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larryllix

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Everything posted by larryllix

  1. Is the battery a Ni-Cad or NiMH type? The voltage starts out so low at 1.25v per cell? maybe the device is complaining about low voltage when the surface charge wears down to it's 1.20 v/cell nominally, and it isn't really dead yet? You may have to go back to the original chemistry cell. I have Lithium 9V batteries that came around 11 volts and my MSes don't like them complaining of low battery voltage all the time.
  2. Have you seen the joke video with the Scottish accent? Hilarious!.
  3. I suspect that 'Dim' was the only word understood. I was trying some of that last night and once the command is understood what to do, it ignored the rest of the words..
  4. I discovered it by unplugging the GDO. Then I put the new GDO on a long extension cord and plugged it into a receptacle much further away from the main panel and problem Insteon devices, until my FilterLincs arrived. That was how I diagnosed the problem, before spending more money on the first signal filters I ever needed in five years.
  5. None of these units hear well if they are in a corner. I turned my ecobee4 unit Alexa off as it was operating things from TV sounds, about 25 feet away. The babbling that it didn't understand while watching TV was annoying. Very bad design idea. The space around them it real important so they can detect ambience. Mounted on a flat wall doesn't work well. Standing close hardly ever works either??? When I stand in front of my one Alexa or GH the one behind my back at the other end of the room always answers and vice versa, Weird.
  6. The GDO kit comes with an IOLinc, some wire, a magnet, and a sensor. I use one for my older AC motor GDO. It created a little Insteon noise interference for a few years but the Battry backed up unit drove it over the edge. Mine both have filterLincs with the GDO plugged into the bottom (filtered) and an IOLinc plugged into the back (unfiltered), now. Not one problem since.
  7. That was the one I just installed that crippled my Insteon system with noise. Get a filterLinc. The soft close and soft open are nice. They seem really slow but the overall timing is exactly the same as the older 3/4 hp models. The MyQ is cloud only AFAICT. I left it and installed a CAO Tag at the top of the door to notify me if open and the car is out or we are not home. I have very good neighbours to close my GDs safely without any toys or children under the doors. I didn't want to destroy the warranty on the GDO by cracking them open to solder wires to the pushbuttons. However if somebody cracks the MyQ coding to operate via Ethernet????
  8. I don't use any room settingsand leave them blank in both GH and Alexa. I also do not set any items to Scenes as I don't want Alexa or GH to group anything. GH does someof tht anyway. ISY does it better. Most of my controls are using ISY programs as ISY knows best how to stage and sequence multiple brand lighting scenes and probably more than 50% of my devices are now non-Insteon devices. I have no Zwave. I leave as much as possible to ISY in order to keep my sanity. For A/V I use things like Alexa Turn on louder Louder is an ISY program
  9. I agree but I find there are times when Hey Google sounds best when you are using a louder voice from a distance but OK Google sounds more natural when you are talking closer and quieter. This seems to be the way you might address another human also.
  10. With some of the skills you can install in Alexa (not via ISY) "set" is more sucessful.. Alexa. Set XXX lamp red Alexa. Set XXX lamp to 50% I found this works well with GH also. Rather than Hey Google! Turn on XXX Lamp to 50% Many times this will be asked for clarification of what device with Alexa or GH gets confused with some other query.
  11. Are you telling Alexa to "Discover"? I am not sure where that stands anymore but it still seems to fix missed items sometimes. The app may need to be rebooted to get a new "grab" of data.
  12. That is my problem with GH mostly and a good lesson for newbies to this sport. I like to use the type of device (no matter if it is a scene, program or device) so if I use bedroom Lights, bedroom red lights, bedroom blue lights, bedroom, bedroom green lights, etc.. etc.. Then I command GH OK google! Turn on bedroom lights Google will respond. Turning on 8 bedroom lights! So if you use a device type with adjectives (hue in this case) , you cannot use just the device name (keep the format constant) or GH will think you mean all of them. Alexa allows this. This is not a big problem as long as you understand that GH does this grouping assumption, when adjective styles are mixed/missing.
  13. As per lilyoyo1 above, this can all be done. Keep your programs short and simple, one for each job and concept that can affect the outcome. Make sure your programs are named with very thought-out and meaningful names, as in any programming sport. Put groups of programs that affect one 'item' in folders so you don't get confused from clutter later.
  14. ISY Portal runs on UDI's servers. Benoit manages the software and notifies the crowd if maintenance is going to be performed. His support has been exemplary.
  15. GH seems more adapted and better sound than Alexa. My Onkyo receiever just got absorbed and became part of the GH community. The synchronisation between my Onkyo receiver and my other 4 GH units is amazing. I find GH much more friendly and candid. It accesses information online better and fills in some blanks that it doesn't understand. (assumes). Eg. Hey Google. Turn off bedroom lights....OK turning off 9 lights in bedroom. I only have two but one does eight different colours. It assumes I mean everything in the bedroom because a colour wasn't used in the command. This is despite having a distinct and defined command using just plain "bedroom lights" Alexa works better for me for home automation control. It will ask you when it doesn't understand a word and operates devices more accurately. Alexa does not seem as user friendly though but they both grow (off each other) every day. I have about 7 units. A few are still in the boxes yet. Yes, GH and Alexa can both exist in the same house, off the same ISY Portal. Having both, Alexa typically gets used for HA and GH gets used for movie actor names and ages etc... Occasionally either get used for weather. GH may be better at some geography stuff. This 'better' balance changes every month.
  16. Simple answer...Yes! ...and yes that is evil but I hear ya'! I have both but prefer Alexa over GH. Both are easy to set up with the ISY Portal. A vocal to Alexa bridge software in the ISY Portal allows multiple different ways of saying things and operates ISY programs, variables, devices, scenes or Network Resources.
  17. I would likely use a OnOff plug-in module and a separate 'class 2' - 24Vac transformer or find a small plug-in 24Vac adapter wallwart. They do exist as I just found a surplus one for my water Iron Filter tank.
  18. Make the return signal set a variable and run a program to turn the light on. When the Insteon SwitcLinc sends an Off signal run a program with a Repeat While $sVariable = 0 loop to make the off signal wait to be sent out until the On is acknowledged.
  19. Alexa routines allow the user to set these up very easily. Wife likes this one! Alexa, Alexa, on the wall, who is the fariest of them all? .....hmmmmm... according to google....far, far away in a little town called xxxxxx , at the top of a hill, there is a woman named yyyyyyyy!
  20. Alexa skills have been using the syntax Alexa. Set XXX bulb to Red or Alexa, Turn on XXX bulb to Red. The first syntax is more successful. Percentages levels can prefix or follow the colour setting command but I haven't found a way to compound the parameters into one sentence. We gave a DLink RGBW bulb and an Echo Dot to my grandson (3 years old) , Christmas 2017 for his bedroom. Then we gave the sister in law the same DLink RGBW bulb to use with her GHs May 2018. Both systems work well using their plug-ins. ISY Portal should be able to implement this using the same vocals but integer values would need to be substituted for each of the colours.
  21. All systems are a mistake as well as the answer depending on how hard you work them and/or understand them. Usually the basics take a little time to install while the fancy stuff can eat your life. With ISY there is enough help here and canned routines to make your life a lot easier. Many of us have gone insane from excessive programmin and we apologize logically. Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
  22. All except Scott. He's not from 'round here. We like to argue on video chat cause the insults seem more threatening face to face being at different ends of the continent from each other. I given him 'till sundown to get out of Insteon country. Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
  23. All fixed here!! Thank you very much!!!
  24. Wait! I can see how this popcorn effect could happen. I doubt the Insteon delay of hops are being seen though, given the usage of any ramp on rate.. Having said that, most can see the speed of light delay on a long street full of street lights that all turn on with the same circuit. If a scene uses a ramp on rate,with different LED bulb brands and LED lights trips have different power supplies and different lux linearity curves. I have a fine example in my dining room chandelier. One of the five Cree bulbs went bad and I returned it to HD (The Borg), only to have a newer style Cree bulb handed to me as a replacement. At 100% all bubs look the same but anything below 60% that bulbs is much brighter than the other four. (lesson there? Always buy an extra bulb and mark the spare for multiple bulbs visible from each other) Now apply this to a slow and long ramping up voltage coming from various Insteon dimmers. They may all put out the same average voltage, at the same time, but the difference in bulb linearities may make them look like the popcorn effect. @ScottmichaeljAs an experiment I would be interested to have you set all the devices involved (cheap popcorn bulbs you bought ) set to fast On, and document if the effect goes away, or is reduced, or changes in any way. I assume you have various brands of bulbs in your "popcorn" scene. Can you describe this in more detail. I find this interesting and it would be nice to know for future reference and reduction or elimination of the effect.
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