The Global Cache WF2IR works

[adamthp]

On 7/27/2011 at 1:38 AM, auger66 said:

Many thanks to GPG and apostolakisl for the guidance. There's no telling how many hours it saved me.

 

I got two iTach units (WF and IP) today after giving up on a working Insteon IR solution. They both work great, and I was able to get rid of my last two X-10 devices. The Hunter Douglas Powerrise 1.0 blinds in my bedroom work consistently for the first time ever.

 

The IR blaster is a little weak, though. I had to aim it precisely.

 

Now that I have an iTach, I think I'll give iRule a shot at replacing my Harmony remote when the new iPod Touch comes out.

Hey @auger66

I know this post was from a lifetime ago, but I'm hoping you can help me with my Hunter Douglas power rise 1.0 blinds. Using Global Caches I can get them to work maybe 1 in 5 times. I have tried blasters and normal IR eyes, and spent days trying to reposition them.  I'm not sure if it is an aiming issue, or some issue with my NR. I wasn't able to learn the IR code through the Global Cache, and instead found the code on remote central and converted it. 

Any chance you would share your NR for your blinds?

 

Thanks!

[auger66]

I'll be glad to help, but I just got off an all night flight from Africa. I plan on sleeping the rest of the day. If you pm me your number and/or email address, I'll see what I can do.

Gary

[Broyd]

Hi folks! I just wanted to thank everyone who contributed to this thread. It allowed me to accomplish in an hour or so what otherwise would have likely taken me days (or more)! This includes all of the nuances of the iTach IP2IR unit, it's software, and all of the links to other posts on other sites and the accompanying resources.  Best regards!

[apostolakisl]

I traded out my IR version for the ethernet version.  The itach doesn't support newer wifi security protocols that my Unifi AP use.  It was going to have to configure a special ssid with downgraded security just for the itach.  I have found that the ethernet version works better.  It is pretty close to >99% success rate now, where before it was closer to 90%.

I have also bought a Harmony with the hub.  That works very well and is much easier to configure.  You don't need to learn the ir codes, harmony has essentially every code in the universe in its database.  It is also a 2 way communication so ISY knows the status of devices controlled from the remote.

[AnthemAVM]

Hello, 

I want to make sure I am looking at this device correctly. I want to be able to control my lights on my harmony remote. So want to make sure this is going the correct direction, this will take the ir code and send it via wifi to the isy? 

 

Thanks very much. 

[oberkc]

No, I think this is backwards.  The WF2IR can be programmed to EMIT an IR signal based upon network commands FROM the ISY.  I do not believe it can be programmed to receive IR signals and convert to network commands sent TO the ISY.  

I still have an old IRLinc which can receive IR commands from a harmony and convert them to insteon signals that can be read by the ISY, but I don't think they make those any more.  To my knowledge, neither is there a direct network interface between the harmony and ISY.  

Alternatively, there are versions of the ISY which can directly receive IR commands.  A strategically-placed ISY 994 could potentially be programmed to respond directly to those IR commands.

[apostolakisl]

10 hours ago, AnthemAVM said:

Hello, 

I want to make sure I am looking at this device correctly. I want to be able to control my lights on my harmony remote. So want to make sure this is going the correct direction, this will take the ir code and send it via wifi to the isy? 

 

Thanks very much. 

@oberkc is correct.  Global Cache device emits IR, it does not receive IR (except in learning mode).  The ISY itself receives IR commands, if you have that model.  I have an IR transmitter from my older harmony that "shines" at the ISY and the ISY then responds to it.  ISY has 40 built in IR codes it recognizes and the harmony database includes them. The new harmony hub can be directly integrated with ISY using plolyglot/harmony nodeserver.  The hub is fully integrated, the remote and ISY are fully synchronized.  This is over IP, not IR.  So if the remote does something, ISY knows, if ISY does something the remote knows.  Both are always in the same state.  In other words, if you have ISY activate your "watch a dvd" state, the remote also will be in that state, so you can then pick up the remote and it is set to control your dvd player.

[AnthemAVM]

19 hours ago, apostolakisl said:

@oberkc is correct.  Global Cache device emits IR, it does not receive IR (except in learning mode).  The ISY itself receives IR commands, if you have that model.  I have an IR transmitter from my older harmony that "shines" at the ISY and the ISY then responds to it.  ISY has 40 built in IR codes it recognizes and the harmony database includes them. The new harmony hub can be directly integrated with ISY using plolyglot/harmony nodeserver.  The hub is fully integrated, the remote and ISY are fully synchronized.  This is over IP, not IR.  So if the remote does something, ISY knows, if ISY does something the remote knows.  Both are always in the same state.  In other words, if you have ISY activate your "watch a dvd" state, the remote also will be in that state, so you can then pick up the remote and it is set to control your dvd player.

Thanks, I ordered Polisy and that should help make it easier for me.  Appreciate the response.

[LFMc]

How does the Global Cache IP2IR compare with the Harmony Hub?  I guess one difference is the IP2IR doesn't need Polyglot? Other differences?  I am still using 4.7.3 and don't have a polyglot server. 

[oberkc]

I would describe the WF2IR and, I assume, the IP2IR more as a "learning" remote, whereas the hub I would describe as "programmable".  So long that the Hub has the device you are trying to control in their library, great.  (Perhaps it can "learn" as well, but I have no experience with that aspect of the hub).  It has been a while since I have tried, but I believe there is also a way to sniff out the commands to then send from the ISY to the hub, but I do not recall this part of it being as slick as with the WF/IP2IR.

The IP2IR can (and must, if you don't have known commands) learn your commands from the existing IR remotes.  Furthermore, if I recall, the method for learning will give you the commands needed to plug into the ISY network module.  It takes a bit of time and there was a small learning curve and experimentation for me, but not too bad.  Of course you need the original remote control and the network module.

The hub is probably larger and has a built-in blaster.  I think the IP2IR (if like my WF2IR) has to have connected IR emitters.

[robl]

I used both in conjunction with each other:

• Bulitin IR reader on the ISY, Harmony actions would send a special ir code to identify themselves so the isy could track
• IR blaster (wf2ir) to blast commands out to harmony and the other devices. I used a cgi-bin perl script and network commands from isy
• Harmony for the great remote control when there in person
• IR distribution repeater
• IR emitters in front of devices and raw IT into 2 receivers
• Some care was required to be sure the IR out from the blaster and from harmony could fee into the IR distribution and not also go through other emitters (which confuses devices)

One of the more complex scenarios was to train Harmony to send an IR code to turn my 4k disk player on. Stupid thing only has power toggle. So with a current sensor, ISY is able to interpret the harmony created "fake ir on" to decide if the power toggle was needed or not. Another complex scenario is to power detect when the TV is manually turned on to then turn on all the other AV equipment. I had to disable the "tv off" turns everything off - sometimes false positives were really disappointing. :)

With node services, I see a vast simplification of the stuff above. :) Much simpler to extend some of the AV node servers to understand my system and do the same as my cgi-bin perl scripts. Also, the Harmony node server on ISY makes my cgi-bin running harmony.py no longer necessary.

[lilyoyo1]

4 hours ago, LFMc said:

How does the Global Cache IP2IR compare with the Harmony Hub?  I guess one difference is the IP2IR doesn't need Polyglot? Other differences?  I am still using 4.7.3 and don't have a polyglot server. 

To me, global cache is best if you want completely local without having to worry about someone deciding to push an update that breaks something or bricks your device. Because Harmony is designed to be a  full service remote, it has multiple uses besides controlling ir stuff. 

For example, I have a couple of hubs that I use with my Sonos (his & hers if you will). While I use@simplextechvery fine Sonos nodeserver for individual players, I use the Harmony for my groups (was up and running before his nodeserver). 

Because we only use Harmony remotes in all bedrooms, the status of stuff generally stays in sync (rarely an issue). This helps with the biased lights behind the TV's as well as all off, good night, and other scenes. 

[Javi]

Just thought I would mention that you also have access to Global Caché's Control Tower Database which has ir codes for many devices. If i remember correctly you are only allowed 5 downloads per day (a download is a single ir code or a whole set, so be sure to select he whole set).   If you do decide to go with the Global Caché's I recommend you do not get the WiFi versions as they are difficult to connect ( can provide links to setup if requested).   Global Caché's also provides Windows (not sure about ios from memory) software  to test/create/learn ir codes from the iTach.

 

If anyone is interested I created  a python script a couple of years ago to parse the email sent from the Control Tower Database so all ir codes can be saved to a .csv file.  Link https://github.com/JavierRefuerzo/Global-Cache-Control-Tower-Email-Parser

[apostolakisl]

On 2/5/2020 at 9:01 AM, Javi said:

Just thought I would mention that you also have access to Global Caché's Control Tower Database which has ir codes for many devices. If i remember correctly you are only allowed 5 downloads per day (a download is a single ir code or a whole set, so be sure to select he whole set).   If you do decide to go with the Global Caché's I recommend you do not get the WiFi versions as they are difficult to connect ( can provide links to setup if requested).   Global Caché's also provides Windows (not sure about ios from memory) software  to test/create/learn ir codes from the iTach.

 

If anyone is interested I created  a python script a couple of years ago to parse the email sent from the Control Tower Database so all ir codes can be saved to a .csv file.  Link https://github.com/JavierRefuerzo/Global-Cache-Control-Tower-Email-Parser

I don't know about the wifi versions they currently sell, but the one I bought several years ago uses some form of wifi that is problematic.  I totally forget the details, but my Ubiquiti stuff would not connect to it unless I "downgraded" my wifi security protocols.  It was a lot of hoops to jump through and I decided that it would be better to keep my wifi running on a more secure protocol and switch to the ethernet version of the GC.  I have found that the ethernet version just plain works better too.  I have very close to 100% success rate now and when I was on wifi it was definitely less.  Mind you, the GC was only 10 feet from my wifi, so it was not a signal strength issue.

[robl]

Hmm, it works with my ubiquiti stuff, but setting it up was a real pain. The wifi only worked with old clients, and I had to borrow an iphone. No go with my android phone or tablets. Bummer,. I'd hoped they'd fixed it by now!

[simplextech]

It's very likely they are not compatible with 5Ghz wifi which is a problem with lots of devices.  Turning off the 5Ghz radio on Unifi AP's is necessary for setup of a lot of devices.  Same with phones if they are connected using the 5Ghz radio they won't be able to configure the device.

[apostolakisl]

10 hours ago, simplextech said:

It's very likely they are not compatible with 5Ghz wifi which is a problem with lots of devices.  Turning off the 5Ghz radio on Unifi AP's is necessary for setup of a lot of devices.  Same with phones if they are connected using the 5Ghz radio they won't be able to configure the device.

It was not that.  It is the protocol, not the frequency.  https://globalcache.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360029674152-Integrating-iTach-WiFi-units-with-Ubiquiti-APs

[simplextech]

16 minutes ago, apostolakisl said:

It was not that.  It is the protocol, not the frequency.  https://globalcache.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360029674152-Integrating-iTach-WiFi-units-with-Ubiquiti-APs

Old legacy 802.11b.... gotta love it.