zaphod

It depends on the actual switch as well.

17 hours ago, TundraSonic said:

That said, it's been the only game in town for providing homeowners with some semblance of control over their system. The question is when will other options like HomeKit become viable.

I am not sure about HomeKit since Apple's tendency is to keep you within their own ecosystem as much as possible, and I say this as a dedicated iOS adherent.  But Home Assistant has become quite impressive and is becoming a viable alternative for some, but it may be too geeky for the masses.

5 hours ago, Audio Obsessions said:

I use the official Windows 11 app everyday, 

What's the official Windows 11 app?  Or do you mean the Android app running under WSA on Windows 11?

I only say this to clarify for people - there used to be a Control4 "native" Windows application that ran using Flash.  But that went away years ago, or at least when OS3 was released.

1 hour ago, msgreenf said:

All countries 

Thanks Mitch, but how come no one noticed it other than me?  Does that tell you that no one is using it?

2 hours ago, Darin, PM C4 CX,UI said:

@zaphod,
Thanks for mentioning this, I had the Android development team double check things to make sure everything was setup properly to distribute to all markets since Canada is in the currently supported markets. They discovered that Windows 11 support had been unchecked for the last 2 versions due to a change in the app submission flow with all the updates that Amazon has been making to their developer console. They've fixed the issue and resubmitted the app for review, so you can expect it to be available again within 24-48 hours.

Thanks Darin.  Was that oversight just in the Amazon Appstore for Canada, or for all supported countries?

I finally got around to trying WSA on a Win11 PC and I don't see the C4 app in the Amazon Appstore.  Perhaps this is because I am in Canaa.

Anyone else have it working in Canada - any tricks to get it working?

What's the current status of the Berto MQTT drivers?  What versions of C4 do they work on?

Thanks, interesting stuff.

But would the iBeacon technology work to be able to tell which room you are in within your house, rather than just saying if you are in the house?

39 minutes ago, msgreenf said:

Sr250= old . Could be shorts? 

Could be.  But other than gobbling up batteries they work fine.

I have some older SR-250s that I use in rooms that get less use.  Some of them have batteries that last forever if they aren't used very often, but I have a couple where the batteries only last 2-3 weeks, even if the remote is only used once or twice per week.  Anyone else seen this?  Any setting to adjust to solve the issue?

3 hours ago, theimmortal said:

Were you ever able to find a solution for this? I am looking at purchasing a TCL TV and want to ensure it can integrate into my existing setup.

TCL Roku TVs would work very well in C4 with IP.  I have a few Roku TVs of different brands.

12 hours ago, Cyknight said:

It's not strips: DMX doesn't equal strips. In my case it's (true) low voltage potlights - 60 or so of them -  as well. Plus something like 30m of striplights as well, for closets, shelves, and toekicks.

I realize that, but DMX becomes more cost effective when you are doing that much distance.  Some of these brands like Hue and Wiz sell you a 2m light strip and then have 1m extensions.  They are not at all well suited where you want to do the perimeter of your room, Or toekicks all around your kitchen.

15 minutes ago, Cyknight said:

There's NOTHING wrong with using other options for small projects or very specific functions (for example, the Govee I use is used only for it's TV screen tracking backlight and all i do is turn it on and off) and I have a few Hue bulbs in specific sports where it was convenient to use them as wiring wasn't feasible. But I did my complete basement using low voltage lighting: there was never a doubt that I'd be using DMX for it.

How many meters of strips do you have in your basement?

3 minutes ago, ekohn00 said:

I think they were free....

https://annex4.link/drivers/hydrawise-hc

Do you need both the controller and the zone drivers?  The one you linked to and this one?  https://annex4.link/drivers/hydrawise-hc-zone

3 minutes ago, ekohn00 said:

My Hunter Hydrowise works nicely with C4. Set up a few "water now" buttons for different areas to give extra water....

C4 integration would be nice, but not crucial as was discussed above in this thread.  Is the driver free or do you have to pay for it?

5 minutes ago, anon2828 said:

Not trying to start an argument, but just curious why anyone would want to hassle with all of the additional programming, equipment, and complexity necessary for DMX?  Seems like there are plenty of all-in-one solutions that bypass the necessity for DMX.

Probably because with DMX it is possible to put all sorts of lights/devices on the system.  With Wiz you are limited to their product line.

And the Wiz stuff looks pretty expensive.  A basic 5050 LED light strip is about $10 for 5m/16 feet. You could attach these to DMX controllers and do whatever you want.

How do you find the smart capabilities of the Rachio, or do you even use that?  And do you know if you can connect a Hunter rain sensor to a Rachio?  Or do you even need that?

It is about a year and a half since this thread.  I still am using my Irrigation Caddy but would like to replace it.  My Irrigation Service guy is a Hunter dealer so I could use a Hunter Controller.  Does anyone know if the Hunger software has improved at all?  Hunter is easiest for me since he is familiar with the app so he could easily control my system when he comes to turn it on in the spring and to blow it out in the autumn.

Do either Rachio or Hunter controllers have an ethernet port in addition to Wifi?  I could easily run a cable to the location of my controller.  Is it pretty easy to switch over to a new controller?  I have to think it is just a case of changing wires from the Common and each zone to the new controller, is it not?

@Andrew luecke You guys have done drivers for several of the different options for LED lights, strips, etc.  Do you have a view on the merits of the various systems?  Any reason to believe that one manufacturer is better than any others in terms of stability of API/Control4 driver? 

It would be really nice if we could come up with a standard where the API is the same for all of these systems where the basic controls like on, off, toggle, set_color, get_status, etc use the same API commands. 

Or even for commands.  Why can't they all have the same REST API so that you turn it on with http://192.168.1.150/commands?cmnd=on and you get status with http://192.168.1.150/commands?cmnd=Status

13 hours ago, Cyknight said:

generally a fireplace is controlled via relays as it's the most reliable (basically failure proof) - that said any fireplace with RF can be controlled via a bond bridge.

In both cases control is limited to on/off and maybe some up/down settings if the fireplace supports it.

The only other option might be Escea fireplaces, as they just started selling in NA (and there's been a chowmain driver for awhile) - don't know how available they are though

IMO it is so annoying that these manufacturers don't put smart capabilities into their products.  How hard/expensive is it to put a Shelly or similar device into the fireplace control unit?  The increase in variable cost is pretty tiny.

11 hours ago, booch said:

If your set on getting sensor data though, beyond the Tempest, Shelly's 'Door/Window 2' sensors measure lux, integrate well, are cheap, have long battery life and are surprisingly accurate. I literally left a few stuck outside on my house (under eaves) to collect data and they had no issue after a year, with something like 80% battery left. Other sensors I tried were more sensitive/industrial, but they required more creative solutions to power and hide, and the data ended up being functionally equivalent (after processing it for the use case).

How do you integrate these into C4 - the Chowmain Shelly driver?

I am thinking more other Zigbee devices, like sensors, relays, etc.  Sonoff has a bunch of Zigbee stuff as well.  It would be nice to use that directly in C4.

11 minutes ago, eggzlot said:

once you buy the Kasa driver (one time purchase) you can add outlets and lights and other things at your own pace without involving a dealer.  

Agreed, but it is (I think) US$75 for the driver.  I am not begrudging the fact that the developer gets paid as they have to spend time writing the driver.  But it would be nice to not have to pay that overhead.  And if I decide to buy a Sonoff plug or power switch for some reason then that is another $75.  Or if I want to try a Govee LED strip there is another $75.  And I have to have a dealer installer the driver.