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    Pick your brain...

    Ok, need your experience in Insteon.

    I have a Switchlinc relay that controls fluorescent kitchen lights, have two keypadlincs (button B) that allow control of these lights and display that they are on.

    * Counter Lights
    IS Controller for Counter Lights Scene (Keypad1-B and Keypad2-B)
    IS Responder to Counter Lights Scene (Keypad1-B and Keypad2-B)

    * Counter Lights Scene control (Keypad1-B and Keypad2-B)

    When we press the Switchlinc on button then lights go on like they should, and keypad1-B and Keypad2-B also light up....

    If I turn on Switchlinc via HomeSeer, then only the fluorescent lights go on but not the keypad1-b and keypad2-b....

    Is this another Insteon "feature"?

    I figure that since the Switchlinc is a "controller" for the scene, then it should also activate the scene to turn on the B buttons on the two keypads both locally operated and remotely via HomeSeer - not true?

    Same thing, if I turn on the Switchlinc and since it is a controller of the scene, then should it not also turn on the Counter Lights Scene?



    Not stating that this is a bug in the plugin, as it doesn't work via direct control of the ISY web application either.


    I suppose one could create a event rule that if the Switchlinc becomes on then turn on the Counter Lights Scene.. But really? Or you could add logic in the plugin... Or I suppose best would be to write a ISY rule/program...
    If this is how it works, then INSTEON in terms of using keypads as status controllers is junk!!
    HomeSeer 2, HomeSeer 3, Allonis myServer, Amazon Alexa Dots, ELK M1G, ISY 994i, HomeKit, BlueIris, and 6 "4k" Cameras using NVR, and integration between all of these systems. Home Automation since 1980.

    #2
    Ok, so the creation of a ISY program seems to work.

    For those that are following... I created the following ISY program:

    If status "Counter Lights" is ON
    then set scene "Counter Lights" ON
    else set scene "Counter Lights" OFF


    I guess I will be creating a lot of ISY programs unless you can come up with something else...

    Still seems to me that the raw protocol should be handling this itself!!

    ARGH
    HomeSeer 2, HomeSeer 3, Allonis myServer, Amazon Alexa Dots, ELK M1G, ISY 994i, HomeKit, BlueIris, and 6 "4k" Cameras using NVR, and integration between all of these systems. Home Automation since 1980.

    Comment


      #3
      Yeah, that's a feature.

      Think of the switchlinc as two devices, a load (the relay) and the switch (switch buttons)

      When you manually operate the switchlinc it sends a command (hard wired to the relay) and it sends the command out over the network to the other devices.

      When you send a command directly to the switchlinc, it goes to the load/relay directly. The command is addressed for that specific device. The switchlinc doesn't forward it on and all other devices will ignore it since it wasn't directed at them.

      When you send a command to the scene, it uses a different type of command that's not directed at any specific device (a broadcast). Every device sees the command. If specifi devices have an entry in it's link table for that broadcast command, they will then treat it similar to a direct command.

      Seems like with just a few tweaks to the protocol, Insteon could be a lot more powerful, but understanding was that they implemented it this way to specifically avoid patent issues with other automation protocols.
      --
      Bob Paauwe
      ISYInsteon Plug-in
      http://www.bobsplace.com/ISYInsteon/

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by Krumpy View Post
        Ok, so the creation of a ISY program seems to work.

        For those that are following... I created the following ISY program:

        If status "Counter Lights" is ON
        then set scene "Counter Lights" ON
        else set scene "Counter Lights" OFF


        I guess I will be creating a lot of ISY programs unless you can come up with something else...
        You should be able to send commands to the scene directly from HomeSeer and get the behavior you want without the program. But what you have will work too if there's a reason why using the switch directly makes more sense then using the scene.
        --
        Bob Paauwe
        ISYInsteon Plug-in
        http://www.bobsplace.com/ISYInsteon/

        Comment


          #5
          If I'm understanding what you're trying to do, I think I'm doing what you're trying to do (quite a bit). I have Keypadlincs with buttons that control and respond to other KPLs and Switchlincs.

          I basically set up a scene in the ISY for every light (load), then use the scene in HS as the primary on/off control for that load. Then it's easy to add/remove other switch buttons (SLs or KPLs) to each scene while keeping the same on/off button in HSTouch (or HS web interface).

          In my mind, this also helps with the Insteon model concept: the ISY (and thus Insteon) scene is now the real "control" for each individual light/device and you activate it by anything you put in that scene as a controller. And thus get the exact same results in HS by always using the ISY scene instead of the device.

          One example of this is my coffee/espresso machine: control buttons all over the place (bedroom, office, HS Touch, and three in the kitchen). But only the "scene" in HS is used to control it and thus everything stays in sync regardless of what is used to change it.

          The only downside of this I know is that while there is a dim/bright option for scenes, there is no absolute slider for brightness. So any slider-style dimming must be done from the direct device in HS (and will mess up the scene ON/OFF state in some cases).

          Let me know if this doesn't make enough sense and I can get some screenshots of how it's working.

          Comment

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