but will never cause this program to run. But if the time is 6:00am, then ISY will "check" this program for true or false, based on the value of the integer variable. The value of the variable in this case gets set by another program. So its a "condition" of the IF statement, but it won't cause the ISY to check the IF statement if it changes. This is different for STATE variables and hence the name. If Time is 6:00:00AM And $I_Alarm_Value is 600 Then Run Program 'Alarm Process LD' (Else Path) So switching back to STATE variables, once you have defined a state variable to X or Y, you can now use it in a program as a condition. The ISY will check the IF statement if a state variable changes its value --> ie its "state". In the body of any program, you can adjust the variable to change which will cause any programs that are relying on it to do something like run the THEN, or run the ELSE. This is the easiest use of variables. So as a simple example, if I Arm my security system (Elk), the ISY recognizes its condition and sets a variable AWAY to 1. I then have many other programs and folders that are watching the state of the AWAY variable. And when it changes, it causes those programs to run. In this case, some folders become false and stop running, other folders become true and start to run, etc. Other programs begin running like random lights during the evening hours, Water gets shut off etc. So essentially, by changing one variable, I can control the run pattern of many many programs all at once. In the example that Larry wrote for you for your MS, the variable is used in a slightly different way. Its a temporary storage of something. The start of the program stores the value of the light%, and then it can now change the light however you would like.. blink it, turn it on, turn it off, wait... etc.. Do whatever you want for as long as you want. Then when you want to "remember" what it was at, you have that information protected and stored as a variable. You then are simply setting the light equal to the value of that variable, which was created at the beginning. That variable will stay at that value until one of two things happens: it is changed by a program(s), or if the ISY reboots. When the ISY reboots, all variables are set to their INIT setting under the variables tab. To protect the value of an important variable, you can write a line in a program that will set the init value to the current value of that variable. This way, if the isy reboots, the value of the variable will get reset (init) to the value it had before the power failure. As others have said, variables become a huge part of isy programming. The more you understand and use them, the more you will use them. A fun and simple way to play with variables to learn about them is to set up a program that can "count" something, such as how often a certain light gets turned on/off during the day. If From 8:00:00AM To 11:00:00PM (same day) And ( 'Bar under cabinet' is switched On Or 'Bar under cabinet' is switched Off ) Then $I_Test += 1 Else $I_Test = 0 During 8-11pm, each time the light is switched on or off, the integer variable ITest will increase by one. After 11, the program becomes false so the variable resets to zero. If you try this using a STATE variable, you can then write a second program that when the variable becomes > 10, it sends you a text.. or turns on a certain light... something to give you the feel of how state variables can keep track of something and then trigger something else. Cheers and good luck.. keep at it.!!

A few additional comments of example uses..... 1) I too use the I_ to denote integer variables, but to save time, I dont bother putting the S for state variables, that becomes my default if it doesn't have an I. (I have many many more state variables than Integer, so just saves time, effort) 2) I have many program folders that I "Enable" and "Disable". To do so, I simply have a variable condition for that parent folder that is either a 1 (enabled) or 0 (disabled). Then I have a folder for all my enabling/disabling programs, which are simple: then $var=1, or else, $var=0, specific to each large folder of programs I am controlling. Then in MobilLInc on my cell phone, i have modified each program's screen via Advanced to show only Enabled or Disabled.(see attached screen shot) So with a quick glance I can easily override a set of programs, for example when guests are at the house etc. sprinklers, xmas lights, etc. 3) I have set up an alarm using an 8 button keypad next to my bed. Each left row represents the hours of 5, 6, 7, 8, each right row represents minutes 0,15,30,45. By selecting one button from each side, variables are set (500., 600, 700, 800 and 0, 15, 30, 45), then are added make a third variable Alarm set time.. ie 700+45 = 745.. This variable is then tested such that If( $var =745 and time is 7:45am,) then start the alarm process. 4) Garage door shut attempts. I use a variable to keep track of attempts to automatically shut a garage door, (twice) and then initiate a failure routine. etc. etc etc. As others have demonstrated, there is a lot of power of using variables in your programing logic.

@j.rieff see my post on this for some other experiences.. you can get it to chime or siren.

@j.rieff I had no problem in my upgrade.. see my post earlier in this thread.

RL in a switch box... I cut a piece of tin the right size and mounted it behind the RL, using the same screw holes. works great.

Regarding number 3... I too found my hobby at risk.. lol. My solution was based on the following: Bathroom has motion detectors which turn on the lights to various settings and time delays based on time of day.There are 6 different lights in our bath. Our shower has its own light switch. All are part of the scenes. So when taking a shower, we manually turn on that light switch (even if the light is on as part of the scene) and that disables the occupancy turn off program for 20 minutes, ample time to shower and get back out to where the Motion sensor will pick us up again. If I ever get into Tags, I think I would just put one on the door to sense movement to accomplish the above without the need for a manual intervention. Thanks for the ideas!

Just for clarity, the back up for z-wave is a separate step than the back up for the isy, of which I never knew before I did this upgrade. In the admin console, under z-wave, go down to tools / backup. I did a full, then a did restore afterwards and all was great. After the upgrade to 5.16b, I then restored the z-wave. Cant remember now if I for sure had to repopulate all the names, but probably did. sorry for that. In checking my prep documents, I did have two things I did that if I did have to rename my z-wave devices that helped. The first was "generate topography" under tools. This will give an alphabetical listing of all your devices. But the second which was easier, was to click on my lighting in the Main panel. Then click on the column Address to sort the table by the address which puts all the ZW- devices at the bottom, of which I took a screen shot of. This gave me the roadmap to rename everything the same and all worked. I dont remember having to redo programs or scenes. sorry cant be more helpful than that. see screen shots..Good luck.

@steveschwartz I recently upgraded and did not have any of these problems.. did you do a back up of the zwave per the admin console and then a restore? Mine worked fine. This thread in the beginning, along with several other posts (mineincluded) show the step by step and tips to make this go smoothly. I followed them and had no problems