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Chowmain - Bond Bridge controls Somfy Shades, RF Ceiling Fans, Fireplaces and more!


alanchow

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Need some help with the programming logic for one of my RF Ceiling Fan's that have a stupid feature, it only has one light button that acts like this when its in "OFF" state:

  • one Press: 50% Light
  • 2nd Press: 100% Light
  • 3rd Press "OFF"

So with Bond Driver light  (Bond Light) will not work as its only On/Off and will not really work as "OFF: it's simply two presses if light @ 50% and one press if light @ 100%!!  Any suggestions?

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  • 2 weeks later...

UPDATE

Added new generic device type with on/off experience button and relay binding (so you can bind any motorised device driver to it).

 

 

On 2/14/2020 at 9:24 AM, Amr said:

Need some help with the programming logic for one of my RF Ceiling Fan's that have a stupid feature, it only has one light button that acts like this when its in "OFF" state:

  • one Press: 50% Light
  • 2nd Press: 100% Light
  • 3rd Press "OFF"

So with Bond Driver light  (Bond Light) will not work as its only On/Off and will not really work as "OFF: it's simply two presses if light @ 50% and one press if light @ 100%!!  Any suggestions?

You have a toggle code.  There is no way for you to make this a discrete code or a macro.  Best bet is to just put in an experience button and tie in programming to fire the command.  That way you have control but you will not know if it is on or off.

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36 minutes ago, alanchow said:

UPDATE

Added new generic device type with on/off experience button and relay binding (so you can bind any motorised device driver to it).

 

 

You have a toggle code.  There is no way for you to make this a discrete code or a macro.  Best bet is to just put in an experience button and tie in programming to fire the command.  That way you have control but you will not know if it is on or off.

Hi Alan, this what we did, I don’t need feedback am doing this while I see the Fan no issues at, it was nice thought to have Fan under Comfort finally instead of Light, this is a relief  ...

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  • 3 months later...

DRIVER UPDATE

  • Implemented Step by Step binding (this allows Control4 keypads to cycle between up-stop-down-stop for blinds easily)

  • Implemented alternative method to get token. You can now enter in the BOND PIN (found on the rear of the bond bridge) along with the BOND ACCOUNT CODE (found under account info in the settings of the bond app for iOS or Android)

  • Forked Fan driver so that there is now a version for each speed 2-7 as Control4 does not support dynamic fan speed limits. Please install the correct driver for the maximum amount of speeds your fan supports.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Been using the Bond driver to control my shades (Somfy RTS motors) and it's working great.  Wish there was 2-way feedback but understand that's not always possible.  I saw that Bond is releasing a Pro version and wanted to know what changes we might see from a Control4 perspective (if anyone knows).

https://www.bondhome.io/products/bond-pro/

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1 hour ago, SY3 said:

Been using the Bond driver to control my shades (Somfy RTS motors) and it's working great.  Wish there was 2-way feedback but understand that's not always possible.  I saw that Bond is releasing a Pro version and wanted to know what changes we might see from a Control4 perspective (if anyone knows).

https://www.bondhome.io/products/bond-pro/

You had listed the differences already in the link you provided, nothing much IMO, ITMF you loose IR with the pro vs regular Bond!

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1 minute ago, Pounce said:

Enough for me to wait until they are available. More coverage, sliders, PoE and it's not a black disk.

IF you are using it for RF only you can always hide it 😉

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14 minutes ago, Amr said:

IF you are using it for RF only you can always hide it 😉

Ok, sure.

Pro doesn't support IR, but if you are interested in coverage/reliability for a normal sized house you don't want to add additional barriers.  Hiding the lower RF powered device vs a visible higher powered device is sort of a bad comparison.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Have used this app and Bond for quite some time.  In general it works fine.  However it is not sync up if you still have fan speed/light controllers installed or use the manufacturer's remote.  For example I have Minka Aire 2 ceiling fans on the patio and 1 in the family room.  When you turn on the light or fan using the Minka/Manufacturer in-wall module or remote control the Bond App and the Chowmain integration to Control4 does not pickup the status change.  In this example when you open the C4 app it will reflect that the light is still off or fan not turned on.  This has been validated by both the integrator on repeat truck rolls and tests as recently as today.  If you don't have any manufacturer remotes or in-wall units it works great to ensure the status of the app matches reality.

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1 hour ago, gregheard said:

Have used this app and Bond for quite some time.  In general it works fine.  However it is not sync up if you still have fan speed/light controllers installed or use the manufacturer's remote.  For example I have Minka Aire 2 ceiling fans on the patio and 1 in the family room.  When you turn on the light or fan using the Minka/Manufacturer in-wall module or remote control the Bond App and the Chowmain integration to Control4 does not pickup the status change.  In this example when you open the C4 app it will reflect that the light is still off or fan not turned on.  This has been validated by both the integrator on repeat truck rolls and tests as recently as today.  If you don't have any manufacturer remotes or in-wall units it works great to ensure the status of the app matches reality.

That is correct.  Bond Bridge is a one-way device.  It will only replicate and send RF signals.  It will not detect RF signals and update state.

If however you have a Smart By Bond device then it is two-way as all the smarts are built in (it doesn’t need to send/detect RF).

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Thanks Alan!  yep that matches my experience.  the integration works fine in 90% of our cases.  The main issue is having an interface (i.e. C4 Switch) needed for guests to turn on these devices since they won't have the app on their phone and I don't have touchscreens everywhere.

BTW loving the Rachio driver installed last year!.  Gotta check out your Kaleidescape one with my Strato C and Terra to see how it works.

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7 hours ago, gregheard said:

Thanks Alan!  yep that matches my experience.  the integration works fine in 90% of our cases.  The main issue is having an interface (i.e. C4 Switch) needed for guests to turn on these devices since they won't have the app on their phone and I don't have touchscreens everywhere.

BTW loving the Rachio driver installed last year!.  Gotta check out your Kaleidescape one with my Strato C and Terra to see how it works.

Yes for best experience you should probably hide the original remote and install Control4 compatible keypads on the wall for control.

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Alan, curious if you have any experience with the MQTT configuration on the hub. I understand that it may be supported to use a local MQTT broker to replace the cloud control, but that it might not be totally supported or fully functional at this time.

Also, do you have any insight on when the pro version is going to be available?

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3 hours ago, Pounce said:

Alan, curious if you have any experience with the MQTT configuration on the hub. I understand that it may be supported to use a local MQTT broker to replace the cloud control, but that it might not be totally supported or fully functional at this time.

Also, do you have any insight on when the pro version is going to be available?

I don’t have any experience with MQTT.  Also bond is not cloud based.  It’s local control.  You do not need internet.

No insight into pro. Even if I did I wouldn’t be able to say anything.

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15 minutes ago, alanchow said:

I don’t have any experience with MQTT.  Also bond is not cloud based.  It’s local control.  You do not need internet.

No insight into pro. Even if I did I wouldn’t be able to say anything.

Ok. thanks. I'm looking at the device docs for Bond devices which may or may not apply to the hub device.

http://docs-local.appbond.com/#tag/MQTT

image.thumb.png.43643147781ef0d4774f1183b2d5d980.png

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37 minutes ago, Pounce said:

Ok. thanks. I'm looking at the device docs for Bond devices which may or may not apply to the hub device.

http://docs-local.appbond.com/#tag/MQTT

image.thumb.png.43643147781ef0d4774f1183b2d5d980.png

Yeah sorry i can't help with that.  You should probably reach out via the bond forums for assistance if you want to mess around with stuff that is not our driver.

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I had this driver installed at my primary residence today and am using Bond in place of an old (virtually no name brand) blind controlling hub/bridge.

Overall, I like it and love the idea that I can learn other devices into the same bridge.

What I miss from my old cheap and nasty driver is the ability to see if the blind is partially open.  This was done by telling the driver how long it took to open / close the blinds fully.  Would be nice to see Bond add this.  If one stopped the blind during this period, the UI continued showing the blind in a partially open state.

Then it would be nice if the Control4 driver added a group / sub-group function whereby certain blind controls (when activated) also control the UI for other blinds.  One can use the normal C4 blind group driver for this, but that creates a pop corn effect on blinds next to each other.  Or one can program around this (but that is messy and risky although it is what I have done for now).  The ability to change the UI state of other blinds without actually firing an open / close command to them is one of the coolest features of the Somfy blind driver that I use at my beach house.

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51 minutes ago, South Africa C4 user said:

I had this driver installed at my primary residence today and am using Bond in place of an old (virtually no name brand) blind controlling hub/bridge.

Overall, I like it and love the idea that I can learn other devices into the same bridge.

What I miss from my old cheap and nasty driver is the ability to see if the blind is partially open.  This was done by telling the driver how long it took to open / close the blinds fully.  Would be nice to see Bond add this.  If one stopped the blind during this period, the UI continued showing the blind in a partially open state.

Then it would be nice if the Control4 driver added a group / sub-group function whereby certain blind controls (when activated) also control the UI for other blinds.  One can use the normal C4 blind group driver for this, but that creates a pop corn effect on blinds next to each other.  Or one can program around this (but that is messy and risky although it is what I have done for now).  The ability to change the UI state of other blinds without actually firing an open / close command to them is one of the coolest features of the Somfy blind driver that I use at my beach house.

This is something we will never do as we don’t have true feedback.  It’s prone to errors as we can’t determine its exact position and it’s just an estimate based on one way commands we send.

we have blind drivers (that are free) for blinds that have true feedback to 0.1% accuracy.  If you need that sort of feedback I and control I recommend getting those blinds

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  • 2 years later...

I switched off my Somfy URTSII in exchange for controlling the 16 Blinds in house via Bond, two issues I face, there is an “?” For most of the blinds in any UI in Control4 in any position, also this renders all blinds not usable with HomeKit as it reports -1 position for any kind at any given time which makes all blinds Accessories not responding, anyway to fix that!?

The URTSII was reporting correctly and am not sure but it’s oneway as well!

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On 8/8/2022 at 9:16 PM, Amr said:

I switched off my Somfy URTSII in exchange for controlling the 16 Blinds in house via Bond, two issues I face, there is an “?” For most of the blinds in any UI in Control4 in any position, also this renders all blinds not usable with HomeKit as it reports -1 position for any kind at any given time which makes all blinds Accessories not responding, anyway to fix that!?

The URTSII was reporting correctly and am not sure but it’s oneway as well!

Please reach out to us for support via one of the methods listed in the link below.

https://chowmain.software/for-integrators/technical-support

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  • 5 months later...

Just wanted to say that I'm a big fan of the Bond Bridge and show another use case.
We have used it now in 5 projects and my home and it works great.

We mostly use it for Ceiling fans that are available in our region (Indonesia) and for Somfy Blinds.
In my house I've also used it for things like motorised projector screen and to integrate a very cheap wireless doorbell chime when my mechanical one failed.
Just copied the door bell RF signal and then added it as a generic device.
In Control4 if door bell button gets pressed then the chime goes off immediately. I was very impressed by how fast it is.

Going to make a larger import order for the new Bond Pro devices as I have it spected in all our up coming projects here.

 

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  • 1 month later...
3 hours ago, Midnight1982 said:

 

Hi Alan 

 Installed a bond bridge last week to learn in external louves, they all working off somfy driver, 

 

The OG remote has a MY setting with preset - however on control 4 there is no MY option, on bond bridge there is the MY option though. 

 

what are my options?

 

 

All commands are available through the Bond Bridge driver's programming commands.  There is a drop down with all of them.  The My Command is also the Stop command FYI.

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14 hours ago, alanchow said:

All commands are available through the Bond Bridge driver's programming commands.  There is a drop down with all of them.  The My Command is also the Stop command FYI.

 

18 hours ago, Midnight1982 said:

Hi Alan 

 Installed a bond bridge last week to learn in external louves, they all working off somfy driver, 

The OG remote has a MY setting with preset - however on control 4 there is no MY option, on bond bridge there is the MY option though. 

what are my options?

I use Somfy with Bond and the “My” button is indeed the Stop button

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