BlueTooth Connector Features and Documentation

[plfinch]

Sorry for the game loss but my BT home and away events are rocking and rolling! Thank you for the quick fix!

So how do I get you $20 and get the license sorted out so the milk doesn't go bad on the 8th?

Peter

[bdhall]

Stipus,

Thanks for all your efforts with this plugin. I would like to buy this plugin but have an issue I am trying to work through. I can get things working with Poll Method DiscoverService but will loose communication with the device (a Motorola phone) after a short while. I am not sure at this point what my problem is. It seems to work well while it works. I am using a Kensington Model # 33348 Bluetooth USB adapter 2.0 which is supposed to work with Bluetooth v1.1, v1.2, and 2.0 enabled devices at a distance of up to 65 feet. I am using the Widcomm stack, and used the supplied cd for the device installation. There seems to be some negative publicity on the web concerning this Bluetooth device. I was considering buying a different device and perhaps trying the Microsoft stack. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Running HS 2.0.2070 and version 0.27 of the Bluetooth Connector.

Thanks!
Brian

[stipus]

Brian,

Unfortunately I don't have much experience with many different BT dongles but I can tell you I had a similar problem with a Palm device, and the problem wasn't on the dongle side, but on the palm side.

The bluetooth stack is not very stable on the palm device, and after many poll cycles, the stack would go south and the plugin see the palm as "away", until I soft reset the palm.

If I use the ConnectService method and a 10s poll interval, the Palm stack goes south in less than 2 hours.

Using the DiscoverService is a bit better, but the BT stack eventualy goes south after a while.

Using the AutoDiscovery poll method is a lot better, and the Palm BT stack supports this very well but ...as the palm goes asleep it shutdowns parts of bluetooth to save on power, and I need the LostConfirm parameter to be at least = 3.

[plfinch]

Brian,

I think this is a Motorola problem. I am using the Kensington dongle with a pair of Motorola V600 phones. One phone is rock solid and the other disappears after about 5 hours. The one that disappears has an earlier serial number and, I suspect, earlier firmware. I am currently using DiscoverService.

Peter

[TrOjAn]

OK, have got the latest version working.. I think? it has found my phone and I have setup to shw when the phone is near or away.. the status shows the phone near but when I turn off the bluetooth on my phone nothing happens.

Am I doing something wrong? I have it set to 0 so its in discovery mode all the time. I have tried al 3 of the discovery options but it seems nothing makes a difference.

Thanks for any help, TrOjAn

[stipus]

Trojan,

If you could write down all the parameters you used for your device, it would be easier to help.

If you are using the device values and strings, please write all the configured lines with order value string and expression

[plfinch]

Testing "Away"

I needed an easy way to simulate home and away while testing. Turning the phone or the phone's bluetooth on and off was not optimal since that is not the real condition of a phone leaving the premesis. Placing the phone far away in the house sometimes worked but the bluetooth range was pretty darn good and I am too lazy to walk that far. What I needed was a Faraday cage. So I got a pot with a lid out of the kitchen. Now to test "away" I just put the phone in the pot and put the lid on right where I am working on the computer. Easy, convenient, acurate.

Peter

[TrOjAn]

Stipus, thanks for the help.. heres some screen grabs.. pictures are so much easier to explain
TrOjAn

[plfinch]

Your first boolean expression is always true which is why the status does not ever change. See the examples. Only the last expression should be "true". Your expression needs to key off @(Network0) values.

Peter

[plfinch]

To be a little clearer, "value" and "string" are the actions - this is what the device will be set to. Expression is the condition when the actions should be performed. An expression of "@(Network0)>=0" for your first condition should fix things right up. This says "if the signal strength is >= 0" for this device then do the actions. MS stack has 0 for in-range. WidComm has a range but this expression should suffice.

Peter

[TrOjAn]

Your first boolean expression is always true which is why the status does not ever change. See the examples. Only the last expression should be "true". Your expression needs to key off @(Network0) values.

Peter

plfinch,

Yes I just realised what I had done... reading my own post how silly amI?, dont answer

Changed the first one to @(Network0) >= -1 all working..Just one point.. I have it pollining every 10 and the event I have, speak "TrOjAn is home", plays on the phone connect, but then it goes again around 10 minutes later and again and again..

I think I need to play some more but at least now its working.

TrOjAn

[stipus]

Trojan,

If you see the device flapping, you may try increasing the "Lost Confirm" setting to 2 or 3 for your Device.

[plfinch]

I have the events "Peter is Away", "Peter is Home". For these events the trigger is "Device Value Change - Peters Phone - Becomes - Away" and "Device Value Change - Peters Phone - Becomes - Home". This trigger only once when the status changes. The polling is only done in the BT plug-in and it is set at 11 seconds. When the plug-in sees the phone it changes the string to "Home" and when it doesn't it changes the string to "Away". The event then triggers off this change.

Peter

[darren-mc]

Anyone,

Do you have to have the devices paired with the host computer?

Cheers,

Darren

[plfinch]

I didn't pair any of them. Just place the BT device in "find me" mode and tell the plug-in to search for devices.

Peter