Excited To Buy MeiHarmonyHub

[murrysdad]

I am ready to buy MeiHarmonyHub but have some basic (newbe) questions.I use and love HSTouch on my Androids.My goal (dream) is to use MeiHarmonyHub (MH) as a android remote control for all of my devices as well as events with multiple IR and z-wave tasks. (I hate IR remotes, their layout for one):

1: Is it practical to use MH as the only remote for a device(s)?

2: Is there a translation somewhere when a command is just listed as "number1, or number8?"

3: If you have to learn a remote control and/or command using the Hub learn function, will MH have access to the learned remotes/commands? Will they appear as a drop a down menu(s)?

4: Can the volume of a device be set to a fixed level (e.g. 50%) or do you need to count up/down key presses?

I'm really excited about this product and chomping on the bit to purchase. I am getting the feeling from reading the reviews and this board whatever MeiHarmonyHub can't do today it will do it tommorrow.
Thanks

[sirmeili]

I will try and answer your questions as best as I can If I miss the mark, just let me know and I'll try and expand on my answers:

1: Is it practical to use MH as the only remote for a device(s)?
If your Harmony Hub can control it, then this plugin can control it, so Yes, I think using this with HS Touch would work out just fine. Just note that while I can monitor what activity is currently active, I CANNOT monitor the status of a device. For instance, I can't tell you if the TV is on or off or what volume it is at. I can tell that the Activity "Watch TV" is currently active though and you can send any command that the hub can send to a device.

2: Is there a translation somewhere when a command is just listed as "number1, or number8?"

The name of the command in the device list is the name I need to send to the hub to make it happen. For instance on my LG TV, VolumeUp is the command for turning up the volume. If it is requested enough, I could allow you to rename the statuses (or I could use the more friendly named ones I get from the hub) and I could map them internally based on the status value (the integer) I have assigned it in HomeSeer. This would allow you to rename "number1" to just "1" and I would do the internal mapping to revert it back to "number1" before sending it.

3: If you have to learn a remote control and/or command using the Hub learn function, will MH have access to the learned remotes/commands? Will they appear as a drop a down menu(s)?

I haven't tested this, but if you add an IR command to a device in the hub, then it should show up just fine. I will try and do a test this week and see how it goes.

4: Can the volume of a device be set to a fixed level (e.g. 50%) or do you need to count up/down key presses?

Since neither I nor the hub actually know the current volume of your device, this is not possible. However, if the plugin, and therefore HomeSeer, is your only method of controlling the devices, it would be possible for you to do this via scripting and/or events. This is because when ever you "control" a device, I actually temporarily set the value of that device to that command before resetting it back to "Choose a Command". This way you could fire events when your TV device has it's value set to "VolumeUp" and update a global variable or another device.

This would be something I could add into the plugin itself, but I don't think it would be used that much, so I don't think it's worth it. I do think it is possible though to do it on your own if you wanted to. It would be interesting to think and plan out all the events/scripts necessary to "monitor" the volume.

basically I have to go with you'll have to "count up/down key presses".

If I think of a way around this though, I'll let you know.

[murrysdad]

Frank - Thank you for the quick and detailed response. The fact that you are constantly adding features and updates to your software is very exciting. And a real good reason tie buy, now...

I'm a retired film sound man, with and Academy Award for co-developing Dolby Stereo, and credits on major films including the original "Star Wars" and Spielberg's "Close Encounters." I also co-founded Eventide Electronics who build amazing digital processors that you can program yourself.

I am building a very complex Home Entertainment/Recording Studio in our Great Room and based on what I am learning the HHub, HSTouch and your software can/will be the master control!


1: Is it practical to use MH as the only remote for a device(s)?

Not an issue I will devise my own status feedback in HST (of course I can always look at the TV to see if it is on,

2: Is there a translation somewhere when a command is just listed as "number1, or number8?"

The name of the command in the device list is the name I need to send to the hub to make it happen. For instance on my LG TV, VolumeUp is the command for turning up the volume. If it is requested enough, I could allow you to rename the statuses (or I could use the more friendly named ones I get from the hub) and I could map them internally based on the status value (the integer) I have assigned it in HomeSeer. This would allow you to rename "number1" to just "1" and I would do the internal mapping to revert it back to "number1" before sending it.

I think the ability to rename commands would be very useful for all especially us dyslexics (or is it dsylexic?)

3: If you have to learn a remote control and/or command using the Hub learn function, will MH have access to the learned remotes/commands? Will they appear as a drop a down menu(s)?

I haven't tested this, but if you add an IR command to a device in the hub, then it should show up just fine. I will try and do a test this week and see how it goes.

Please let me/us know. I have some older/rare equipment that may not be on their code lists.

4: Can the volume of a device be set to a fixed level (e.g. 50%) or do you need to count up/down key presses?

Since neither I nor the hub actually know the current volume of your device, this is not possible. However, if the plugin, and therefore HomeSeer, is your only method of controlling the devices, it would be possible for you to do this via scripting and/or events.

I have some ideas for events for this function...

Thanks again
Steve

[sirmeili]

No problem, Steve.

So my takeaways from this are:

1) Create ability to rename the "commands" as they show in the device drop downs (map them to the correct ones in the plugin itself)

2) Test and make sure that you can control devices that have had their IR codes set manually via the learn function.


I'm about 99.9% sure that 2 will work. I believe I have some devices where some of the commands were added this way, but I've had my Harmony's for 5+ years, so it's hard to remember (I have some old equipment that I use for my Halloween setup that I use my living room harmony remote to control as well)

[murrysdad]

How Do I Update The Plugin To An Added Device

Hi Frank,
Really love your plugin.

I just added a device to the Hub. How do I get it to show up in HS3? The list just shows my first device.

Thanks
Steve

[sirmeili]

There are 2 ways to have it update the config:

1) Restart the plugin. It checks for new activities and devices when the plugin starts up.

2) ON the main config page there is a setting called "Device polling". This defaults to 1 day. So once a day the plugin will check the hubs for new activities and devices.


I have it in my list to add a button on the Hubs tab for each device to "scan now" for devices, but I haven't gotten it added yet.

[murrysdad]

Hi Frank,
I happened into another way, I took the hub into the bedroom to test my setting, so far, they worked great. The z-wave was faster than the ir remote!

You might want to include how to update devices from the hub in you manual.

Also, I couldn't find the IP address of the Hub so I called Harmony. The tech was a real jerk and had no idea what I was talking about and kept trying to sell me an hub extender. He was so sure that it wouldn't work without it!!!

While on the phone I went to their forum and searched "IP."

Simple solution, load their mobile app. On the "About" page there it was, the unit IP. So much for their tech support!!!
Great plugin you built, highly recommended...s

[sirmeili]

Hi Frank,
I happened into another way, I took the hub into the bedroom to test my setting, so far, they worked great. The z-wave was faster than the ir remote!

You might want to include how to update devices from the hub in you manual.

Also, I couldn't find the IP address of the Hub so I called Harmony. The tech was a real jerk and had no idea what I was talking about and kept trying to sell me an hub extender. He was so sure that it wouldn't work without it!!!

While on the phone I went to their forum and searched "IP."

Simple solution, load their mobile app. On the "About" page there it was, the unit IP. So much for their tech support!!!
Great plugin you built, highly recommended...s

Yeah, I need to write a proper manual. I'll add it to my list.

I'll also see if there is an easy way to find the IP. Note though that if possible ,it is better to give it a static IP or assign it static reservation from your router. If you want to PM me with the details of your main network router, I can see if I can find some details for you on that. Otherwise you can just google it.

The reason for that is, if the IP address of the hub changes, it will not reconnect (Because it won't know where to find it).

[murrysdad]

Hi Frank,
Did you ever get my PM? Your plugin is working really great...s