newbie questions about Insteon-HS interop.

[ppespepe]

Hello,

Is it possible to use keypads or 8 scene mini remotes to trigger HS events using the Insteon Hub, HS3 (perhaps 4 in the future?) and you Plugin?

I bought the thing just thinking it should work (waiting for delivery) and bought an 8 scene mini remote and open/close sensors to test. Will I be able to control those things on HS?

Thanks!

PP

[mnsandler]

Yes, if you use the hub as the interface, and then register the 8 btn remote, you can use the Insteon Special Triggers to trigger events from button presses.

[ppespepe]

Thank you mnsandler!

I just received my keypadlinc or whatever the name is... and it simply work how I wanted!!!

I bought the Hub and some things just to test it... I think Insteon is a GREAT complement to Z-Wave and Wifi devices... I can't wait to receive my iolinc (again or whatever the name is :P )... Having Keypads and controlling them from HS is soooooooo coooooool!!!

This is how it looks:

Just bought the plugin at once! And if the plugin is later developed for HS4 I will buy it again!

Thanks!

PP

[Burrington]

PP: Suggestion - Instead of using "Changes and becomes On" use the Insteon Special Trigger "Transmits an On Command". If HS thinks the device is already on, and sees "Changes and Becomes On", the event will not fire. But if you use "Transmits an ON Command" the original state as known by HS doesn't matter. This situation can come up if an OFF command is missed for some reason, the button changed state while HS was not running, power failures, etc. Just solves a few irritants.

Note that Mark has given us several "Insteon Special Triggers" such as "Fast ON", "Ramp", etc that allow us to give a button multiple purposes. For example you could set up events so that pressing a button (Transmits an ON) turns a light on normally, but double-clicking the same button (Transmits a Fast ON) turns the light on and then off again in 5 minutes. The Insteon Special Triggers are very useful!

[JimSpy]

Thank you mnsandler!

I... I think Insteon is a GREAT complement to Z-Wave and Wifi devices... I

See what I mean? (Ref. the thread "Whither Insteon?") "Oh, Insteon! How cute! I'm sure my Z-Wave will love to play with it!"

[JimSpy]

(Not aimed at you, PPESPEPE, just reminiscent of a discussion we're having...)

[ppespepe]

(Not aimed at you, PPESPEPE, just reminiscent of a discussion we're having...)

🤣 No problem....

[ppespepe]

PP: Suggestion - Instead of using "Changes and becomes On" use the Insteon Special Trigger "Transmits an On Command". If HS thinks the device is already on, and sees "Changes and Becomes On", the event will not fire. But if you use "Transmits an ON Command" the original state as known by HS doesn't matter. This situation can come up if an OFF command is missed for some reason, the button changed state while HS was not running, power failures, etc. Just solves a few irritants.

Note that Mark has given us several "Insteon Special Triggers" such as "Fast ON", "Ramp", etc that allow us to give a button multiple purposes. For example you could set up events so that pressing a button (Transmits an ON) turns a light on normally, but double-clicking the same button (Transmits a Fast ON) turns the light on and then off again in 5 minutes. The Insteon Special Triggers are very useful!

Thanks for this suggestion!!! The double click is even cooler!!!

Changed my config to the special triggers and it works even better!!!

Once again, thank you!

PP

[ppespepe]

Guys... I did something I have no idea if its (Insteon) legal.

I added a 2413u to my Indigo server, I have the hub on HS3 and I can receive 8 scene remote command on both systems. And I can turn on or off a lamp dimmer using the whatever lamp line dimmer module... from both sides...

The thing is, I can play with my Insteon devices (I have like 6 anyways since I'm two weeks old on this technology) from both HA software... I could even add the 2413u to my hub... for what? I dunno... and I dunno if something is going to explode (figuratively speaking of course) but this is very cool.... I mean, either Zigbee or Z-Wave allows you to do that... whether it is right or wrong doing it on Insteon...

Perhaps I can use a button on a remote that can trigger Indigo to select some speakers using Airfoil and then HS to play a song on that particular iTunes using the iTunesDAAP plugin while sending me a message on iMessage through Indigo... is this cool or what?

Does any of you know if what I'm doing is an idiotic or good idea?

PP

[Burrington]

I'm not familiar with Indigo Server but hey, anything you can have fun making work, and serves a purpose - is way cool!

That being said, having two masters in a system is usually trouble. For example, what if HS says its dusk so turn the lights on, and Indigo says I'm away so turn the lights off...

It is usually a better design to have only one master controller in a system. The master tells the other sub-controllers what to do via a communication link between them (ip, RS232, USB, HS Plug-in, etc). You will find that makes your events easier to design and more reliable because one master has all the data from every sub-controller, and uses it to make smart decisions and then tells the others what to do. That makes trouble-shooting easier, allows a single coordinated log of all happenings, and allows everything to be done via a single local or remote access. With two masters you need to access multiple user-interfaces on different systems depending on what function you want to perform.

My system is set up that way. I use HS as the master controller and central point of contact for everything. Each sub-controller communicates with HS as the central point (think hub and spoke). That allows info from one sub-system to be passed to other sub-systems (through HS) without needing a dedicated comm link between them. For sub-systems I have an old Stargate (which communicates with my thermostats, irrigation, and a number of IO ports), Serial Insteon Controller, telephone controller, serial links to TV's, Denon Receiver, Marantz Receiver, BlueIris Software for Cameras, LED Light controller (Christmas lights), Z-Wave controller for door locks, multiple Raspberry Pi's (Halloween Displays), UPS battery backup, plus a number of software only sub-systems that run right on the HS Server.

The way you design your events is that when a sub-system gets a piece of data, rather than acting on it directly, it is just sent to HS. HS then makes a decision based on that data plus everything else it knows and then tells the sub-controller what to do. For example: an Insteon motion sensor detects that you are walking down the hallway. The Insteon controller receives that data and rather than turn the associated light on, it just advises HS that there is motion. HS being the master controller, knows that it is daylight and the light doesn't need to be turned on, so no further action is taken. If it is night time, HS sends a command back to the Insteon controller to turn the light on. HS could also take other actions based on that data such as telling the Denon sub-system to turn on the music.

Each sub-system can have its own detailed tasks to carry out based on instruction from the master. For example, my HS decides when its time for the irrigation system to run based on rain sensor and weather forecast. It then tells my Stargate Sub-system to run the irrigation routine and Stargate makes it happen, opening and closing valves for the next 2 hours. Stargate reports its progress back to HS at each step for logging and error detection. So while Stargate could easily do the whole thing based on day of week, the master HS can add weather forecast to the decision and make it work even better. And if I decide to over-ride it, I can do it in the HS User-Interface rather than needing to go to the Stargate UI.

Long explanation to say that what you did was very cool, but in the long run you'll be much happier if you design your system as a hub & spoke with a single master.

[mnsandler]

Guys... I did something I have no idea if its (Insteon) legal.

I added a 2413u to my Indigo server, I have the hub on HS3 and I can receive 8 scene remote command on both systems. And I can turn on or off a lamp dimmer using the whatever lamp line dimmer module... from both sides...

The thing is, I can play with my Insteon devices (I have like 6 anyways since I'm two weeks old on this technology) from both HA software... I could even add the 2413u to my hub... for what? I dunno... and I dunno if something is going to explode (figuratively speaking of course) but this is very cool.... I mean, either Zigbee or Z-Wave allows you to do that... whether it is right or wrong doing it on Insteon...

Perhaps I can use a button on a remote that can trigger Indigo to select some speakers using Airfoil and then HS to play a song on that particular iTunes using the iTunesDAAP plugin while sending me a message on iMessage through Indigo... is this cool or what?

Does any of you know if what I'm doing is an idiotic or good idea?

PP

there is no problem controlling devices from two different sources. devices can be linked to multiple controllers. the question is do both systems need to be updated if the device is controller by the other device. things will get out of sync.