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dhewison
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| Posted: November 12 2013 at 10:03 | IP Logged
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Hi all,
I live in the UK and Insteon products are becoming available which has made me look at them as a possibility for my home automation. Currently my automation setup consists of a controller (Power Home Automation 2.1b running on a virtual Windows 2003 server), a serial PLM (CM11A from memory) and various x10 devices.
Although I've invested a reasonable amount of money in the hardware more importantly I've invested a fair amount of precious time in the software on the controller (most stuff is written in jscript) so I want to keep the controller pretty much as is.
How realistic is it to migrate to Insteon over time?
Can I replace the x10 PLM with an Insteon PLM and continue to run the existing control software by changing the controller in Power Home? In the UK there does not seem to be a plain Insteon PLM only an Insteon 2242-422 "Hub", can Power Home use this as PLM? I've seen some writings in these forums about the "Hub" but could not quite grasp whether or not they answered the question.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
David
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TonyNo
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| Posted: November 12 2013 at 20:21 | IP Logged
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I think that PH can, indeed, use the Hub to communicate.
You will need to change the X10 references to Insteon.
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dhewison
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| Posted: November 13 2013 at 02:59 | IP Logged
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Thanks Tony.
I'd read that Insteon was compatible with x10, does that not extend to the PLM operating as an x10 PLM?
Does anyone know how I would drive x10 devices via an Insteon PLM or is it not possible?
Regards,
David
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TonyNo
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| Posted: November 13 2013 at 07:07 | IP Logged
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Oh. I thought you were moving from X10 to Insteon.
The PLM does talk X10, just not as "loud" as other X10 modules (I have read that there may be signal issues in some installs).
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dhewison
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| Posted: November 13 2013 at 07:29 | IP Logged
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My idea was to retain all the hardware and software of my current installation and add Insteon devices in the future. With that in mind I thought an Insteon PLM may be able to control both x10 and Insteon devices and therefore the first change I should make would be to change the existing x10 PLM to an Insteon PLM to support both types of devices.
The signalling issues you refer to, are they relating to x10 signals only or is Insteon less reliable than x10 in general? Could it be because Insteon relies on a mesh of repeaters and therefore uses less powerful transmissions? If that is the case it sort of kills my idea.
Can an x10 and an Insteon PLM co-exist on the same power line network, if so that may be a way to go?
Regards,
David
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dhoward
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| Posted: November 13 2013 at 14:51 | IP Logged
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David,
An X10 controller and Insteon controller can both exist in your PowerHome system without issue and this would probably be recommended configuration since the CM11A supports extended commands, better dimming support, and stronger signal. If available ports was an issue or you just wanted a single controller, then an Insteon PLM will do X10 and Insteon....just not as good as the two controller combination.
I would recommend keeping your existing controller and configuration. Add an Insteon controller and you'll need a couple of AccessPoints or some dual band devices in order to join multiple phase power. Start adding some Insteon devices (control them as Insteon and not X10). Everything should work fine up to a point. As you add more and more Insteon devices, you'll reach a saturation point where they "absorb" the X10 signals and you'll no longer be able to communicate with your X10 devices. Some people say this happens around 10 - 20 Insteon devices, some say they've never encountered a problem, and some people encountered issues sooner.
Hope this helps,
Dave.
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dhewison
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| Posted: November 15 2013 at 06:50 | IP Logged
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Hi Dave,
Thanks for the advice.
In the UK we have a single phase supply to domestic properties so I don't need 'jump' phases, I guess that is done wirelessly is it?
Forgive me for asking more questions but ..:-)
As I said earlier, in the UK there only seems to be the Insteon Hubs available, Tony mentions above that he thinks Powerhome can use these as a PLM, do I need a specific version of PowerHome (currently I'm on 2.1b)?
Is there any downside to installing the later beta versions, I haven't bothered up to now because of the beta status?
Regards,
David
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grif091
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| Posted: November 15 2013 at 12:06 | IP Logged
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All things PH are Beta. There is no 'official' release
(due to SmartLabs rules I think).
If any of the devices are (or will be) I2CS you need to get
to 2.1.4 and then add the I2CS patches in the I2CS Zip
file.
__________________
Lee G
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dhoward
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| Posted: November 19 2013 at 21:25 | IP Logged
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David,
Generally, the latest beta is the most stable (version 2.1.4). As Lee pointed out, nearly all current Insteon devices are I2CS and these devices are only compatible with version 2.1.4 with the I2CS patch.
Concerning the hub...I have heard from other PH users that the hub is basically just an upgraded SmartLinc/NetLinc which PowerHome can work with using the virtual serial port plugin. The feedback that Ive gotten is that it does work. However, if you're on Windows 8, you may have an issue with the Virtual serial port plugin (I haven't heard of anyone getting it working) and you would need to instead wait for the next beta which will not require the use of the VSP plugin to connect to either the hub or SmartLinc/NetLinc.
Hope this helps,
Dave.
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dhewison
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| Posted: November 20 2013 at 06:51 | IP Logged
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Hi Dave,
Thanks to everyone for the advise.
Where do I get 2.1.4 from and are there any upgrade insructions and/or any pitfalls to be wary of? I have a very nice, very stable system and I don't want to break it :-)
I use scripting functions (in JScript) for the vast majority of the control, are there any changes to be aware of that may affect my code?
On the subject of the 'hub' again, a 2242-442 Ver. 2, it only has an Ethernet interface (which on the face of it sounds good) so what does the VSP do (unless it makes an Ethernet device look like a serial port to PowerHome)?
Regards,
David
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mmoore99
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| Posted: November 26 2013 at 00:46 | IP Logged
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dhoward wrote:
David,
However, if you're on Windows 8, you may have an issue
with the Virtual serial port plugin (I haven't heard of
anyone getting it working) and you would need to instead
wait for the next beta which will not require the use of
the VSP plugin to connect to either the hub or
SmartLinc/NetLinc.
Hope this helps,
Dave.
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Is there any timeframe as to when the beta will be available that would let PH run on Windows 8?
Edited by mmoore99 - November 26 2013 at 00:47
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dhoward
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| Posted: November 26 2013 at 11:26 | IP Logged
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David,
Version 2.1.4 is available on the PH forums under the General section. Its stickied so it'll be at the top. The thread is actually for version 2.1.2 which must be installed first. On page 5 of the same thread is the upgrade for 2.1.4 which is unzipped on top of the 2.1.2 install.
Since you've got an earlier version, upgrading will be fairly simple as your older version would have default installed into c:\program files\powerhome. The new version will default install into c:\powerhome (you'll definitely want to install here vs c:\program files\powerhome). After installing 2.1.2 and unzipping 2.1.4, just copy over your pwrhome.db and pwrhome.ini files from the old version to the new version. Manually edit your pwrhome.ini files database section and adjust the path to the DBF file. Run the Database upgrade utility and you should be good to go. Since you said you've got alot of custom Jscript and such, you'll want to copy these files over as well. If anything goes wrong and you don't like the new version, you'll still have your original version untouched.
You are correct...the VSP plugin creates a serial port that is mapped to an IP address.
Hope this helps,
Dave.
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dhoward
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| Posted: November 26 2013 at 11:28 | IP Logged
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mmoore99,
Concerning version 2.1.5...Im working real hard to get it out before the end of the year. Keep in mind though that Ive missed every deadline Ive set for myself so we'll see where I end up with this one.
Also, PowerHome itself is compatible with Windows 8 and works well on it. Its only the Virtual Serial Port plugin that is having an issue. This plugin would be rarely used except in the case of having a hub.
Dave.
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dhewison
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| Posted: November 27 2013 at 03:26 | IP Logged
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Thanks for the advice everyone, I've now upgraded to 2.1.4 and the IC2S path and will run it for a while to ensure everything is stable then I'll look at introducing Insteon.
David
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dhewison
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| Posted: December 02 2013 at 06:47 | IP Logged
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Since upgrading to 2.1.4 one of my scripts has started failing, I've reduced it to the bare minimum and still cannot figure out why. It fails on 'ph.createtimedevent(0, "IMMERSION01OFF", ph.getvar_dt(2,1) )' leaving no errors in the event log, I use almost identical code in at least 1 other function that continues to work correctly. Is there any known changes or bugs in the use of Windows scripting, or is there any additional debugging info I can get out of Powerhome?
function main()
{
var now = new Date(), endT = new Date(), x;
endT.setHours(now.getHours() + 1);
ph.setvar_s(2,1,TimeStr(endT,4 ));
switch (ph.getglobal_s("WATERHEATERS") )
{
case "none":
break;
case "normal":
ph.macro("IMMERSION01ON");
ph.createtimedevent(0, "IMMERSION01OFF", ph.getvar_dt(2,1) );
break;
case "full":
ph.macro("IMMERSION01ON");
ph.macro("IMMERSION02ON");
ph.createtimedevent(0, "IMMERSION01OFF", ph.getvar_dt(2,1) );
ph.createtimedevent(0, "IMMERSION02OFF", ph.getvar_dt(2,1) );
break;
}
}
Any help gratefully received.
Regards,
David
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dhoward
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| Posted: December 02 2013 at 17:35 | IP Logged
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David,
I checked it out and nothing should have changed significantly (regarding Windows script host) between version 2.1b and 2.1.4.
As a test, I opened the PH Script Editor and got into JScript mode (shift-F2) and tested the following:
@language="jscript"
function main()
{
ph.setvar_s(2,1,"2013-12-10 16:32:31");
ph.createtimedevent(0,"TEST",ph.getvar_dt(2,1));
}
It executed correctly and the timed event was created.
I tried with your code above and I couldn't get past the line:
ph.setvar_s(2,1,TimeStr(endT,4));
Checking on the net, I couldn't find any info on the TimeStr function so not sure how to further test.
If you're getting a failure on the ph.createtimedevent function, its most likely a problem with the datetime parameter.
Let me know,
Dave.
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dhewison
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| Posted: December 03 2013 at 04:12 | IP Logged
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Hi Dave,
Thanks for that, it was indeed a date+time issue, ph.createtimedevent() seems to be getting upset with milliseconds. TimeStr() is just my own date and time formatting and I have always used the format "day/month/year hh:mm:ss.mmm" in this script but appears to no longer work as it did.
ph.createtimedevent() appears to work if the milliseconds are "000" but not with any other values I tried. For the record the TimeStr() function is:
function TimeStr(d, type)
{
var Today, year, month, day, hours, mins, secs, msec, timestr;
msec = StrIdxStr(d.getMilliseconds(),3);
secs = StrIdxStr(d.getSeconds(),2);
mins = StrIdxStr(d.getMinutes(),2);
hours = StrIdxStr(d.getHours(),2);
day = StrIdxStr(d.getDate(),2);
month = StrIdxStr((d.getMonth() +1),2);
year = d.getFullYear().toString();
switch (type)
{
case 1: timestr = year + "." + month + "." + day;
break;
case 2: timestr = hours + ":" + mins + ":" + secs;
break
case 3: timestr = year + "." + month + "." + day + " " + hours + ":" + mins + ":" + secs;
break;
case 4: timestr = day + "/" + month + "/" + year +" " + hours + ":" + mins + ":" + secs + "." + msec;
break;
case 5: timestr = day + "/" + month + "/" + year;
break;
case 6: timestr = year + "-" + month + "-" + day +" " + hours + ":" + mins + ":" + secs + "." + msec;
break;
case 7: timestr = day + "/" + month + "/" + year +" " + hours + ":" + mins + ":" + secs;
break;
case 10: timestr = hours;
break;
case 11: timestr = mins;
break;
case 12: timestr = secs;
break;
case 13: timestr = msec;
break;
case 14: timestr = hours + mins;
break;
case 15: timestr = hours + mins + secs;
break;
case 16: timestr = hours + mins + secs + msec;
break;
}
return(timestr);
}
Regards,
David
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dhoward
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| Posted: December 06 2013 at 12:14 | IP Logged
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Dave,
Glad to hear it was an easy fix.
Between 2.1b and 2.1.4, the interface control between PowerHome and the Windows Script Host server changed and this must be where the change in functionality is occurring.
I'll take a look at the code and see if I can narrow down what exactly changed and see if I can make sure that milliseconds won't choke the system.
Dave.
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Topic: Insteon advice sought
