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dhoward
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| Posted: March 15 2017 at 10:35 | IP Logged
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Ken,
In your controller settings, blank out the IR-CTRL that is in the IR Record Controller. That is used by the Global Cache GC-100 series since it doesnt have an internal IR learner.
The other thing to check is Help|About|Controllers and verify that PowerHome is properly connected to the WF2IR.
Next, remove the space that appears between <pronto> and 0000 in your Outgoing code. It should looke like: <pronto>0000 006D...
Let me know,
Dave.
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GadgetGuy
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| Posted: March 15 2017 at 11:42 | IP Logged
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YES!
One of those (or both) did the trick. 
At least I am getting the Port 1 LED to flash, as does the IR Emitter.
Time to move the WF2IR unit to my Wine Room and see what happens.
Stay tuned.
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GadgetGuy
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| Posted: March 15 2017 at 12:21 | IP Logged
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Took the works out to the Wine Room but the AC is not being controlled, so I will run new multiple LEARN trials and compare raw hex code results to see if there are variances, and pick the dominant result and see if that makes a difference.
Seem to have good Wi-Fi connection and devices pings never return any errors, so for now assuming connectivity is good.
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GadgetGuy
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| Posted: March 16 2017 at 09:07 | IP Logged
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Yes! I now have PH control of my Air Conditioner.
After "Learning" the AC Remote's IR POWER command over a dozen times and saving each trial's results to a spreadsheet, and then comparing each Hex code group across all the samples and picking the clear majority result to construct a final code string I seem to have the proper sequence at last. I was surprised at how much variance there was across the samples, although all were taken under as identical circumstances as I could muster.
Thanks Dave for your suggestions that allowed everything to finally come together.
A NOTE, however, that in the last two days of running with the Global Cache Controller added to PH, I have experienced about a half dozen PH Lock-ups that were so hard I could only recover by killing PH via the Windows Task Manager.
Since PH has run flawlessly over the last two years with no lock ups ever, this sudden change seems to imply an issue. In addition, I ran about 3-4 years with extensive IR control in my prior home with no lock up issues, but using an USB-UIRT controller.
So, I suspect something is wrong and if I can do anything to help capture data, or debug please let me know.
Edited by GadgetGuy - March 16 2017 at 09:08
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smarty
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| Posted: March 17 2017 at 01:41 | IP Logged
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GadgetGuy wrote:
A NOTE, however, that in the last two days of running with the Global Cache Controller added to PH, I have experienced about a half dozen PH Lock-ups that were so hard I could only recover by killing PH via the Windows Task Manager.
Since PH has run flawlessly over the last two years with no lock ups ever, this sudden change seems to imply an issue. In addition, I ran about 3-4 years with extensive IR control in my prior home with no lock up issues, but using an USB-UIRT controller.
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Sounds about like what I saw/experienced when using that device... :(
Got so frustrated I went to hardwire...even though running the wire was VERY painful (think 100 feet of trench in mostly rocky soil).
Edited by smarty - March 17 2017 at 01:43
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dhoward
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| Posted: March 18 2017 at 21:14 | IP Logged
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Ken,
Glad to hear you got the AC finally controllable but sorry to hear that it's giving you problems. As Smarty reported, he had nearly an identical
experience so not sure if the wireless receiver just isnt that good with the WF2IR or what. Ive got on the todo list to spend some time trying to see if
there is anyway I can make it more reliable and recover without locking up if connection is dropped. It will be awhile though before I get a chance to
revisit it though.
In the meantime, since you're only using it to control your AC (which I wouldnt expect to have a high duty cycle), Im wondering if you can change your
macro from just sending the On (or Off) command to also include connecting to the WF2IR, sending the command, and then disconnecting the WF2IR controller.
Something like:
ph_ctlrcontrol("IR-CTRL","connect")
ph_ir("AC",1)
ph_ctlrcontrol("IR-CTRL","disconnect")
Since there won't be a chance for the signal to dropout, Im suspecting your lockups will be greatly minimized.
If you do try this, keep me posted on how it goes because your feedback will help when I go to make adjustments for the WF2IR controller routines.
Dave.
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GadgetGuy
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| Posted: March 19 2017 at 07:54 | IP Logged
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I seem to have a solid wifi signal in the WF2IR area.
I am getting a router signal there of about -73dbm,
and the signal from the WF2IR received at my router is
about -75dbm. While not super strong, it is what
almost all of my other home wifi points are achieving,
and I have no problems with any of them I am aware of.
So I would not expect the comm reliability to be an
issue.
Your suggestion for controlling the Global Cache
controller connections sounds interesting. I will
give that a try if I continue to have issues.
I won't receive my 2423A5 SynchroLink until next
Friday (~ a week from now) so won't be doing anything
until then.
An aside... the 2423A5 has been connected but just
sitting idle now for several days, as I am done
testing and won't access it any more until the 2423A5
arrives. There have been NO ISSUES at all in this
time, thus perhaps the comm problems have to do with
data transmission, rather than connectivity.
Once I get the 2423A5 received and going, and really
start using this whole setup, I will post results
here.
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BeachBum
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| Posted: March 19 2017 at 17:56 | IP Logged
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Ken, out of curiosity what are you using the 2423A5 for
or did I miss something in the thread.
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GadgetGuy
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| Posted: March 19 2017 at 19:21 | IP Logged
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Pete -
I'm trying to control an Air Conditioner in my Wine
Room, and need positive control of it as the room must
be heated or cooled as appropriate with outside temps
to maintain the desired environmental range.
I must make sure the AC is in a known on/off state so
as to not fight it with the electric heater also in
the room.
Since the AC is IR controlled but the POWER control is
a Toggle command and the AC is in a room outside of my
home and thus the state of the AC is not easily
discerned, I needed a way to determine if the AC is
actually on or off before I attempt to set it to a
desired state.
I monitor the room temp with a Insteon 2441TH
thermostat and am using that to advise PH program
control whether to turn heat or cooling on/off.
The only way to determine the AC state that I could
easily discover (I initially considered a microswitch
actuated wind paddle in front of the air vent but kept
looking until I found the 2423A5 sensor, which looks
like a much better solution).
If the issues that Smarty and I have encountered,
about PH lockups can be overcome, then this looks like
a perfect device for equipment state monitoring to
solve the issues associated with trying to manage a
power toggled unit that you don't know whether is
really on or off.
Edited by GadgetGuy - March 20 2017 at 07:30
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gg102
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| Posted: March 19 2017 at 20:59 | IP Logged
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If I might offer something to think about...
Win-10 could do an update/reboot without your knowledge.
This could take windows offline for as much as 10
minutes. This could also mess up your logic. If a
reboot happened while the AC was on, it could remain on
during the entire process. Also, you'd come back in an
unknown state.
Just something else to consider.
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BeachBum
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| Posted: March 20 2017 at 07:22 | IP Logged
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Ken, thanks for clarifying. I also have 2 devices I
control the same way. When I set device ON I set a global
call STATE to "ON". Using triggers and timed events I can
then verify if STATE is true. If not then I toggle it
again. The default settings on the load should be fine
as you draw enough current to activate it. The settings
can be changed manually if needed. This method also
bypasses any problems with temporary interruptions of PH.
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GadgetGuy
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| Posted: March 20 2017 at 07:45 | IP Logged
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Pete - thanks for sharing your approach. That sounds
pretty much like what I have in mind. I'm just
waiting until I get my 2423A5 to start working with
and verifying what it actually does. I was
considering defining a Virtual PH device called "WINE
AC" that (I think) can be triggered as a Responder
device to the 2423A5. As a virtual device it can
appear in the Device Status window of PH, as any other
light/appliance. This would allow the AC state to be
easily viewed at any time, rather than having to open
up a Global values window.
"gg102" the "Beachbum's" dialog should help clarify
your valid thoughts. Because the 2423A5 Sensor looks
to PH similar to say an Insteon 2476S SwitchLink
device it can be used to trigger PH events or sensed
to determine if it is On or Off (reflecting its
attached appliance state).
Thus PH can query the 24223A5 at any time to determine
without doubt, what the current state of the appliance
is, so that PH state knowledge matches real-world
conditions.
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BeachBum
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| Posted: March 20 2017 at 19:58 | IP Logged
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You got it Ken. I trigger on Grp 1 and inquire with an .
..RT. So I know when it changes and it's status when I
inquire.
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GadgetGuy
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| Posted: April 03 2017 at 12:55 | IP Logged
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dhoward wrote:
You should probably add "<repeat>3"
(without the double quotes) to the end of pronto code
in the "Outgoing Code" column.
This will force the IR to repeat 3 times (this is
usually ALWAYS needed). |
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Dave since I have set the CG Controller Setup Settings
to have a "Default Signal Repeat" of 3, does there
also need to be a <repeat> parameter at the end of the
Pronto code string?
I'm afraid that will make 9 (3x3) repeats.
BTW - is a repeat parameter command always required?
I am having problems with my IR command turning the
air conditioner on and immediately (<1sec) back off
again, or vice versa. I currently have the repeat of
3 asociated with the controller setup and not the
Pronto string.
This did not seem to happen initially but started
showing up after I had to power down and then back up
the GC WF2IR unit. Nothing I have done since seems to
fix this hiccup. 
Edited by GadgetGuy - April 03 2017 at 12:56
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GadgetGuy
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| Posted: April 03 2017 at 13:14 | IP Logged
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dhoward wrote:
Glad to hear you got the AC finally
controllable but sorry to hear that it's giving you
problems. As Smarty reported, he had nearly an
identical experience with the GC unit so not sure if
the wireless receiver just isnt that good with the
WF2IR or what. Ive got on the todo list to spend some
time trying to see if there is anyway I can make it
more reliable and recover without locking up if
connection is dropped. |
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Dave - After several weeks of working with the Global
Cache WF2IR unit I wanted to give you feedback on
connectivity performance.
The GC unit has been running 24/7 and in all that time
I have NOT had a single PH to WF2IR connection issue
EXCEPT when I have plugged/unplugged an IR Emitter. In
that case I have had PH Lock Up every time I think.
When things are left alone, all seems to work nicely
without any issues. I am getting a solid 2 bars
(occasionally 3) out of 4 from the WF2IR showing on my
Router monitor, and assume it is an even better signal
from the router to the WF2IR. I believe this
correlates with about a -73dbm signal strength.
If this experience continues I would have to say that
there does not appear to be a connectivity issue. My
initial experience with the GC/PH lockups was at a
time when I was trying to select an IR Emitter and
doing a lot of "plugging" in the process. 
Hope this helps, if there is anything you find you can
do about the issue.
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GadgetGuy
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GadgetGuy wrote:
I am having problems with my IR command turning the
air conditioner on and immediately (<1sec) back off
again, or vice versa. |
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Dave - I reduced the Repeat parameter to "1" and the
problem still remains.
So I started up the Global Cache iTest.exe App and
sent the identical pronto string I use in PH and NEVER
got any duplicate codes transmitted, and thus no
problems.
Every CG transmission works and every PH transmission
fails (turns the AC on and right back off
immediately).
Thus it appears it may be a PH issue.
Can you share any thoughts on what I might do, either
to fix it or to test it for you?
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BeachBum
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| Posted: April 03 2017 at 21:43 | IP Logged
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As a side thought are you using the 2423A5 to validate
on or off. And if so are you correcting the should be
state?
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GadgetGuy
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| Posted: April 04 2017 at 08:21 | IP Logged
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Pete -
At the moment I am using a ph_getinsteonlevelrt()
command to the 2423A5 to get the real-time state of
the Air Conditioner. When I do that the state of the
2423A5 (as shown on the "Device Status" screen) gets
updated, reflecting the accurate state. I had planned
to create a Global var to reflect the state, but it
does not seem to be necessary.
I would like to trigger off the 2423A5 state changes
but have not been able to get PH to see triggerable
activity. I have PH linked as a Responder to the
2423A5 but it doesn't seem to be working.
Once I get that working and solve the issue with PH
sending two IR bursts with each transmission (causing
the power toggle command to turn the AC on-off-on or
off-on-off) Then I can start working on a room
control strategy.
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BeachBum
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| Posted: April 05 2017 at 20:17 | IP Logged
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I checked my links and I have PLM as controller. I
trigger off a group 1 in. But the device does bounce and
sometime lies but can be set to the correct amperage if
needed as I recall. And as I remember the repeat is
required at he end of string. 3 to 5 should work.
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GadgetGuy
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| Posted: April 06 2017 at 07:04 | IP Logged
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Thanks Pete -
I just checked my Links again, and apparently after I
did a "Rebuild" on my 2423A5 unit, PH added Controller
Links in addition to the Responder Link I had created.
After that Rebuild, the Insteon Explorer>Device Status
window started tracking the 2423A5 state in real time,
but yesterday I lost that state tracking until I
Rebuilt the link again. I'm guessing that the Air
Conditioner generates enough electrical noise turning
on/off to scramble the 2423A5's memory. So to be safe
in my control macro, I used a ph_insteonlevelrt()
command to check the 2423A5 state (which also
instantly updates the Device Status state for the
device).
Everything seems to be working very well at this time.
The Wine Room HEAT/COOL functions are totally under
the control now of PH and have performed perfectly so
far.
I had to program a check and retry sequence in my
macro as the IR signalling to the Air Conditioner does
not seem to work 100% and misses occasionally, but
after sending any IR commands, I then check 3 seconds
later using the 2423A5 to make sure the command
executed, and if not retry again (up to 5 times then
abandon until the next scheduled event to allow for
any temporary electrical noise to go away). So far---
so good.
Thanks for your helpful suggestions along the way!
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Topic: 2411T IRLinc Support
