upstatemike

Update installed OK but tried to install an ApplienceLinc afterwards and had a lot of trouble discovering the module. Then lots of trouble adding it to a scene and had to hit "write updates to device" several times to get it to complete. Tried in several locations so I don't think it is a signal issue. ApplianceLinc sticker says rev 4.6. but forgot to note the firmware before I deleted from the module from ISY in frustration.

Interesting observation. I will retry with fresh batteries and see if that helps.

I had similiar issues in updating to a 2413S and spent a similiar amount of time working on it. Unfortunately I still have some motion sensors that do not work right even though I have removed and added them each a couple of times. Finally just ran out of time to mess with it. I think there is a post from a couple of weeks ago that talks about the best way to do a PLM restore if you have a lot of battery devices but it was too late to help me. Also a lot of scenes stopped working and I had to delete them and create them over again. I think that over Thanksgiving I might wipe the ISY completely and add everything over again, one device to a time, to see if that cleans things up once and for all.

Thanks for the examples. It takes about 15 minutes for the "all devices" query to run at 3AM so I will have to make some guesses about the timing for doing each scene separately with a pause in between. I don't really care about the system load. I would be happy to completely give up ISY's ability to control stuff in trade for truly accurate status.

I need some help writing a query program to keep the device status of my system up to date. What I want to do is write a program that does a query on all devices in my system, similiar to the 3AM event, except I want it to pause for a few seconds after each query to allow for regular traffic from programs and cotrollers. I also want it to start over as soon as it finishes so every device is rechecked every few minutes. Any thoughts on the best way to approach this?

I'm curious what this would mean should you be given the green light to proceed. I'm assuming one would need to purchase a new ISY with the chip included in order to get the functionality? I am happy to buy a new super PLM or even a new ISY if required. I have enough issues now, and they seem to be geting worse as I add devices, that I would embrace any solution that solves the scalability problem.

What is this about? I don't remember seeing this documented anywhere.

Wouldn't that node automatically get a query each night during the 3AM polling process? Is the manual step really needed?

If you can't find the directions to configure the OFF button manually it is as follows: 1. P&H (press and hold) large ON or OFF button for 10 seconds, putting it into linking mode. 2. P&H for 5 seconds, putting it into unlinking mode. 3. P&H for another 5 seconds until LED's stop blinking Now the OFF LED will not illuminate when the local load is OFF. To undo, just 10-5-5 it again. Hope that helps,

I currently have 878 links in my PLM and am concerned about this stability issue, particularly since I want to expand my system. What is the long term resolution to this limit?

Not sure if it is worth creating a special build based on such a small amount of information. Maybe it would be better for me to create a bunch more Insteon triggers in Homeseer and see if I produce additional anomalies. Maybe the fact that the trigger is a ControLinc button rather than a SwitchLinc button is not significant? I have 2 ControLincs and a RemoteLinc controlling these same lights. Might be worthwhile to put different responses on each buttton and then watch (actually listen) for errors over an extended period of use? Then if a pattern emerges we can decide what the next steps should be. Plugin is 1.0.1.5 Beta and ISY Firmware is 2.7.12

When button 2 is pressed it always controls the correct lights and does not trigger the button 1 lights. No, I cannot get it to happen again in a reasonable amount of time. Usually many days between incidents. Hitting the button many times in a row does not trigger it. Button 1 controls a single lamp. Button 2 controls 2 appliancelincs. ISY Device Trigger = When Office Desk 1 sends ON (Office Desk 1 is button 1 on the ControLinc)

I am using the ISY plugin for Homeseer and it mostly works fine except for 1 intermittent bug. I have a ControLinc on my desk and I use Homeseer to speak a confirmation everytime that ControLinc's button 1 ON is pressed. This works fine but sometimes when I press button 2 on I will also get the spoken confirmation message. Since it is intermittent I am having a hard time figuring out where the problem is: 1 - I know the ControLinc is sending the correct code because the linked lights operate correctly 2- The PLM could be hearing the correct code but incorrectly reporting it to ISY. Unfortunately when I look at the ISY log there is no record of the event at all. 3- ISY could be getting the correct code from the PLM but incorrectly report it to Homeseer via the Ethernet interface. Unfortunately the Homseer log just shows that the event to speak was triggered without identifying the trigger. 4- Homeseer could be getting the correct code from ISY and be incorrectly triggering the event due to a bug in the Homeseer plugin. Again no clues in the Homeseer log. Since I cannot force this intermittent problem to repeat at will, anybody have an idea how I can troubleshoot this?

I think you are in good shape, misssing both the paddle problem and the v.35 problem.

My understanding was that both dimmers and relays were affected.

Yes, the complexity is in programming. Once the links are in place Insteon is always more reliable than X-10. The problem is that you first have to configure the links and if you do that through programming you have more risk of being impacted by power line issues during the process. Folks often unfairly compare the communication they had with simple X-10 on/off commands to the communications problems in Insteon remote programming and claim X-10 was just as good or better, when in reality they are comparing apples to oranges.

If you do not have any issues on your powerline then having more devices will definitely improve reliability by virtue of the signals being repeated and this should more than compensate for any additional loading. If you have noise, or signal sucker loads then the signal repeating might not be enough to maintain reliability and you might need to use some filters or access points for reliable communications. If things are borderline then simple switch activation might work fine while more complicated activities like adding modules or creating scenes could generate errors.

All devices repeat in parallel in the same time window so the signals do not interfere. In a given time slice (position on the 60Hz sine wave) there will either be a signal or there won't. Does not matter if that signal comes from 1 module or 70 in parallel. X10 modules are usually only receivers so they do not load down the power line and they send much simpler messages. All Insteon modules are both receivers and transmitters so each one lowers the impedance of the power line which impacts signal strength. Also when links are being programmed (not an option with X-1o) there is a fair amount of data being exchanged so more opportunity for a bit to get dropped and the message lost.

1. yes - although they might not all see it on the first hop, but all that do will repeat it. 2. This is where the tightly defined broadcast window comes into play... as long as they are in sync it is not a problem. (Maybe this is what went wrong with v.35 switches?) 3. Repeating does not help overcome serious noise or serious signal suckers. If the signal can't be heard over the noise then it can't be repeated. if a sgnal sucker makes it too weak to get very far then it may run out of hop count before reaching its target.

Use the updater in Homeseer to download and install it and it will be in 30 day trial mode. When you are sure you want it, go back to the store and buy it which will just email you the license key to put into the plugin setup page to convert it to a registered copy.

I don't have any coupon codes but I do want to remind you that you can use the plugin for 30 days before deciding to buy. Maybe a coupon code will come out during the 30 day trial.

it works well because i am going through the phone system instead of open air microphones. yes I'm using stargate relays to direct the announcements but may change that to Elk relays or some other strategy. The stargate integration let's me read or populate Stargate variables from Homeseer. Example: the WinEVM event that announces the thermostat settings and furnace runtimes for the day also speaks the outside temp and humidity. These values come from my weather station and are populated into Stargate variables by Homeseer. House pre-dates electricity so it was not built around the wiring. Some things just require the reliability of hardwiring ie thermostats, network music players, smoke sensors, etc.

Not sure I understand the question... Homeseer is software so it is always PC based. I use the Hometroller which is a fanless PC preconfigured to run the Homeseer software. I am running HSPro with the ISY plugin. I also use HSPhone which lets me use any of my 21 speakerphones to control my lights via voice command. I use a PA amp to distribute TTS announcenements to various places. Not as stable as my Stargate (which is also connected to Homeseer) but Stargate really only does Thermostats and and caller ID snd hardwired monitoring of some remote lights in the attic and basement, and logging furnace run times. Key point about Stargate is response time since it polls the status of every input at least 3 times per second. Allows things like real-time voice confirmation of any change in thermostat settings whether manual or system based (not possible with Insteon based thermostats) etc. I eventually might be able to phase out the Stargate by moving the serial themostats and hardwired monitoring to my Elk M1 and letting Homeseer do caller ID and furnace run-time logging. It is just so much easier to do these things with Stargate that I have been slow to migrate.

I am using Homeseer which gives me both TTS and voice control. If I want to speak a phrase whenever an Insteon button or switch is pressed it will do that. I can also tell it "Media room lights 50 percent" and it will do that too.

First, the scenario you suggest is valid but not common. Normally you would make the switches with the loads controllers of the scene as well as the "no-load" switch so that operating any one of them would control all. (Remember "contoller" really means "controller and responder") Second, the status of the scene is only affected by controllers of that scene. If the "no-load" switch is the only controller then it is the only thing that controls the scene status. Operating the switches configured as responders would have no impact on the status of the scene (even though the state of devices in the scene has obviously changed.) The controller device in this case Does have a state but it is in relation to the load of that switch. Just because you do not have anything connected to the load wires does not mean the load output does not operate. If all the switches are set as controllers then turning on any one of the will turn them all on including the one with no physical load connected. If a switch is set as a responder only then turning it on will only affect the load of that switch and not the others in the scene. There is also a GUI anaomly in that Controlinc and RemoteLinc buttons are shown as devices that are "managed " in a scene but of course this is not really the case. There is no reason for a ControLinc button to know about other ControLinc buttons in a scene since there is no load to turn on or off when the scene is activated or deactivated. I think it would be cleaner to show a Controlinc button managing the loads in a scene without suggesting that anything is managing it. (ie, a ControLinc button can never be a responder)