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    #31
    Originally posted by Rvtravlr View Post

    In our great room we have a tablet displaying most of our cameras from Blue Iris. If we are in a room and want to see what our cameras are streaming, we ask Alexa to “turn on cameras” and the TV in that room turns on if off, then switches to the IP Camera Viewer app on the TV which is used to display the streams from our cameras.
    I like this one. Thought i had tested BI's UI3 web viewer on my TV and that didn't work. Is that what you are doing?

    I REALLY wanted to do this with PnP, but alas, that is not a big feature on TVs any longer for some reason.

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      #32
      Originally posted by Tomgru View Post

      I like this one. Thought i had tested BI's UI3 web viewer on my TV and that didn't work. Is that what you are doing?

      I REALLY wanted to do this with PnP, but alas, that is not a big feature on TVs any longer for some reason.
      Easily done with Nvidia SHIELD, Tasker and TinyCam Pro : https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...r.pro&hl=en_GB

      You can even cycle the cameras by at what moment motion is detected.

      Eman.
      TinkerLand : Life's Choices,"No One Size Fits All"

      Comment


        #33
        Originally posted by Tomgru View Post

        I like this one. Thought i had tested BI's UI3 web viewer on my TV and that didn't work. Is that what you are doing?

        I REALLY wanted to do this with PnP, but alas, that is not a big feature on TVs any longer for some reason.
        I’m using a Roku app called IP Cam Viewer. I positioned the app as the first one (upper left corner). Harmony PI switches TV to Home Screen then moves over 1 place and launches the app.
        Michael

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          #34
          Originally posted by Tomgru View Post

          I like this one. Thought i had tested BI's UI3 web viewer on my TV and that didn't work. Is that what you are doing?

          I REALLY wanted to do this with PnP, but alas, that is not a big feature on TVs any longer for some reason.
          I agree I would prefer to use PnP for my cam notification. I have a hard wired motion sensor on my front door that reports through my alarm panel to homeseer. An event in homeseer makes an announcement when motion is detected and then switches the tv input. I use MeiHarmonyHub to pause current content, then switch to the HDMI input my blueiris setup is using. In my case I have blueiris installed on a dedicated computer so just connecting it's HDMI output to my tv was the simplest route. If I'm in the living room the tv is on so I don't need to turn it on prior to switching inputs.

          Hardest part of the whole setup was making sure that blueiris UI would start up when windows rebooted; had to make sure it didn't ask for a password and then had to fight with windows to kill the 'allow app to make changes to your computer' notice. Blueiris starts up with my front door cam maximized.
          HS4 Pro on Shuttle NC10U, Win10; Z-NET
          Number of Devices: 1005
          Number of Events: 293

          Plug-Ins: BLLock, DirecTv, EasyTrigger, Honeywell WiFi Thermostat, Marquis monoprice Amp, MeiHarmonyHub, PHLocation2, Pushover 3P, UltraM1G3, rnbWeather, Worx Landroid, Z-Wave

          External applications: Homebridge-homeseer, Geofency, EgiGeoZone.

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            #35
            Originally posted by Michael McSharry View Post
            2.Firewood is staged in the garage. The house-to-garage doorway has a pair of laser beams so direction of motion can be sensed. The garage light turns on/off based upon going into or out of garage. Very handy when hands are full with a load of firewood.
            I can see this with a beam and 2 photosensors or a pair of beams and sensors, but how far apart are they? Are they in the door jamb/framing? Going from hinge to latch or floor to ceiling? I have a few places where I can use this and can see myself embedding them in the jambs but want to make sure the distance works. Using an Ardiuno or other kind of system to report the breaks and maybe MQTT to send the direction/information? Let's see a write-up please!

            Karl
            Karl S
            HS4Pro on Windows 10
            1070 Devices
            56 Z-Wave Nodes
            104 Events
            HSTouch Clients: 3 Android, 1 iOS
            Google Home: 3 Mini units, 1 Pair Audios, 2 Displays

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              #36
              The mcsMQTT manual describes the motion direction project. Http://mcsSprinklers.com/mcsMQTT.pdf.

              I have a 36” doorway. The laser beams and LDR are mounted on the garage drywall near the door. A more elegant solution would be in the doorway itself, but you need a mechanism to adjust the angle of each laser so the beam hits the LDR. The greater the distance, the more precise the adjustment mechanism needs to be.

              You can see in the project description I first tried IR diodes but they could not span 36 inches. I never tried using modulated IR such as is used in IR remote,

              I also did not try a wider light beam so that only one source was needed.

              As a side note the laser beam was interesting to our grandson so I had to power it with a smartplug so that the beam was only present in the evening when the garage lights needed control. We did not want him looking into the light beam. IR rather than visible light has an advantage in this respect.

              Comment


                #37
                You win today's internet !!! I like

                Originally posted by Alex_W View Post
                My favorite things are the the wall mounted touchscreens I use ot automate the A/V system. I restore vintage electronics and it is very useful to be able to switch the components on and off remotely using Zwave modules.

                The thing that generates the most "oohs & aahs" is only peripherally related to automation (it is tied into a relay board that is integrated with HS). That would be the hidden door to my workshop with an electromagnetic latch controlled by a capacitance switch.

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                  #38
                  I have ALWAYS wanted a bookshelf doorway...... Jelly!



                  My FAVORITES are not that exciting, just very very useful.

                  Turn the back yard lights on. Our house is wide and all the back yard lights are controlled by switches all over the house. When we first moved in it was a PITA to turn everything on and off. Thanks to the WS/D200's we can turn some or all of them on/off from the main back porch door with a tap or two when we let the dogs out. SUPER convenient.

                  Night Night! Turns off all the downstairs lights and TV's, resets the A/Cs and locks all the doors. Indicator lights on the WD200's confirm the doors and gates are shut and if/where any motion has been detected downstairs or outside.

                  Halloween. We've automated the entire fright line all the way to and from the door with the exception of candy deployment. Soon.

                  The only "Smart" things we have going is that we get a text when a battery operated device is at 35% (less than green on our batter tester). Oh, and when the pool chlorine goes below our preferred level, it lets us know. If we remember to adjust the counter, it will let us know if we need to bring a bag of salt home with us....

                  I had been hesitant to do things automatically so I wouldn't forget to do it. It kept me on my toes. But, as I am getting older (and busier for some reason....) it's nice to get a reminder or to do it before HS does it for me. If I forget, and I have, HS gets it done.

                  Having said that, I can see the grill gas shutoff automation in my future.
                  .

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                    #39
                    Thanks all! Glad you like the bookcase.

                    Comment


                      #40
                      In addition to some of the things others already listed, I think the ones I find the most useful/amusing:
                      • during football season, all my exterior lights turn blue whenever the Cowboys are playing (triggered from google calendar)
                      • at 5am and 5pm, the LEDs on the dimmer switch in the kitchen next to my dog’s food bowls start to blink orange to remind me to feed my dog - the LEDs return to normal as soon as I open the bin where the food is stored ... more importantly, this ensures that I don’t feed my dog twice ... she is a remarkably good actor and has convinced me several times to feed her, when I am sure I already did, but don’t know for certain 😂
                      • I have a time of day electric plan, so my electricity is discounted 80% after 8pm, so usually the LEDs on all my switches are white, but after 8pm they turn blue
                      • if my car is within 30 miles of my home, and the weather forecast is rain for my home zip code, if my car is parked for more than 5 min, the system closes my sunroof
                      i have a bunch more, but completely agree that HA is all about the logic that takes care of things you otherwise might forget or would have to take manual action to accomplish. Logging into your nest thermostat from the grocery store to change your A/C is NOT HA ... it’s just remote control.

                      Comment


                        #41
                        Originally posted by richardfj View Post
                        In addition to some of the things others already listed, I think the ones I find the most useful/amusing:
                        • during football season, all my exterior lights turn blue whenever the Cowboys are playing (triggered from google calendar)
                        • at 5am and 5pm, the LEDs on the dimmer switch in the kitchen next to my dog’s food bowls start to blink orange to remind me to feed my dog - the LEDs return to normal as soon as I open the bin where the food is stored ... more importantly, this ensures that I don’t feed my dog twice ... she is a remarkably good actor and has convinced me several times to feed her, when I am sure I already did, but don’t know for certain 😂
                        • I have a time of day electric plan, so my electricity is discounted 80% after 8pm, so usually the LEDs on all my switches are white, but after 8pm they turn blue
                        • if my car is within 30 miles of my home, and the weather forecast is rain for my home zip code, if my car is parked for more than 5 min, the system closes my sunroof
                        i have a bunch more, but completely agree that HA is all about the logic that takes care of things you otherwise might forget or would have to take manual action to accomplish. Logging into your nest thermostat from the grocery store to change your A/C is NOT HA ... it’s just remote control.
                        I agree. Automation is more than just remote control. Sometimes the line between the two is blurred. For example, I use touch screens to control modules that turn vintage amplifiers on and off for audio in different areas of the house. I use events to turn on all of the source components when any of the amps is turned on, and to turn the sources off after all of the amps have been off for 5 seconds.

                        Comment


                          #42
                          Originally posted by richardfj View Post
                          In addition to some of the things others already listed, I think the ones I find the most useful/amusing:
                          • during football season, all my exterior lights turn blue whenever the Cowboys are playing (triggered from google calendar)
                          • if my car is within 30 miles of my home, and the weather forecast is rain for my home zip code, if my car is parked for more than 5 min, the system closes my sunroof
                          Curious as to how you implemented these. Can you expand?
                          Michael

                          Comment


                            #43
                            Originally posted by richardfj View Post
                            In addition to some of the things others already listed, I think the ones I find the most useful/amusing:[LIST][*]at 5am and 5pm, the LEDs on the dimmer switch in the kitchen next to my dog’s food bowls start to blink orange to remind me to feed my dog - the LEDs return to normal as soon as I open the bin where the food is stored ... more importantly, this ensures that I don’t feed my dog twice ... she is a remarkably good actor and has convinced me several times to feed her, when I am sure I already did, but don’t know for certain 😂
                            I really like your dog feeding implementation. So much that I implemented something similar yesterday. Unfortunately, I cannot use the "bin open" notification, since my dog food is stored in the same area as other things.

                            Which does bring up a question: How do you handle when someone needs to access that bin for other reasons (perhaps to restock)? Do the dogs just not get fed that day?

                            Comment


                              #44

                              Hey Mike,

                              What flow meter do you use?

                              Originally posted by fresnoboy View Post
                              My HS system does a lot of boring, but useful stuff:

                              1) Homeseer reads alerts from blue-iris about the security cameras motion sensors. Since we live at the very end of a street that gets very little traffic, if the cameras see anyone walking or a car driving in front of the house past midnight but before sunrise, it flips the exterior lights on in a sequence that makes it look like someone was up and noticed a car was there.

                              2) Because of homeseer integration with the sensors in the security system, If someone opens a window in a bedroom or the door from the family room to the patio, it shuts the HVAC system down for that zone. No point in running HVAC if the windows in the area are open!

                              3) Homeseer can control the gas valve to the outdoor BBQ. I used to have a problem with leaving the burners on, and having them run all night or even a few days if I didn't catch it, once with damage resulting to the grill. Now HS turns the valve off every night at 9 PM. No having to worry about leaving the gas on. A double tap on the zwave switch near the grill that controls the lights in that area, and I can turn the valve on, without having to access the app or voice control.

                              4) We have a whole house water filter, and I have a flow meter attached, so it can tell me when to replace the filter based on how many gallons have flowed through the meter instead just after X months.

                              5) I am integrating the harmony remotes, so when the remote switches the TV on the lighting can switch to the proper mode for viewing based on time of day and what else is going on in the house.

                              6) I use these old Crestron 16x60 Amps that are available for cheap as the core of a whole house sound system, but since I don't have a Crestron system, they act as dumb amps. . They are built by ATI and just awesome with plenty of power and awesome sound. They are fed by chomecast audios (also cheap), but the amp doesn't have auto power on when they detect audio signal. HS reads the status of my chomecast audios, and when it detects playback starting, it kicks on the multizone amp for that zone. After it goes idle for 10 mins, it switches power off again.

                              If I can get my aqara sensors to be reliable (zigbee issues), I will program the bathroom fans in the kids rooms to turn on automatically when the humidity reaches a certain level. My kids can't seem to get that they NEED to have the fan on when they are taking a shower.


                              In short, a lot of boring things that aren't flashy, but solve real problems and help keep the house running efficiently and well.

                              mike

                              Comment


                                #45
                                Originally posted by aa6vh View Post
                                ...Which does bring up a question: How do you handle when someone needs to access that bin for other reasons (perhaps to restock)? Do the dogs just not get fed that day?
                                I have a cabinet door behind which are meds I need to take twice a day. I set two periods during which the trigger can occur. If I haven't opened the cabinet within the time period, it sets off the event. If the cabinet is opened any other time (like to replenish), the event is not triggered. Its not perfect. There are 2 hours during the day that someone else opening the cabinet would cancel the event. Hasn't happened yet. Something similar would work out well for dog feeding.

                                I'm going to set up the dog food bin now! Great idea. Super easy with a tilt switch! We have a manual twice-daily indicator that is stuck ON THE LID of the bin and "people" still forget to move the little button before they open the lid..."Oh, I'm pretty sure I remember flipping it!" We have beagles that are SUPER food driven, but I don't think they have figured out the buttons.....yet.
                                .

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