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[Tuicemen]

I'd really like to see Bill (or SOMEONE) jump in to the X10 software with some Artificial Intelligence. Or at least a very cleverly written (and Internet connected) chat-bot function that I could incorporate into my setup. I hate waiting for the future to happen.

Maybe if you posted exactly what your looking to do Dave some one will!
If it isn't already out there!
My bet it is all ready there you just overlooked it!
Or you looked at it but decided it was to complicated to try and learn.
I can think of a couple of chatbots that would most likely fit your requirement.
Many of us use a varity of programs to get things done in our HA setups.
Dismissing one because it also does things a program you now use only limits you!
Take a long time and play with other software.
If you get started with a piece of software in its early development it is easy to learn it.
You Can even help mold it into what you want. (if the developer listens to your requests)
It's when you wait (as you said) for it to happen that it gets hard to learn.
Sorry if this looks like I'm picking on you Dave as I'm not, others dismiss software before they fully test it too!
 
[thread split as it quickly went of topic]

[HA Dave]

Take a long time and play with other software.
If you get started with a piece of software in its early development it is easy to learn it.
You Can even help mold it into what you want. (if the developer listens to your requests)
It's when you wait (as you said) for it to happen that it gets hard to learn.
Sorry if this looks like I'm picking on you Dave as I'm not, others dismiss software before they fully test it too!

You seem to have no idea how many softwares I have used in my years. Or even how many I learned... simply so I could teach them to others... never needing them myself. Just a couple weeks ago... a scanner used on an Apple.

I started in the very early days (1981) when programs were often typed into my VIC-20 manually. I've learned or used specialized software at banks, business, government, and OF COURSE... downloaded from the Internet. I really don't think my longevity has made me behind the times in this case ether. I continue to follow and still regularly search for my interests.

[lodtrack]

Bravo Dave, your enthusiam certainly comes through in your threads!

[Tuicemen]

Your right Dave for me to even guess at how many products you've tried would be impossible.
However that wasn't my point!
The point is many dismiss programs because what they're looking for isn't clearly an option.
It is only after using it for awhile that one learns ALL the possiblites!
 

[HA Dave]

Bravo Dave, your enthusiam certainly comes through in your threads!

Thanks lodtrack. I am very enthusiastic about Home Automation, BVC, and X10. Thats why I have a BVC Fan Site and my YouTube Videos (see link below).

As a child I used to read about the convenience and ease that would be available in the future (now, today). I was even lucky enough as a child. to visit the Monsanto House of the Future at Disneyland. And not many years later... realized that we would be talking to our computers... because Kirk and Spock spoke to the ships computer. Even though when I graduated from high school there still wasn't computers in colleges or at work places. And the idea of anyone ever owning there own personal computer wasn't realistic... I always knew I would. Years later I jumped on the VIC-20 the day they hit local stores.

Well... my house isn't round, or made of fiberglass, and my car doesn't fly. I'll likely never fly to work using a jet pack... as now I'm retired. But I've been using computers half my life (since 1981) and I've been on-line for 20 years. X10 has allowed me a level of Home Automation I hadn't even dreamed of. And BVC made my home more futuristic than the Home of the Future.. ever was.

And one of the things that has made me such a big fan of X10 and then BVC, was the cost, or lack of cost. The requested $30 donation for BVC was cheap enough I didn't even need to explain it to my spouse. And everyone knows of the low price and value of X10 products.

I really think that right now Home Automation is at a cusp. I believe we are at the edge of a breakthrough. I don't think there has ever been a better time to jump into Automation with both feet. The integration of phones and home computers, with home automation... and the Internet really removes the limits of our imaginations.

[HA Dave]

.... many dismiss programs because what they're looking for isn't clearly an option. It is only after using it for awhile that one learns ALL the possiblites!

I agree completely!

Some time ago... I became a tweeter because it was there... and I've always wanted to know where there was. I did the same with Facebook... and I really, REALLY, like facebook. Many people post to facebook via their mobile phones. So some things like births and car accidents are posted in realtime. Facebook can make the world a little more like a small town. It might be nice if my HA PC followed my facebook friends like I would. Then gave me verbal announcements of important events.

Of course mobile phones are great for facebook as are (so I hear) the ipad type devices. Ether one of these such devices may be plenty enough of a computer to run a household. Yet... nether will connect to the CM15A and the CM15A won't connect to my router ether. But maybe at some not to distance point in the future there will be a new way to connect to a CM15A like device. That could allow my mobile phone to have an app that controls my home (via the Internet). Making my phone also my HA PC.

Meanwhile... the new phone apps are getting really close to that. I really think apps that run on mobile devices and use Internet Sites as a source of information is one direction to look at. IMHO.

[Noam]

Yet... nether will connect to the CM15A and the CM15A won't connect to my router ether. But maybe at some not to distance point in the future there will be a new way to connect to a CM15A like device. That could allow my mobile phone to have an app that controls my home (via the Internet). Making my phone also my HA PC.

I'm surprised nobody here (not that I have the required skills an knowledge to do it) has played around with hooking the CM15A to an Arduino, with the USB and Ethernet modules. I would think (not having enough experience to know any better) that one could make a small web server, and host the CM15A across a network.

I guess the biggest problem with this idea is that you need a Pc to run AHP. So, it would have to host a control app for the Cm15A, since there is currently no way to download to the CM15a without a PC (not sure about Mac - but that doesn't matter for the purpose of this post).

Anyone up for a challenge? 

[HA Dave]

I'm surprised nobody here (not that I have the required skills an knowledge to do it) has played around with hooking the CM15A to an Arduino, with the USB and Ethernet modules. I would think (not having enough experience to know any better) that one could make a small web server, and host the CM15A across a network.

Maybe... if you used one of these:  http://www.smarthome.com/2412N/SmartLinc-INSTEON-Central-Controller/p.aspx
Now... more phone apps!

[Noam]

I'm surprised nobody here (not that I have the required skills an knowledge to do it) has played around with hooking the CM15A to an Arduino, with the USB and Ethernet modules. I would think (not having enough experience to know any better) that one could make a small web server, and host the CM15A across a network.

Maybe... if you used one of these:  http://www.smarthome.com/2412N/SmartLinc-INSTEON-Central-Controller/p.aspx
Now... more phone apps!

I have a friend who has one, and he says the software built into it is pretty basic, and can't do a fraction of what AHP can do.

[HA Dave]

I have a friend who has one, and he says the software built into it is pretty basic, and can't do a fraction of what AHP can do.

I am sure your friend is correct (that's also what I heard). But, a CM15A (and even a HA PC) could also be used... so the INSTEON Central Controller could still trigger macros. But this could allow for a phone app to be the "controlling PC" if the correct app was available/used.

I am NOT saying this is the answer. I guess... what I am saying is there are more questions that still need to asked (like Tuicemen also did... I think). Home Automation is a moving target. Nothing is settled, nothing has been all-figured-out. There is a ton of room for new ways to do things... and new things yet to be done. This is the kind of stuff that keeps my enthusiasm up there. Always new options... new possibilities.

[Noam]

I have a friend who has one, and he says the software built into it is pretty basic, and can't do a fraction of what AHP can do.

I am sure your friend is correct (that's also what I heard). But, a CM15A (and even a HA PC) could also be used... so the INSTEON Central Controller could still trigger macros. But this could allow for a phone app to be the "controlling PC" if the correct app was available/used.

I am NOT saying this is the answer. I guess... what I am saying is there are more questions that still need to asked (like Tuicemen also did... I think). Home Automation is a moving target. Nothing is settled, nothing has been all-figured-out. There is a ton of room for new ways to do things... and new things yet to be done. This is the kind of stuff that keeps my enthusiasm up there. Always new options... new possibilities.

My friend actually switched over from X10 to full-Insteon about  a year ago. Prior to that, he had an X10 setup with some Insteon-capable devices he had added, that was really not reliable for him. However, he was using a CM11A, and didn't have a phase coupler installed. He felt it would be easier for him to go with Insteon, which was designed to overcome some of the PLC transmission issues that plagued X10, than to try and fix his old X10 system.

Interestingly enough, his Insteon system didn't work all that well out of the box, either. He had to get the wireless phase bridge, and even with that, he had trouble locating a pair of outlets to place the two bridge halves in that would make his system work.
Of course, had he actually followed my advice and mapped out his breaker box, that process might have been much simpler.

However, as compared to what he had, even with his CM11A, he said the Insteon software is severely limited.
He can't create timers for specific modules. He has to create "scenes," assign the modules to those scenes, and then  he can create ONE on/off timer per day for each scene. In addition, you can't mix legacy X10 modules and Insteon modules in the same scene (unless you are using the Insteon module's X10 address - which doesn't do the mesh-network, so it is no more reliable than the legacy X10 units are). You need separate scenes for them.

If SmartHome were to put out software that worked with the same ease and features as AHP (or at least what AHP should be if the bugs are fixed), then I could see it be a real competitor. The Insteon technology might be more reliable than the X10 stuff, but X10's software wins, at least in my opinion.

I have a bunch of Insteon switches in my house. I had problems with my older X10 wall switches, so I replaced them with Insteon ones. However, with no Insteon controllers, I'm only using traditional X10 commands with all of them.

I have found that with proper troubleshooting, and a little work to filter noisy electronics and maybe install a good phase coupler/repeater/bridge, X10 can be very reliable.

just my $0.02, though.

[HA Dave]

.... My friend actually switched over from X10 to full-Insteon about  a year ago. Prior to that, he had an X10 setup ........ using a CM11A, and didn't have a phase coupler installed. He felt it would be easier for him to go with Insteon, which was designed to overcome some of the PLC transmission issues that plagued X10, than to try and fix his old X10 system.

Interestingly enough, his Insteon system didn't work all that well out of the box, either. He had to get the wireless phase bridge, and even with that, he had trouble .......... had he actually followed my advice and mapped out his breaker box, that process might have been much simpler.

...........I have found that with proper troubleshooting, and a little work to filter noisy electronics and maybe install a good phase coupler/repeater/bridge, X10 can be very reliable.

Your so right Noam! I firmly believe it isn't the engineering that is used in the product design... as much as the planning of the install that counts. I didn't mean to plug INSTEON in any way.

I have a good sized and properly working setup... which I am very happy with. Yet I continue to screw around with it... experimenting and testing new ideas and products. I can't help myself! In my efforts to find new and better solutions I have had (I'm sure) more failures that successes. (I think this is more or less what this thread is about.) For some of us.... solving the puzzles and finding solutions are a big part of the FUN of Home Automation. I will continue to push the limits of the technology to the extent that my wallet allows.

[lodtrack]

Dave, I thought you said you've been using computers since 1981?(Vic 20) I've been using them since 1981 as well. The difference is I started with a real computer ... The 16 K Radio Shack colour computer, now that was a powerhouse! I think we are dating ourselves somewhat.   lol

[Brian H]

My first computer was a Heathkit. H8 with 4K of memory. Boot loader needed a set of keypad entries on the front to even start the cassette tape. That 9 out of 10 times pulled a CRC error. 

I did also have a CoCoII at one point in my adventures.

[lodtrack]

Ah the old days...I remember soldering 16K worth of mem chips piggy back style to double the first colour computer to 32 K... I also remember the first floppy drive that came out for it in about 1982 which was single sided single density (186K) for about $550 dollars with disks worth $50 a box. Quickly learned to cut a notch in jacket so I could use both sides of the disk.  We have come a long way, when you think of it.