fitzpatri8

I don't know when they announced it, I'm not a registered developer so I don't get the emails they send. I received a PM after posting something similar to your message on the Smarthome forum in December, which prompted me to play with units I had on hand. I think it was FW 38 on the dimmers where it became possible to program a keypad secondary button to turn off in response to an on command.

As a matter of fact, my latest KeypadLinc dimmers and dual-band KeypadLincs both now support turning off in response to an on when set up that way with HouseLinc. My ISY is offline at the moment until I get my new house set up--can someone else look to see if the same holds for programming a scene with the latest ISY firmware?

The problems with the Kwikset solution are that a) you get feedback on the state of the bolt (extended or recessed) but no confirmation that the door is actually locked (if the bolt is extended but the door is open you aren't secure); and the Kwikset solution speaks a different language than the ISY. ISY/Morning Industry option provides audible feedback on the state of the bolt, but either solution requires additional components to confirm the door is actually secured. Use the MorningLinc, a Morning Industries lock and an IOLinc and a plunger switch to detect the presence (or absence) of the bolt in the doorframe to get the best of both worlds.

These work with the ISY by way of the MorningLinc module: http://www.smarthome.com/2458A1/Morning ... ler/p.aspx http://www.smarthome.com/_/Morning_Indu ... h/nav.aspx

You can program a switch's On response, but the other responses are uniform for all dimmers across the Insteon product line--Off turns off at the local ramp rate, Bright is always bright, Dim is always dim, On (pause) On turns the local load on 100%, and Fast On & Fast Off turn completely on or off instantly. This consistency improves the user experience for visitors and, eventually, potential buyers of your home when you decide to relocate. You can get something close, but not exactly what you describe. It sounds like you would be best served by programming the local on level at 100% and the ramp rate to instant. Tap the On (top) paddle to turn on instantly, or hold the On (top) paddle to brighten to a lower level.

Sounds like power line noise that resembles x10 signals--x10 equipment gone bad, motors or other appliances in your or a neighboring home on the same transformer, even the power company transformer itself going bad could cause that. If the interference is inside the house, you might be able to isolate it by turning off circuit breakers until the noise goes away. I no longer deal with x10 at all except to uninstall it, so I'll leave the troubleshooting advice to folks who are bigger gluttons for punishment than I.

Sounds to me like you might have triggered a Fast On signal. Any chance that you inadvertently double-tapped the button, perhaps sliding across the button as you were simultaneously juggling things in another hand/distracted by kids or dogs/pressing the button and walking away?

There isn't an 'all lights on' command per se in the Insteon vocabulary. The ISY's 'My Lighting' scene is misnamed--commanding it actually controls all devices linked to the ISY's PLM. The solution is to create and turn on/off a Lights scene that only contains your lights, regardless of whether they are being powered by a dimmer or relay device.

In 6 button mode, the main on and off buttons only work as a coordinated pair. You could accomplish that behavior using 8 button mode, but it'll take some work. If you remove the button faceplate, you could program the device to 8 button mode. You'd then link button A as a controller to button B, button B as a controller to button A, button G as controller of H, and H as a controller of G. Link both G and H to the devices you want to control, and link other controllers of those devices to both buttons. Finally, replace the 6 button faceplate.

I just created a scene using 3.1.4 and ran into an interesting glitch. After adding several devices to the new scene, I selected the main scene and changed the scene setting for one Icon On/Off adapter to OFF by dragging the level to zero and releasing. The level did not 'stick'--that is, the change wasn't saved to the device and if I selected another scene then came back to the original it again showed its level as On. If I dragged the level to something *in between* 0 and 100, then I got the message about On and Off being the only options as expected, and the new link setting was saved to the device. Once I triggered the message, the problem went away and would not repeat--dragging the level to 0 or 100 saved the level as expected in that or any other newly-created scenes.

That's pretty much the case with all home automation at this point in time. No matter which protocol you choose, each manufacturer puts its own 'spin' on hardware that limits compatibility in one way or another.

Yes, I create scenes for everything I want individual control of, since as Lee says group commands are the way Insteon devices were designed to communicate. MobiLinc's interface handles things nicely and with the greatest flexibility. You can control the scene, and if you tap on the right arrow then below the scene controls you can see the state of and individually tweak each of the member devices. MobiLinc's Favorites feature is my personal favorite, since you can have the app boot up into that screen and quickly access your most frequently accessed scenes, devices and programs from a single screeen. Even better, since the Favorites settings can be unique to each phone/control you use, you can customize Favorites settings to the user or device so you don't have to fumble through your basement or shop scenes if you pick up the iPod Touch sitting in the living room.

That's how it is supposed to work. If you turn the scene on or off all members of the scene respond, whereas if you only control an individual device other members of the scene will be unaffected. If you want a ControLinc button to control the scene as well, you only need to add the button to the scene as a controller.

I didn't see Lee recommend you start over from scratch, just to restore the link tables of the PLM and the affected device. There's never a need to just 'accept' poor signals with Insteon gear--the ISY includes a scene test feature to help you identify specifically where signals are challenged, then you can choose which path you take. You likely have one or more poor wiring connections (which you'd want to resolve anyway to avoid arcing and a potential fire hazard), other lighting gear or appliances bleeding noise onto the power line, or electronics or surge suppressors that are swallowing up enough of the signals passing by that equipment downstream can't hear the signals. You can temporarily disconnect noisy or signal-absorbing devices while editing device link tables, you can permanently isolate obnoxious equipment with readily-available noise filters, and you can boost signals on far-flung circuits in a large home by adding another dual-band LampLinc, SwitchLinc or Access Point. Both inline and module-style filters are available, and the older x10-style filters are remarkably inexpensive when purchased in bulk.

How did you determine the ISY's role vs. power line noise, short outage & surge or accidentally pressed "all on" button? Did you perform a factory reset on the devices prior to installation or did you intentionally program an x10 address into them? How many of your neighbors are using x10 gear? Obviously my sample size is smaller than Universal Devices', but all the unintended on issues I've worked with ended up being related to x10 signals one way or another--either a neighbor on the same house code or power line noise that looked to installed devices like a valid x10 command. I've never seen an ISY do that on its own.

That's expected. The thermostat isn't designed as a security apparatus, so it is naturally going to prioritize local input over remote signals. You could work around this by using the signal from the thermostat to start a two minute timer to query the setting then raise it if necessary, provided the end-user isn't patient enough to keep holding the button for that long. Then again, the end-user could defeat that workaround by simply unplugging the thermostat adapter. You could defeat this user workaround by installing two thermostats and adapters, one for user input and temperature reading that isn't actually wired to the HVAC and another, in a secured room, that the ISY controls based on input from the first. Creative users could still get around this by installing one of those old x10 thermostat setback heater units underneath the accessible thermostat to raise the perceived ambient temperature. Why not just put a locking cover on the thermostat or have the tenant pay the electric bill?

Insteon devices don't compute a % of a %, that's correct. Most Insteon devices can be members of 400+ scenes, so you can set up multiple scenes for multiple levels. Maybe we're misunderstanding what you are trying to do. When you hold one of the buttons on one of the three controllers, all three should react in sync. If you brighten or dim the scene using the ISY's admin console, they should all respond in sync. What are you pressing or clicking that is reacting differently than you expect?

So you have a scene called Multiway: X with three devices in it, all as Controllers? Don't use a program, use a scene. Simply create another scene with that dim level. Create a new scene (Multiway: X 20%), add all three devices, then set the dim level for all devices to 20%. The ISY will recognize that they are already controllers of scene Multiway: X, so it will have you add them to the second scene as Responders only. When adjusting the scene by holding the On or Off paddle on any of the three controllers in the scene, they should all adjust in sync. If you just tap the On button of a switch when it is already on, it will activate the local bright feature that puts just that dimmer at 100%, but you should be able to create a program to watch for that condition (an On when the device is already On) and respond by re-sending the On command to the scene. Just make sure you don't send any commands directly to one device in the scene--make any bright/dim/on/off commands to the scene, not to any one of the individual devices, or you'll put them out of sync.

I didn't see any mention of an active coupler. A split single phase electric system supplies about half the house on one 120 leg, half on the other, then uses both together to power 220 appliances like electric stoves and dryers and heaters. Unless you have installed some device designed specifically to couple the two legs, a power line signal will either have to travel all the way past your neighbors, across the power company transformer, then back, or else through a 220 volt device not designed for the purpose (a 220 volt electric space heater, an electric hot water heater, an electric clothes dryer or an electric oven or the like, and only when the heating element is energized). Lack of active coupling would certainly explain why signals aren't reliably reaching some devices.

You'll want to figure out why the signal isn't reaching all your devices. Which dual-band units are you using to couple the two legs of your electric system? Have you confirmed that they are talking to each other and installed on opposite legs?

See http://forum.universal-devices.com/view ... 3237#43237

It also works with x10-compatible devices, iPhones, Android phones, Elk M1 security systems, and other brands of IR emitters. You can also do a lot with the REST interface. Why do you ask?

No need, you just trigger the program with the same controllers assigned to the scene.

Are you sure you don't still have a CM11a or CM15a or x10 HawkEye or Eagle Eye battery-operated motion detector hidden away in an unused corner or closet somewhere? How about x10 floodlights with motion detectors? Are any of your neighbors using x10 controls?

You turn on the ApplianceLinc, that provides power to the closer, then the closer automatically shuts off a few seconds later? Then you could do this: Remove the RemoteLinc as controller of the previously mentioned scene. Create a program like this: If Control 'RemoteLinc Button 6' is switched On And Control 'RemoteLinc Button 6' is not switched Off Then Set 'Curtain ApplianceLinc' On Set Scene 'Theater Lights' Off Wait 10 Seconds Set 'Curtain ApplianceLinc' Off Else Set 'Curtain ApplianceLinc' On Set Scene 'Theater Lights' On Wait 10 Seconds Set 'Curtain ApplianceLinc' Off Then you'll press RemoteLinc Button 6 ON to start the show and Button 6 OFF when finished to open the curtains and turn the lights back on.