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FortrezZ's MIMO Z-wave module BETA test - Works!

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    #16
    Well, as it happens, I displayed a complete lack of self control and ran home at lunch time to install .60

    The child devices showed up immediately when I rescanned the node to establish its capabilities.

    Now to see if I can get the thing to behave nicely...
    Doug

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      #17
      Great news Doug! Hopefully MIMO will play nice for you...

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        #18
        Maybe I am just missing something, but I would like to see some ideas of what people are doing with this thing? It sounds intriguing, but I am not sold on it yet...

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          #19
          Well, a quick test shows the same problem that GatorKWM saw. In default configuration (MIMO2) the two relays can be controlled individually. If, however, I activate one and then also the other, the device fails and deactivates both relays.

          I suspect there's an improperly regulated power rail dropping too low when the second relay is activated, and the event does coincide with a warning showing up in its power monitor child device in HS. The supply to the 5V relay coils is around 4.7, dropping to around 4.5 or less when both are activated.

          I'll pass this info to Fortrezz, but I'm not greatly encouraged...

          Doug

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            #20
            What are we doing with this thing? In my case I'm trying to control a water valve (not a Fortrezz valve). It requires momentary contact to close, and a different momentary contact to open. The valve also reports status with microswitches, so I can read these out for confirmation of status.
            It also seems pretty good for garage door control.

            doug

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              #21
              My objective is garage door monitoring and control for two garage doors. Monitoring on SIG1 and SIG2, and control on REL1 and REL2.

              I was hoping this would be a z-wave solution for an i/o module. I'm currently using a Simply Automated UMI-32-W for this application, and it's pretty rock solid. However, it's the last piece of UPB left in my network, and I wanted to drop it and therefore remove UPB from my system.

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                #22
                I have been communicating with Fortrezz regarding the problem of the relays' outputs failing if both are activated simultaneously.

                They have been able to replicate this result, and report that it happens only on a recent revision of the board. Apparently a previous version didn't display this fault.

                They seem to be working on it, so presumably they'll come up with a fix soon.

                Doug

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                  #23
                  Doug,
                  Have you been able to successfully see state changes on SIG1 and SIG2 in HomeSeer?

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                    #24
                    Haven't tried them yet. I'm not too optimistic based on your experience... I'll let you know if I do over the weekend.
                    doug

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                      #25
                      Doug,
                      Just so you know where I am on that. Spoke with Fortrezz, and they said that for the magnetic contacts I was using, one leg had to be tied to the B+ (positive wire of the device adapter), and the other to the SIG1 (or SIG2) +. Otherwise, the change in voltage was not enough to register.

                      Now, SIG1 and SIG2 do show the opening/closing of the mag sensor (their lights either come on or turn off), but the change is not picked up by HomeSeer. Don't know if that is a MIMO issue or an HS issue.

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                        #26
                        Just an update after a few weeks.

                        I've checked in with Fortrezz a couple of times, and nothing has changed.

                        I'm unsure what to do with this. I'm feeling that it's not even really a "Beta" product yet as (at least this version) doesn't really work at all... That might be more bearable if I felt that Fortrezz was more motivated to get it going.

                        I'm wondering about sending it back and doing something else instead.

                        Generally, I want to get away from X10, but for fun the other day I hooked up an Arduino to an X10 PSC05 two way interface. It worked perfectly, so for less than the cost of a MIMO I've got dozens of I/O pins including analog at my disposal. Having a micro running my own code does give much more flexibility, so that (if I wanted to play around with it) I could mitigate much of the problems with X10 with various error checking and information encoding schemes.

                        Clearly, this approach isn't for everyone, but I think I could pretty readily make something quite flexible to play around with.

                        Doug

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                          #27
                          That's the same impression I got from Fortrezz. I don't think it is a priority for them. Well, I guess we have some funky-looking, yet expensive, paperweights...

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                            #28
                            Well, I've got a few expensive paperweights around the place so I think I'll be sending this one back to Amazon if Fortrezz doesn't do something to convince me that they have an interest in it.

                            It's not really a Beta level device if its basic functions don't work...

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                              #29
                              I got mine through HomeSeer. I don't know if they will put any pressure on Fortrezz to deliver a working product. We were promised a free upgrade whenever the production ready product comes out.

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                                #30
                                I received an email for the beta test but was also wanting to monitor/close two garage doors. Did you ever figure out the issues GatorKWM?

                                Thanks

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