What Insteon Control Software Is There TODAY?
- Thread starter eufreka
- Start date
dhoward
Member
Wayne,
Device discovery helps eliminate some of the typing of manual entry of Insteon devices. To use it, you set PowerHome to discovery mode and then visit each of your Insteon devices. Press and hold either the "on" button or "set button until the device goes into linking mode. As soon as the device goes into linking mode, tap the "on" or "set" button to cancel linking and then move onto the next device. PowerHome will be listening for the enrollment request and will automatically add the device to it's database (device type, address, a default ID) and will start querying for status, local on level, and internal links. Not exactly automatic, but about the best I can do with the Insteon standard :angry:
Link discovery...PowerHome will automatically query each device in the background and discover all existing links. You can continue to use tap-tap linking to link devices together and PowerHome will eventually discover the links. The really cool feature is that once PowerHome has discovered all existing links, you can say goodbye to tap-tap linking and create, modify, and maintain links solely from within PowerHome. You can add devices to any of the PLC's 254 groups using just PowerHome as well as maintain groups between devices. You still have to crosslink devices for things like multi-way switch circuits (to keep the status lights synchronized), but this can all be done within PowerHome.
As long as a device controls at least one other device, you can get local status sensing. Even if your device doesnt control any other devices, PowerHome has a report to show you "orphans" so you can setup a quick link between it and the PLC (software linking within PowerHome) so you can get status notification when the switch is locally controlled.
Say you have a device go bad and you need to switch it out. The link maintenance could be a nightmare. While PowerHome doesnt have a built in function for this currently, with it's database backend and built in link controls, a macro could be put together in a few minutes to automate this process. Let me know if you're interested and I'll whip it up.
Dave.
Device discovery helps eliminate some of the typing of manual entry of Insteon devices. To use it, you set PowerHome to discovery mode and then visit each of your Insteon devices. Press and hold either the "on" button or "set button until the device goes into linking mode. As soon as the device goes into linking mode, tap the "on" or "set" button to cancel linking and then move onto the next device. PowerHome will be listening for the enrollment request and will automatically add the device to it's database (device type, address, a default ID) and will start querying for status, local on level, and internal links. Not exactly automatic, but about the best I can do with the Insteon standard :angry:
Link discovery...PowerHome will automatically query each device in the background and discover all existing links. You can continue to use tap-tap linking to link devices together and PowerHome will eventually discover the links. The really cool feature is that once PowerHome has discovered all existing links, you can say goodbye to tap-tap linking and create, modify, and maintain links solely from within PowerHome. You can add devices to any of the PLC's 254 groups using just PowerHome as well as maintain groups between devices. You still have to crosslink devices for things like multi-way switch circuits (to keep the status lights synchronized), but this can all be done within PowerHome.
As long as a device controls at least one other device, you can get local status sensing. Even if your device doesnt control any other devices, PowerHome has a report to show you "orphans" so you can setup a quick link between it and the PLC (software linking within PowerHome) so you can get status notification when the switch is locally controlled.
Say you have a device go bad and you need to switch it out. The link maintenance could be a nightmare. While PowerHome doesnt have a built in function for this currently, with it's database backend and built in link controls, a macro could be put together in a few minutes to automate this process. Let me know if you're interested and I'll whip it up.
Dave.
dhoward
Member
All,
Just discovered a minor annoyance in the PowerHome install. Read about it here:
http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?showtopic=3501&st=0&
Dave.
Just discovered a minor annoyance in the PowerHome install. Read about it here:
http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?showtopic=3501&st=0&
Dave.
upstatemike
Senior Member
Some people may end up buying PowerHome just for the Insteon Link management... even if they don't need a HA package!
SmartLabsMike
Active Member
Dave,
You did a good job integrating INSTEON into your software.
h34r: This is a great first step for creating links and scenes within INSTEON-enabled products via PC. Keep up the good work and I look forward to the finished product.
You did a good job integrating INSTEON into your software.
h34r: This is a great first step for creating links and scenes within INSTEON-enabled products via PC. Keep up the good work and I look forward to the finished product.
toymaster458
Active Member
I just downloaded it and could not get the auto discovery working. Manual entry worked fine.
dhoward
Member
Toymaster,
Im not sure why the auto discovery wouldnt work. Working with Dwarf, one of the initial problems he had was a previous installation of the SmartHome Device Manager. Once we got that worked out, everything worked fine.
Do you know what version of the Device Manager you're running? Version 146 is what PowerHome supports. Also, I know that the PLC firmware 2.12 works, not sure if you have the latest or not. The third critical piece is the timercoreapp05b which you can download to the PLC using the PowerHome "Insteon DM Control" screen.
Let me know your setup and Im sure we can get it working.
Thanks,
Dave.
Im not sure why the auto discovery wouldnt work. Working with Dwarf, one of the initial problems he had was a previous installation of the SmartHome Device Manager. Once we got that worked out, everything worked fine.
Do you know what version of the Device Manager you're running? Version 146 is what PowerHome supports. Also, I know that the PLC firmware 2.12 works, not sure if you have the latest or not. The third critical piece is the timercoreapp05b which you can download to the PLC using the PowerHome "Insteon DM Control" screen.
Let me know your setup and Im sure we can get it working.
Thanks,
Dave.
Absolutely. As a very early adopter of Insteon, I was unfortunate enough to have gotten as many as 20 of the early Switchlinc rev. 2.0's with the bad resistor. So as they failed, I had to do manual resets of multiple Keypads. What a PITA. As it stands now, I have given up trying to get all devices crosslinked to show staus. As long as the links work, status can wait until I can link via a PC.Mike C said:
Which brings me to the question:
Does the PowerHome software support Keypadlincs?
If so, I will be downloading it today, if not, any idea how long it will take until it does?
Thanks.
upstatemike
Senior Member
Speaking of resistors, I thought I read someplace that you can fix V2 ApplianceLincs to work with magnetic ballasts by clipping a resistor in the module. Now I can't find where I saw it... anybody know if this is true?
toymaster458
Active Member
I was running DM before the install. DM is version 146 and I don't remember what version it was before. I have downloaded the timercore and I am showing the devices show in DM when I put them in link mode.dhoward said:
dhoward
Member
Toymaster,
Try closing all open instances of PowerHome and the Device Manager, navigate to the Device Manager subdirectory beneath the PowerHome directory (default c:\program files\powerhome\smarthome\device manager) and launch the SDM3.exe file. Once this DM launches, try launching PowerHome.
Next open the PowerHome Explorer and navigate to Devices->Insteon->Units. Right-click and bring up the "Insteon DM Control" window. Select your Insteon controller and then press the "Turn Discover Mode On" button. Go out to one of your devices and place it into "linking" mode. As soon as it enters linking mode, tap the button to take it out of link mode. Go back to PowerHome and "Turn Discover Mode Off". Exit the "Insteon DM Control" window and then press the "F5" key and see if the device that you just visited appears (it needs to be a device that you havent already manually added).
Let me know how it goes,
Dave.
Try closing all open instances of PowerHome and the Device Manager, navigate to the Device Manager subdirectory beneath the PowerHome directory (default c:\program files\powerhome\smarthome\device manager) and launch the SDM3.exe file. Once this DM launches, try launching PowerHome.
Next open the PowerHome Explorer and navigate to Devices->Insteon->Units. Right-click and bring up the "Insteon DM Control" window. Select your Insteon controller and then press the "Turn Discover Mode On" button. Go out to one of your devices and place it into "linking" mode. As soon as it enters linking mode, tap the button to take it out of link mode. Go back to PowerHome and "Turn Discover Mode Off". Exit the "Insteon DM Control" window and then press the "F5" key and see if the device that you just visited appears (it needs to be a device that you havent already manually added).
Let me know how it goes,
Dave.
Thanks for the quick reply.dhoward said:
So I am to understand that the software can link non-load buttons from a Keypadlinc to say a Switchlinc?
For example:
KPL Button C >> Switchlinc 1
KPL Button C >> Switchlinc 2
Switchlinc 1 >> KPL Button C
Switchlinc 2 >> KPL Button C
Switchlinc 1 >> Switchlinc 2
Switchlinc 2 >> Switchlinc 1
to create a simple scene.
If so, you are my new best friend.
dhoward
Member
Herdfan,
I had just typed up an entire reply (something about us being best friends) and had to erase it and start over once I did some checking to verify.
The simple answer is not quite. The current version of PowerHome will not create the links with KeypadLinc buttons (other than the main button) as the RESPONDER. It will create groups for any of the buttons with them as the CONTROLLER. I missed that one in the Link builder.
It's easy enough to fix however and I'll have a new version available before the end of the weekend.
Dave.
I had just typed up an entire reply (something about us being best friends) and had to erase it and start over once I did some checking to verify
.The simple answer is not quite. The current version of PowerHome will not create the links with KeypadLinc buttons (other than the main button) as the RESPONDER. It will create groups for any of the buttons with them as the CONTROLLER. I missed that one in the Link builder.
It's easy enough to fix however and I'll have a new version available before the end of the weekend.
Dave.
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