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[Tuicemen]

I'm still researching the HomeSeer stuff to get a better understanding of how it works with the CM15a plugin, but I could be convinced to shell out $200 for something that's going to bridge the old and the new.  We will see after I've spent a couple weeks with GH.  I still don't see making a big investment in Hue bulbs, but some strategically placed ones tied to GH seems helpful.

You don't need to shell out $200 to bridge your old with new.
mini low power PCs are plentiful on ebay some even run windows 10, though most run Linux or Android.
Alex10 is free as is HA-bridge.
HA-Bridge will run on any OS even android and apple too bad the X10 hardware doesn't.

.... you might want to check that out. But all that stuff is a bit over-my-head.

Dave this is easier then setting up BVC! Your over thinking things.
Jump in I won't let you drown. True without Alex10 setup may be a little complicated but it is still doable.
You can even use the AHCMD.exe (from the SDK) with HA-Bridge.
 

[HA Dave]

... Dave this is easier then setting up BVC! Your over thinking things.
Jump in I won't let you drown. True without Alex10 setup may be a little complicated but it is still doable.
You can even use the AHCMD.exe (from the SDK) with HA-Bridge.
 

OK... how about a link to Alex10. Would love to make this work.

Not having used BVC or being accustomed to having any sort of voice interface, I'll push forward using Google Home/IFTTT.  With IFTTT you can program any command to GH with up to two alternates and program the response you want GH to say to acknowledge that it understood the command and is running the IFTTT applet.   For example, I set up "Good Night" with an alternate of "Night Time" to trigger Hue to turn off all the lights and respond with "Sweet dreams".  Not bad for 30 seconds of "programming".

I haven't found the way (if there is one) within the Amazon DOT to get a customized response. I'll miss that... that is a nice feature with BVC. It is so nice to re-travel some of these old familiar HA projects.

https://youtu.be/5FFRoYhTJQQ

[solareclipse]

You don't need to shell out $200 to bridge your old with new.
mini low power PCs are plentiful on ebay some even run windows 10, though most run Linux or Android.
Alex10 is free as is HA-bridge.
HA-Bridge will run on any OS even android and apple too bad the X10 hardware doesn't.

Maybe I'll play with HA-bridge on my main PC for a bit and see what it can do, but $200 for a purpose-built always on HA controller doesn't seem bad, especially with all the HomeSeer plugins available and how good the software sounds.

[Tuicemen]

OK... how about a link to Alex10. Would love to make this work.

I'll PM you a link

I haven't found the way (if there is one) within the Amazon DOT to get a customized response. I'll miss that... that is a nice feature with BVC. It is so nice to re-travel some of these old familiar HA projects.

I haven't found away to get one from Alexa yet either however It should be possible maybe in one of the skills but then chances are we would need new hardware too.
At least Alexa tripping X10 can get BVC to send a response. If BVC had command line options you could have Alexa talk directly to it without sending a X10 command.
I've played with that aspect and PCC.

Maybe I'll play with HA-bridge on my main PC for a bit and see what it can do, but $200 for a purpose-built always on HA controller doesn't seem bad, especially with all the HomeSeer plugins available and how good the software sounds.

HA-Bridge can trigger any thing that will respond to a web call or command line it also has built in stuff for the Philips hue, Harmony, and I few others.
If you have no problems with creating scripts it will be a piece of cake.
In order for it to work with X10 you'll need a X10 program that will except command line calls or a web call using HTTP or one of the other web possible services.

[racerfern]

Maybe I'll play with HA-bridge on my main PC for a bit and see what it can do, but $200 for a purpose-built always on HA controller doesn't seem bad, especially with all the HomeSeer plugins available and how good the software sounds.

At $200, it's not a panacea. It has a limitation of 5 plugins so be careful. The X10 stuff works, but it's not bullet proof, then again X10 was never bullet proof anyways. I'm actually thinking of switching to a USB PC stick for zwave, a USB zigbee stick and of course my CM15A. I would have to buy the zwave stick and homeseer software, the same for zigbee. The mini PC has wifi and bluetooth so I should be good until the next great protocol comes out. If I do make this jump, I'll post results and I'll give you a great deal on my Zee S2 if you decide to jump in.

[Tuicemen]

You could most likely control Zwave with the HA-Bridge, I know it is possible if you have a Vera unit.
Also if you had iHouse I know it was Zwave capable and HA-Bridge will work with it.
 

[racerfern]

In addition to having Wifi, X10 and Zwave devices, I also have the X10 SC1200 panel with three door sensors, two water sensors and a motion sensor. I would prefer to incorporate that system into my HA and not have to buy new devices. Homeseer "might" see the SC1200 devices but would probably require a WGL RF receiver and another plug-in.

So I'm looking at a GO!Control monitoring system. I don't really need another keypad since a proximity sensor could disarm the system through Homeseer when I get home and arm automatically as I leave. But I'm used to the ding dong chime of the SC1200 when a door opens.

This whole thing is not becoming simpler. 

[solareclipse]

If I do make this jump, I'll post results and I'll give you a great deal on my Zee S2 if you decide to jump in.

Sure...  let me know!

[bkenobi]

I'm not one to tell others what to do, but if you are considering a switch to Homeseer, you might want to take a few minutes and check out Homegenie.  I've been running it for a couple years and it really does work well for all my X10 stuff.  It works with many other systems (not all), but can be expanded with some programming knowledge.  The best part (what convinced me to switch) was the real programming capabilities.  It supports C#, Python, a AHP-like simple scripting language, etc.  It's not perfect, but it is really pretty nice and being free is great as well.

If you're happy with the system you picked, cool!  Just offering another option if you are looking to switch.

[dhouston]

I'm not one to tell others what to do, but if you are considering a switch to Homeseer, you might want to take a few minutes and check out Homegenie.

A couple HG questions...

1. Are the TTS and Speech Recognition available on all platforms (i.e. operating systems) or limited to certain ones?
2. What do they mean by web based?

[bkenobi]

1) I haven't used the TTS but I believe it works on both Linux and Windows.  Don't quote me on that as I haven't researched it but I believe I've seen threads showing it.  HG works on Mono which means any platform that runs Mono can run HG (Linux, Mac, Windows, etc).  But you are correct that all extensions may not be available if they rely on a specific platform.

2) Web based does not mean a cloud device.  HG runs locally through a web server (not Apache but I don't recall at the moment which one).  I run mine on a headless RPi.  I can access it from any web browser on either my LAN or the internet.  It also has a few options for smart phone apps (2x Android, 1 Windows phone, 0 iOS to my knowledge) but a web browser works so the app is not truly required.  It runs autonomously with timers, macros, and scripts.

I can look around to see if there are any more details on the TTS engine if you are interested.

[dhouston]

I can look around to see if there are any more details on the TTS engine if you are interested.

My interest is more academic than personal. I thought the forum might benefit from more detailed knowledge from a user, especially given the current discussions about Alexa, Siri, et al. I've looked at their web site but, obviously, haven't dug deeply. HG has certainly progressed over the past few years.

Is there a critical web server that would cripple your access should it disappear or is all data local?

[Tuicemen]

I haven't found the way (if there is one) within the Amazon DOT to get a customized response. I'll miss that... that is a nice feature with BVC. It is so nice to re-travel some of these old familiar HA projects.

I think I may have found a way to do some custom responses.
From everything I've read you need the IFTTT app. once setup you create your own applet and select Amazon Alexa
Select the trigger then the response.
Unfortunately being in Canada this isn't supported here so I can't test it out

[HA Dave]

........ you need the IFTTT app. once setup you create your own applet and select Amazon Alexa ...

The problem is... I won't be creating applets or writing/editing scripts. I understand... for a lot of HA guys.... HA and creating code is all-the-same. But I am really limited to programs.

[solareclipse]

........ you need the IFTTT app. once setup you create your own applet and select Amazon Alexa ...

The problem is... I won't be creating applets or writing/editing scripts. I understand... for a lot of HA guys.... HA and creating code is all-the-same. But I am really limited to programs.

IFTTT applets aren't even script writing, they're very simple (a bit too simple in my mind).  You just pick your "If" service, then your "Then" service.  Give it some parameters and turn it on.  Check it out.