paulbates

To add to Larry's comments: Something else to look at is the internet speed provided at your remote site. Usually internet service is asymmetric: One faster speed for download and slower speed for upload. That works great at the site, but is a limiter for times like this.... wherever you are running the admin console remotely, you are constrained by the speed which the remote site can upload data across the internet - like loading the admin console remotely. The admin console loading can be a big job... typically we don't feel it as the ISY is right there by our home computer with few network constraints, but over an internet link its a different story, and made worse by a limited upload speed from the remote site. In contrast, Mobilinc is sending and receiving small individual messages for each device, its load is not a great as the admin console starting up. What type of service do you have at the ISY's location? (Cable, DSL, ...) Do you know what your upload and download internet service speed is at the ISY's location? My recommendation would be to try again; login to the Admin Console, but let it sit for 10 minutes or so before trying to do anything, then try clearing the messages. Paul

Hi Eric One of the things that the Network Module does is exactly that; program controlled network calls in various formats. You can either buy the network module outright, or its included as part of the ISY Portal subscription. Its in the Admin Console under Help/Purchase Modules Paul

Hi Chuck You'll need 2 recipes and 2 ISY portal entries, one each for setting the variable to 1 and 0 Name the two events: (InGeofence . OutGeofence.... something like that) Pick the geofence state variable (Same name in both) Set one to 0 and one to 1.. whatever logic works for you In Maker and the geofence, one recipe for in and one for out For each recipe, paste the URL 0 or 1, you want in the URL box for Maker "make a web request" Be sure to set the Method to "Post". It won't work otherwise You don't need to change the other settings Paul

Hi No, there is no intrinsic blink function in the keypad, you'll have to do it with ISY program statements as you've done. Depending how busy your ISY is with other things, a second may be a little tight timing for a regular, consistent blink. Something else I do periodically to signal an event or draw attention to the keypad is use the "beep" function. If the garage door is up and its later in the evening, I have it beep periodically. Version 5 of firmware (which is in alpha/beta) offers more sophisticated logic with the Repeat statement. Paul

Robert Hmmm. You maybe looking at a rebuild, if no other suggestions come. You can go to the support link on the main udi page. Write a brief summary and a link back here. They are great about responding Paul

Robert Try this test: For a few of the devices, right click on them, one at at time, and pick restore device. Rerun the test for status updates. If it works, you'll need to go through all of the devices, one at a time, with that procedure. Wireless devices need to be put in linking mode before using restore device. Its also possible that some devices won't cooperate with this procedure and will need to be deleted and reinstalled. Paul

It did what it said for me, shorter range and no delay. Mine is on the corner of the house... half of it covers the back , half of it covers the front yard and driveway. The problem with no jumper is that people walking by on the sidewalk, or some cars on the street would set it off and I didn't want that. They jumper simply "brought in" the detection field. It works great now.

One possibility is sensitivity. Screens, even glass, don't matter, the MS sees heat. Any cooler conditions... cloudy, night, makes heat signatures more visible to the MS. I added jumper 1 to my MS which reduces its sensitivity 33%. That has got rid of my false triggers and is pretty easy to do. You can also try mounting it higher and pointing it lower. Paul

Hi Can you confirm if you followed the procedure identified in here? http://forum.universal-devices.com/topic/19331-my-plm-died-and-i-bought-a-new-one-what-should-i-do-next/ It sounds like you need to perform a "restore modem" Paul

I asked over in the Insteon forums previously. There is this comment "....To be more specific this command class was removed (approx) February 2014 for switches and keypad lincs and anything with firmware v.44.....". You can ask, they worst they can do is not be able to say "no" Paul

Normally the explanation would be older devices would respond to the phantom All On, and newer ones would not. I'm not sure if the dual on/off was manufactured before or after Insteon removed the all/on off in firmware, or how long the dual outlet was on the shelf. The all/on off feature was a carry over concept from X10 where you could turn all devices on a house code on or off. (Early model Insteon devices could be configured to respond to X10 commands too) I think it was there initially to appeal to people (like me) who migrated from X10 to Insteon. However, we can build the same capability with our own scenes, so an All On feature makes no sense, IMO. I've never used or wanted it. I would be very surprised if they RMA'd older devices to remove it, but If you have the FW version of the dual outlet, you could call SH and ask them. Yes, it can and will (if it has the all/on feature).. its not related to linking to the ISY. Paul

Let's just say that its related to a technique developed when navigating a certain payer's IVR system, when I know for certain that I need to work with an agent... and the IVR system wants to fight me to the death.

I was recently trying to get alexa to open my iolinc controlled garage with "Open" instead of "Turn on garage". Open and close by themselves never work. While trying a number of other things, for grins I tried: "Alexa, open the <censored> garage". It works every time. Other 2 syllable substitute words do not work, "I can't find a device called...." Paul

I believe the interval is 24 hours and not adjustable. I would investigate other possibilities: How far are the triggerlincs from the nearest dualband devices? Is there metal in the way between the Triggerlinc and dualband device? How hot does environment get on a regular basis this time of year? It would be good to elimate 1. and 2. based on how battery devices work. Page 55 of the Insteon Details whitepaper "1. Battery operated INSTEON RF devices, such as security sensors and handheld remote controls, must conserve power. Accordingly, they are commonly configured so that they do not retransmit INSTEON messages from other INSTEON devices, but act as message originators only. Such devices can nevertheless both transmit and receive INSTEON messages, in order to allow simple setup procedures and to ensure network reliability" The triggerlincs may be working extra hard to get their signal out and transmitting more than others that you have at that location. Can you put a dualband lamplinc (or something) in the outbuilding, or investigate how good the signal is? If you have a helper, or a laptop you can use by the outbuilding, run a level 3 log while putting them in linking mode and restoring, how good/bad are the comms? Paul

Ok, Interesting. There are are very rare occasions (< 10 times since last September) where the Alexa LEDs light up in response to conversation that wasn't directed at her... typically a little louder than normal. She makes a response "boop" sound and then goes back dark. I've not found a way to recreate that so not sure about the traffic. I just tried a few louder "heys" sitting right in front of her, and nothing happend. I am not seeing a constant stream of data from her to amazon, or anywhere else.

I've witnessed the opposite.. whichever trigger phrase you select is dealt with locally, and nothing goes across the wire until its triggered. You can prove this by denying the echo access to the internet, and then say the trigger phrase.. she'll will hear the phrase, turn the LEDs red and respond that she's lost her connection. After that, only the request phrase following the trigger goes over. I watched and logged it on my routers traffic monitor when hooking the dot up last year, the traffic going out is trivial, and associated with requests after the trigger phrase. Paul

Hi Status with insteon plug--in devices is normally automatic, instantaneous and designed in. You should be getting the right status without doing anything. Let's simplify this to help problem solve and not worry about the echo for the moment: Here are some questions If you open and close your garage with the garage door opener, can you see the status change in the ISY admin console.? Is it changing regularly and predictably... if the answer is "No", something is wrong with your Insteon network communications and that will need to be explored further Can you post your program here (right-click on the program, pick copy from the bottom of the list that pops up, paste in a post here) Paul

Hi jjsmd Our member @bpwwer is the author of that Homeseer / ISY plugin. I've tagged him so he can respond Paul

I'm liking the "Clean litter box" timer, 20 minutes... right as I leave the house

The "Alexa set the <timer name> timer for 5 minute" is a new feature that has appeared very recently for me.. I caught it just a few days ago. All of the other words other than your timer name are known to alexa, you need to be sure she can hear you well for the timer name. I've not had a problem with it using words like "Rice", "Oven", etc. Its better for the whole family this way, if the alarm goes off when you're not right there, someone else knows what the timer is for. Paul

The advantages of putting polyglot on the unix box and connecting the ISY are: Integration with other things... If someone opens our family room doorwall, after x minutes the thermostats are set to off and the attic dampers are opened. Or if the attic fan is turned on.. dampers opened, HVAC systems set to off. I also cancel HVAC fan cycling during those events. Also, a keypad key sets "away" mode for the house, that includes HVAC and other things. Integrated notifications. I have the ISY send pushover notifications, and HVAC activities is one pushover "app" as well as sprinklers, garage door, etc Paul

Hi Some things to consider: AC not running when its called: Some power companies provide interrupt-able power service at a reduced cost. I have this. When an particular grid has a peak power demand, they have the right to remotely cut your air off (usually a few times a season max). You would probably know that you have this feature, usually there are 2 meters and two entries on the bil, but the symptoms that you are documenting support this hypothesis AC systems can have an X minute safeguard built in so they don't run continuously. This is also an explanation for your symptoms, especially if its leaked coolant and working harder than normal. Nest: The Nest is a cloud only API; a cloud service is called no matter what mechanism you choose to integrate it with. Solutions that integrate the Nest with the ISY require a system-in-the-middle that can run python. There is a python based Nest app for the ISY's Polyglot framework. I believe most users have RaspberryPi (or equivalent) computer in the middle: ISY <-> Polyglot (on Pi) <-> Nest Cloud API Paul

Changing modes is not part of the skill yet. This thread discussed the up-to-date set of features from Amazon. My recollection is that Benoit has updated the ISY skill set to support all of these. Paul

Yep, a keypad key or remotelinc. I gave one to the lawncutting service so he can kill a program if its running when he shows up. The rainmachine has direct alexa integration too. You turn it on settings / system settings and rediscovering, there is no skill to load. You can kill programs by name with it, which may suit your purpose. I've use individual zones to herd the squirrels and rabbits

I've had the rainmachine for about a year, too. With V5, I integrate it with the ISY via Nodelink (see screenshots). Its a great solution. io_guy is great about considering enhancements, he's added several for me.I have a couple of functions that are helped by the ISY. To your point, it's does most of the work on its own as opposed to a lot of effort put into the ez. Paul