larryllix

Use Alexa "Routines". The setup page is in the mobile Alexa app. You add a trigger, select vocal, custom. Hit next and use American spelling. No On/Off required, just a phrase/sentence but you will have to make two for open/close or on/off etc. Can be just "Kiss my butt" and "Don't kiss my butt" For the "Action" select control a device and select a device. Can be a pseudo device that is really translated to a variable in ISY Portal. Note: In ISY Portal you can lie to the Alexa skill by telling it anything is a light, switch, etc. in the ISY Portal vocal table. The entry will require a vocal phrase which really becomes the name of the device in the Alexa app. That is where the trick comes in allowing Alexa to operate a variable. Don't forget to "Discover" in Alexa or it will not be found in the app.

Sorry. That is not quite correct. An Alexa routine can cause a program, listed in the ISY Portal table, to run that can operate a variable value. Look in the app on a mobile device, under "Routines". Any trigger can cause almost any action in Routines. I don't see variables under the Smart Home venue.

Tag range is amazing. I have detected my vehicle from over a km away. However you would have to make the tag report every minute maximum and the battery would be dead inside a month or two.

The only hole in my idea is that on high, there isn't likely to be a capacitor in series. However on your theory the fan on high would generate a much larger voltage spike starting from a standstill. This may take some spike suppression across the motor to kill it before it destroys the fanLinc also. At least an experimental install to help find the problem. I would try a 130vac MOV of 10,000 joule rating or more and twist it into the fan motor to fanLinc connections, leaving it hanging in the air for the trial. Large heat shrink over the whole live part and leads later, if permanent install works.

Possibly a bad fan capacitor arcing through, and disrupting the initial Insteon signal response.

Most smart bulbs have a set of effects built in. If you can access these, flashing a lamp or two with them takes the load off ISY doing it in a program. Other than simple one colour flashes I find the rest of the effects mostly useless though. Sent using Tapatalk

I use a plug-in dimmer outdoors, under my deck. The deck is semi-protected from rain and snow depending on the wind direction. I bent a piece of metal into a V shape and mounted it under the deck. The LampLinc is mounted on the end of an extension cord under the piece of bent metal to avoid rain dripping into it and a bal of white plastic tape is wrapped around the connections at both ends. This has functioned just fine for about three years now without any problems. I live in Ontario at the base of the Bruce Penninsula and likely get a lot more snow than Montreal area on our small mountain, typically over my head snow banks by the spring. Just protect the things from any water dripping into it and use a LampLinc.

IIRC it started out as a Motorola vs. Intel CPU variable storage format fight.

Haven't done that specifically but.... You can have any trigger cause anything to operate using the Alexa routines. I would have a vocal expression operate a variable. Then I would have a program triggered by the variable open the garage door and reset the variable. A second copy of this path would close the garage door. Then I would create another variable to report the change in status when detected. I don't operate my garage doors with ISY at all but I detect their positions and have Alexa report "A garage door has opened" or "Both garage doors are closed". In conjunction with that I have a corner lamp flash red while any door is open and if all lights are turned off and bedroom motion is detected, the bedroom table lamp flashes at full intensity so I have to go to the garage entrance and close the door or not get any sleep. All variables used with ISY Portal must be State Type.

I doubt this will ever happen for decade or so. (not referring to the ISY control). These developers have taken a lot of effort to make sure nobody, but nobody gets access to their local API methods. There seems to be a universal "keep control" to make people depend on each's technology via their server cloud services. They "want it all" but may not even know what "all" is but whatever is to come they want to control it. ISY tries to be different, so far.

These guys have been awesome for prices blinds.ca and blinds.com. While I have dealt with them for blinds, not motorised ones.

Sorry to sidetrack the thread somewhat but... "short cut commands" is that GH Routines?

You can with Alexa routines. I assume GH routines can do the same. See another thread going on right now. Basic process...ISY sets a state variable. ISY Portal tells Alexa it is an MS based on a particular value...Alexa routine uses it as a trigger...routine says something you decide. Sent using Tapatalk

I imagine both systems are mostly the same now. Alexa routines allow you to trigger many things as well as put out vocals. All in all I try to avoid any smart things and prefer ISY to do everything. Sent using Tapatalk

I use Alexa routines for custom responses and vocal output from Alexa speakers triggered from ISY. I haven't heard of routines from GH. GH gave me so much anguish with accounts and confusion of my HA vocals that I just quit using it after a few years, except for the odd question Alexa didn't seem to know the answer to but even that usage is disappearing.

I have 5-6 Alexa devices and 2-3 GH devices. I rarely use GH for HA purposes as I find their artificial intelligence attempts get in the way of understanding what to control. eg. I have vocals for "red lights" in my Gathering room and "red bedroom lights" in my bedroom. If I say OK Google, turn on red bedroom lights GH will turn on both lights. If I say turn off bedroom lights GH will respond with OK, turning off eight lights because it finds eight colours with "Bedroom" in the vocal spec. Google AI loves to make assumptions on your behalf. For HA that is not desirable. Alexa doesn't do that and the vocal syntax freedom is much better. For sound quality GH minis are much better than the old Echo Dots. For candid answers and other non-HA applications, GH minis are better but Amazon is working on that intensively and surprises us with less machine sounding answers occasionally.

Not smart bulbs but I have 27W, BR40 bulbs mounted in pot light sockets, in my R50 insulated ceilings. I have burned my hand on them trying to remove them. Only one of the six has become defective over about 5-6 years. Now I try to keep most of my scenes using them at about 85-90% for their usage. The face of the bulb stays cool and when you unscrew it from the ceiling the sides have a surprise waiting for you, frying your skin. I almost had to drop the first one to the floor but managed to throw it onto a pillow until I got down off the ladder. Solid state electronics don't last long at those temperatures.

Asus. That will be the one. Mine worked for about two years and then they sent some notice about subscription and I couldn't respond. I figured it would wait a few weeks but they didn't. DDNS just opens up your network to somebody else that you are supposed to trust. After that I wrote a simple python program that stuffs four ISY variables with my ISP IP provided IP address and ISY notifies me each day of vacation, or if the IP ever changes, what the latest IP address is. Now I use ISY Portal. It isn't a fancy GUI but it gives me access to every ISY element I have. I prefer HA but remote control is needed occasionally.

If the io/Linc is single band and only powerline device, a dual band close to it, should not assist in any way. This is very puzzling.

I am not one to subscribe to ongoing payment for anything but the small price of the ISY Portal has been well worth it. It does so much for me and avoid the port forwarding complexity. I had a router supplied freebie DDNS service quit on me when I was away for a month, and there was nothing I could do about it. With ISY Portal it isn't needed anymore.

If the action is in the ISY log then this is not the ghost random-on syndrome. These do not report status changes. Factory reset the offending unit, then restore, and see if it happens again.

I guess his point is the All-On bug would turn both of the units on and could open your garage door anyway.

Good work-around! When there is a lot of noise and things are programming or just operating Insteon devices sooner or later the devices can get bad messages, that actually make sense, and then the devices can get scrambled. Garage door openers are notorious for producing noise.

Garage door openers have always been reported to upset Insteon communications for years here. I always just ignored that, but wondered why my comms were flakey at times, until I installed a newer GDO unit with battery backup (charger). Then Insteon comms went to about 50% and I had to investigate. Unplugging both technology GDOs, the comms went completely perfect again. It isn't the GDO motors that cause Insteon disturbances (they aren't moving) , it's the cheap electronics or the RF transmitter checking for remotes. Two FilterLincs solved those problems and the I/oLincs are plugged right into the back of them, on the unfiltered receptacles provided. Should have done it for the first GDO years ago.

OTOH I use NRs for most non-Insteon things. Total control is made possible by using variable substitution. I find ISY scenes of non-Insteon lights way too slow. Here is one NR I use for 24 x $8 RGBWW bulbs.