jhimmel Posted November 2, 2008 Posted November 2, 2008 Now that HomeSeer has "forced" me into an ISY, I have a question about current and/or future ISY capabilities. I am wondering how much of my HomeSeer workload can be offloaded to the ISY. I have some closets that use wireless DS10A's. A W800RF and the HomeSeer ACRF plugin receives the signal, and then activates the closet's Insteon switches ON and OFF as the doors are opened and closed. The only other thing my W800 is handling right now is wireless X10 hawkeye motion sensors, but Insteon motion sensors are now shipping. Is there (or will there be) a way for me to duplicate this using my ISY - short of hardwire and EZIO's? The other thing HomeSeer is doing for me is IR IO (via Ocelot), but I know UD is working on that. Jim H.
Algorithm Posted November 2, 2008 Posted November 2, 2008 Hello Jim, We are working on a serial expander for ISY which, when ready, will allow you to attach your W800RF (among other things) directly to ISY. We are also working on an IR transmitter add-on for ISY which, when available, will allow you to fully replace all IR functions now handled by the Ocelot. I too have an Ocelot (now decommissioned in favour of the ISY), and in my opinion the ISY's present IR receive capability is far superior to the Ocelot's (though the Ocelot is very good at IR transmit).
jhimmel Posted November 3, 2008 Author Posted November 3, 2008 Darrell, Thanks for the reply. This is all good news and something to look forward to. By the way - I have a whole-house IR system, and the Ocelot is the controller in the middle - driven by HomeSeer. Performance is solid and reliable (both receive, and transmit). I will be anxious to try your offering when ready. Jim H.
kclark Posted November 3, 2008 Posted November 3, 2008 Same boat here. Though I'm actually glad I had to move from Homeseer plugin to ISY as my Insteon controller. What would make the switch complete would be the ability to use the RFXCOM receiver through the ISY. I have the USB version but I'd spring for the LAN version if I had to. It not only interfaces X10 RF and X10 RF Security devices but also Oregon Scientific temperature, humidity etc. and some power monitoring hardware. RFXCOM and the ISY would be one powerful setup! Oh, and Bert is great to work with too. Ken
ResIpsa Posted November 3, 2008 Posted November 3, 2008 Michel and I made some inquires with the manufacturer of RFXCOM earlier this year with the thought of integrating it with ISY. The idea was shelved due to the prohibitively high price of the RFXCOM receiver. I'm in the middle of upgrading my Oregon Scientific weather monitoring, and actually use a Visonic RF security system (which is received by RFXCOM), and would be very interested in revisiting this as a possibility. Same boat here. Though I'm actually glad I had to move from Homeseer plugin to ISY as my Insteon controller. What would make the switch complete would be the ability to use the RFXCOM receiver through the ISY. I have the USB version but I'd spring for the LAN version if I had to. It not only interfaces X10 RF and X10 RF Security devices but also Oregon Scientific temperature, humidity etc. and some power monitoring hardware. RFXCOM and the ISY would be one powerful setup! Oh, and Bert is great to work with too. Ken
Michel Kohanim Posted November 3, 2008 Posted November 3, 2008 Hi Tim, We are working on a network interface solution whereby you can receive events (poll) networked devices. We have actually implemented and are testing integration with WeatherBug and Brultech electricity meter. So, as before, the main question is ROI (return on our investment). i.e. if we are going to sell 5 or 10, then it will not be worth it for us to support it. With kind regards, Michel Michel and I made some inquires with the manufacturer of RFXCOM earlier this year with the thought of integrating it with ISY. The idea was shelved due to the prohibitively high price of the RFXCOM receiver. I'm in the middle of upgrading my Oregon Scientific weather monitoring, and actually use a Visonic RF security system (which is received by RFXCOM), and would be very interested in revisiting this as a possibility. Same boat here. Though I'm actually glad I had to move from Homeseer plugin to ISY as my Insteon controller. What would make the switch complete would be the ability to use the RFXCOM receiver through the ISY. I have the USB version but I'd spring for the LAN version if I had to. It not only interfaces X10 RF and X10 RF Security devices but also Oregon Scientific temperature, humidity etc. and some power monitoring hardware. RFXCOM and the ISY would be one powerful setup! Oh, and Bert is great to work with too. Ken
Michel Kohanim Posted November 3, 2008 Posted November 3, 2008 Hi Gary, thanks! Now we need 19 more! With kind regards, Michel Put me down for one.
kclark Posted November 3, 2008 Posted November 3, 2008 When you say "integrating it with ISY" are you saying you want to build the RFXCOM receivers into the ISY or have the ISY be able to talk to the RFXCOM over the network (or USB)? If the former, yes I would pay to trade in my ISY for one with the RFXCOM built in. If the latter, yes I would buy a LAN RFXCOM so the ISY could talk to it. Now either way, you only need 18 more. Ken
ResIpsa Posted November 3, 2008 Posted November 3, 2008 What he said! 17 When you say "integrating it with ISY" are you saying you want to build the RFXCOM receivers into the ISY or have the ISY be able to talk to the RFXCOM over the network (or USB)? If the former, yes I would pay to trade in my ISY for one with the RFXCOM built in. If the latter, yes I would buy a LAN RFXCOM so the ISY could talk to it. Now either way, you only need 18 more. Ken
Michel Kohanim Posted November 4, 2008 Posted November 4, 2008 Hi all, We do not currently have the resources to incorporate protocol specific hardware in ISY. Our solution will be completely network based and we would probably have to poll the device in some short intervals. 17 more!!!! With kind regards, Michel What he said! 17 When you say "integrating it with ISY" are you saying you want to build the RFXCOM receivers into the ISY or have the ISY be able to talk to the RFXCOM over the network (or USB)? If the former, yes I would pay to trade in my ISY for one with the RFXCOM built in. If the latter, yes I would buy a LAN RFXCOM so the ISY could talk to it. Now either way, you only need 18 more. Ken
upstatemike Posted November 4, 2008 Posted November 4, 2008 Hello Jim, We are working on a serial expander for ISY which, when ready, will allow you to attach your W800RF (among other things) directly to ISY. Will this have an option to echo the log out the serial port in real time so that other devices can trigger things off of the status changes tracked by the ISY? Will there be an option to construct custom ascii out strings sent from programs? For example: will I be able to have a program trigger on a dimming level cahnge of a switch and send an ascii string out to a TTS program on a PC that will speak the new dim level? Code: Living Room Lamp Level If Status 'Living Room Lamp' is changed Then Serial Out "speak.exe The Living Room Lamp is now set to %'Living Room Lamp Status' percent" Else - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action') Where speak.exe is some TTS program on a PC and %Living Room Lamp Status is a variable that holds the current state of device Living Room Lamp.
Michel Kohanim Posted November 5, 2008 Posted November 5, 2008 Hello upstatemike, I think the Action part depends on YOU and the catcher-program at the PC end. But, apart from that, yes; that's precisely what we have envisioned. Our Serial Expander solution has gone through very many iterations and it's getting more and more refined (with some early prototypes). Hopefully, we'll have something soon. With kind regards, Michel Hello Jim, We are working on a serial expander for ISY which, when ready, will allow you to attach your W800RF (among other things) directly to ISY. Will this have an option to echo the log out the serial port in real time so that other devices can trigger things off of the status changes tracked by the ISY? Will there be an option to construct custom ascii out strings sent from programs? For example: will I be able to have a program trigger on a dimming level cahnge of a switch and send an ascii string out to a TTS program on a PC that will speak the new dim level? Code: Living Room Lamp Level If Status 'Living Room Lamp' is changed Then Serial Out "speak.exe The Living Room Lamp is now set to %'Living Room Lamp Status' percent" Else - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action') Where speak.exe is some TTS program on a PC and %Living Room Lamp Status is a variable that holds the current state of device Living Room Lamp.
RichTJ99 Posted January 12, 2009 Posted January 12, 2009 Michel, I was curious if there were any updates to the possibility of the W800 serial expander? Thanks, Rich
Michel Kohanim Posted January 13, 2009 Posted January 13, 2009 Hi Rich, Unfortunately, all new capabilities were put on hold while we are getting INSTEON issues resolved. With kind regards, Michel Michel, I was curious if there were any updates to the possibility of the W800 serial expander? Thanks, Rich
RichTJ99 Posted July 14, 2009 Posted July 14, 2009 Michel, I figured i would bump this to see if this is any closer. Thanks, Rich Hi Rich, Unfortunately, all new capabilities were put on hold while we are getting INSTEON issues resolved. With kind regards, Michel Michel, I was curious if there were any updates to the possibility of the W800 serial expander? Thanks, Rich
Michel Kohanim Posted July 14, 2009 Posted July 14, 2009 Hello Rich, Much closer: we are working on a framework change which allows the inclusion of network devices with their capabilities. I cannot give you an ETA yet (unfortunately). With kind regards, Michel
RichTJ99 Posted July 14, 2009 Posted July 14, 2009 Michel, That is great news, I was getting ready to buy a bunch of other hardware & it seems I can just sit tight for a few more months. I am looking forward to using the W800 on the ISY! Thanks, Rich
RAldridge Posted July 15, 2009 Posted July 15, 2009 It would be great to have the ability to send and receive simple ascii strings to communicate between ISY and Stargate through RS232 serial ports. Count me in! Will there be an option to construct custom ascii out strings sent from programs? For example: will I be able to have a program trigger on a dimming level cahnge of a switch and send an ascii string out to a TTS program on a PC that will speak the new dim level? Code: Living Room Lamp Level If Status 'Living Room Lamp' is changed Then Serial Out "speak.exe The Living Room Lamp is now set to %'Living Room Lamp Status' percent" Else - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action') Where speak.exe is some TTS program on a PC and %Living Room Lamp Status is a variable that holds the current state of device Living Room Lamp.
MikeB Posted July 15, 2009 Posted July 15, 2009 It would be great to have the ability to send and receive simple ascii strings to communicate between ISY and Stargate through RS232 serial ports. In case you weren't aware, SENDING ASCII strings is possible using an ethernet > RS-232 adapter (such as the Elk IP232 or Global Cache products). However, the ISY cannot yet trigger based on received strings.
RAldridge Posted July 15, 2009 Posted July 15, 2009 In case you weren't aware, SENDING ASCII strings is possible using an ethernet > RS-232 adapter (such as the Elk IP232 or Global Cache products). However, the ISY cannot yet trigger based on received strings. Yes, thanks Mike. Triggering the ISY is the key element missing. And I would rather give the money to UDI for some type of serial module. Ruben
RichTJ99 Posted July 16, 2009 Posted July 16, 2009 BTW, I would also rather give UDI my money than buying multiple adapters.
chuckl Posted August 1, 2009 Posted August 1, 2009 Will the ISY support more than one network serial expander simultaneously? I have both 310MHz and 433MHz versions of the W800 presently connected through HomeSeer via the AC-RF2 plug-in to support a mix of US and Euro X10 wireless devices. For me, the wireless X10 interface for X10 is the last major hurdle to overcome in HomeSeer migration. In any event, if it only can support one, then "16 to go", else "15 to go!"
gjadams Posted August 2, 2009 Posted August 2, 2009 Would also be interested in this. And hearing more details. Redoing the system now with the ISY99 and I love it. Usinge HomeSeer for a few things and would move that to the ISY.
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