Updated INSTEON Wish List

[upstatemike]

Now that I have a little more experience with INSTEON (35 devices installed so far) I find my INSTEON Wish List priorities have shifted a little bit. My new priorities are listed below... did I miss anything critical?

1- Link Manager Software! After setting up a “simple†arrangement where 3 KeypadLincs control 5 switches I could not believe it required 60 links to get everything working! (15 X 2 to control the switches and 15 X 2 to keep the KeypadLinc LEDs in sync). We need to be able to download the table from an INSTEON device, and add/delete/edit the links and then upload the changes back. The current manual process is just too labor intensive!

2- Fix or Replace the ApplinceLinc v2!! I tried to replace an ApplinceLinc v1 with its INSTEON equivalent and it just wouldn’t work! Seems the Local Control circuit is different in the new modules and fluorescent lights with older magnetic ballasts just go nuts when connected to the new modules. Local control was always kind of a stupid feature since it can only be used to turn a device on and not off. (unless you want to disable remote control completely!) It is also, more often than not, going to cause you problems if the relay contacts are not the only path current can travel to reach the load. Smarthome needs to either recall the troublesome ApplianceLinc v2 or, better yet, offer a second version that does not have any Local Control circuit in it at all!

3- Offer the ControLinc in white. A black tabletop controller just doesn’t cut it in many décor situations.

4- Fixture Relay Modules.

5- Screw-In modules that will work with CFL bulbs.

6- Dimmable Screw-In modules for standard bulbs.

7- A relay version of the KeypadLinc that can control CFL bulbs.

8- Fixture Dimmer Modules.

9- An RF “Palmpad†remote.

10- An RF “stick-a-switchâ€.

 

[PeterW]

My top items:

1) Link manager software.. I couldn't agree more! I've got my own half-baked code to half do it, but I'd rather not have to.

2) FIrmware fixes to make the switches DTRT if you press two adjacent "remote" switches at once, or two buttons on a keypadlincv2 at once. Slave switches are not much use if there are a pair of them and people are in the habit of pressing both at once. (Right now, either one or both commands get lost).

3) A real load-less "slave" switch that uses the status reporting system to track the light bar status. Having to assign X10 addresses to slaves and add multiple links and messing around with ramp rates to try and get the light bars in sync is an unnecessary PITA. The Insteon protocol has packets defined for status reporting, what I need is a switch that uses them. The slave's light bar should stay in sync no matter how the master got changed (x10, paddle, remote command, whatever). If the switches have the firmware space, it would be nice to be able to put any switch or keypad button into this 'slave' mode, not just a companion.

4) Insteon RF remotes. I need a palmpad (HR12A style) remote most urgently, followed by keychain (KR19A), credit card (KR22A) and stick-a-switch style (SS13A).

5) Fixture modules (both dimmer and relay) Relay modules could compensate for the lack of a relay version of the KPLv2 in some circumstances.

6) relay/contact IO module. eg: like the IOLinc, or WGL's relay8/rain8/pf8. I'd kill for an appliancelincv2 form-factor module with a screw terminal strip on the bottom where the load plug normally goes.

 

[TCassio]

Why wouldn't the w800 RF module work with X10 remotes and Motion sensors. The W800 is very fast (no powerline involved) that coupled with Insteon protocol would make a very fast system. No?