Controlling Hunter Douglas shades

[wkearney99]

FWIW, I'm leaning toward using some of their bottom-up capable shades in a master bath.  I'll be using RA2 QS shades everywhere else.  But since Lutron doesn't make a bottom-up variation I'm leaning toward the HD units. 

 
To follow up I've gone with some Hunter Douglas Power View units, with the top-down/bottom-up dual motion.  About 9 months now and the batteries are still good (movement 3-4 times daily).  Their app has no security.  Nor are there any kind of diagnostics to help figure out what's going on with RF signal coverage (or lack thereof).  Sometimes it's hit-and-miss trying to get shades to pair, but they tend to stay paired.  There's no 'documented' API for the network but some folks have figured it out.  I have not tried the serial connection as I don't have anything with a serial port near enough to where the hub decided it "needed to be".

 

[ano]

To follow up I've gone with some Hunter Douglas Power View units, with the top-down/bottom-up dual motion.  About 9 months now and the batteries are still good (movement 3-4 times daily).  Their app has no security.  Nor are there any kind of diagnostics to help figure out what's going on with RF signal coverage (or lack thereof).  Sometimes it's hit-and-miss trying to get shades to pair, but they tend to stay paired.  There's no 'documented' API for the network but some folks have figured it out.  I have not tried the serial connection as I don't have anything with a serial port near enough to where the hub decided it "needed to be".

I've had my Somfy blinds about 9 months also. My hub is next to my Omni, but this wasn't the most ideal location for me either. I've added a repeater in the middle of the house, but its still not 100% on reliability.  I'd say its 95%.  I repeat each command 2 or 3 times a minute apart and that probably got it to 97%.
 
The Somfy antennas are just a wire 2" long, and sometimes the wire got stuck behind the blind by the installer so getting it pulled out helped a bit.
 
I also use light sensor on two of the blinds. When the sun is real bright on kitchen cabinets or bedroom furniture, the blinds close, and open again when the sun is weaker. But its not perfect.  I open blinds at sunrise and close them at sunset. Simple enough. But in the winter, sometimes the sun goes down quick, and the sun sensor has a delay. So occasionally the sun sensor opens the blinds, after the controller has closed them at sunset.
 
I have a power adapter on each, so no battery issues, but they are a bit noisy opening or closing. Overall I'm happy I went with power. I have one I couldn't power because it was too short, and its a pain.

 

[Jason B]

Another issue. Regarding 1.0 powerrise duette honeycombo. Per this instructions....
 
1) Shade has no power - Replace the batteries. Check the battery tube for any cracks and make sure the tube is firmly seated in the contacts.
2) Motor is burned out - Replace the motor
3) IR Eye board is burned out - Replace IR-Eye Board
4) Lift Limit Switch - Broken/Faulty, Needs adjusted or lift cord is not in front of metal switch arm. Limit Switch Troubleshooting
5) Reset Shade Limits - Lower Shade completely. If the motor is not responding then you may have to slip motor out of Lift-Cord-Shaft to dis-engage then lower shade fully then re-engage motor into Lift-Cord-Shaft. Once shade is fully lowered, point the remote controller at the IR-Eye in Headrail or Satelite eye and press the Down button (on the remote controller) for 5+ seconds then hit the up button. If the shade does not respond then see steps 1-4 above.
 
 
I think I need to do step #5. Do you have any idea on how to remote that little motor out of the lift cord shaft?
 
Shade was fine, but batteries died 6 months ago (shade is halfway down), and I didn't try replacing batteries until yesterday. After I put new batteries in, you can hear the motor try to go, and then it instantly stops, because I think it thinks it's in the full top position, but it's not. And I can't reset by holding down the down arrow on remote, because the shade isn't fully DOWN, which it said it's needs to be down to reset it.. Thanks!

Bump

 

[Jason B]

Ok, the way to fix a blind that when it's halfway UP when batteries are dead (pre 2.0 powerrise) is to pull down on it while hitting the down button multiple times, until you get the shade fully to the BOTTOM. Then it will reset itself and work like normal!