https://homeautomationguru.com Smart Home, Insteon, Home Automation, and DIY Home Hacks Sun, 13 Nov 2016 21:01:20 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.8.13 https://homeautomationguru.com/isy-994i-blue-iris-integration/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=isy-994i-blue-iris-integration Sat, 19 Nov 2016 16:06:35 +0000 http://homeautomationguru.com/?p=2438 A few months back I wrote about the Blue Iris Mobile App, and how you could configure it with a geofence similar to MobiLinc that allows Blue Iris to record video and notify you of motion detection when you’re not…

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]]> https://homeautomationguru.com/new-construction-home-automation/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-construction-home-automation Tue, 15 Nov 2016 16:49:24 +0000 http://homeautomationguru.com/?p=2424 A few months back, reader Billy wrote: We’re building a new house, and what better way to get in when you have all the walls open to begin with. I was wondering if you had any recommendations? Maybe you could…

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]]> https://homeautomationguru.com/basic-isy-994i-programming-actions/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=basic-isy-994i-programming-actions Fri, 11 Nov 2016 15:14:31 +0000 http://homeautomationguru.com/?p=2405 On the heels of the post about ISY-994i programming conditionals, let’s take a look at possible actions you can take in “Then” and “Else” clauses of your programs. You can see the list after clicking the “Action” button under “Add…

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]]> https://homeautomationguru.com/basic-isy-994i-programming-conditionals/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=basic-isy-994i-programming-conditionals https://homeautomationguru.com/basic-isy-994i-programming-conditionals/#comments Wed, 09 Nov 2016 16:28:32 +0000 http://homeautomationguru.com/?p=2398 Continuing our QuickStart mini-series, let’s cover the basics of ISY-994i programming. I’ve covered lots of programs over the years, but apparently, as a reader pointed out, I never covered the very basics of the structure. Programs follow a pretty basic…

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]]> https://homeautomationguru.com/basic-isy-994i-programming-conditionals/feed/ 2 https://homeautomationguru.com/scenes-in-isy994i/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=scenes-in-isy994i https://homeautomationguru.com/scenes-in-isy994i/#comments Mon, 07 Nov 2016 14:58:00 +0000 http://homeautomationguru.com/?p=2391 I’ve written extensively about Insteon Scenes, and discussed some things to consider when diagnosing problems with scenes, but I thought for the sake of completeness in the ISY-994i QuickStart mini-series, scenes should be included. So here’s a question from reader…

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]]> https://homeautomationguru.com/scenes-in-isy994i/feed/ 2 https://homeautomationguru.com/isy-994i-folders-naming-conventions/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=isy-994i-folders-naming-conventions Sat, 05 Nov 2016 12:11:26 +0000 http://homeautomationguru.com/?p=2382 Today’s ISY-994i QuickStart post addresses the question: “Once I’ve added devices, how should I organize them?” There’s no “right” way to organize your folders and devices, but here are a few tips that I’ve applied over the years to keep…

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]]> https://homeautomationguru.com/adding-isy-994i-devices/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=adding-isy-994i-devices https://homeautomationguru.com/adding-isy-994i-devices/#comments Thu, 03 Nov 2016 14:28:07 +0000 http://homeautomationguru.com/?p=2369 Continuing our QuickStart series of posts about the fundamentals of basic ISY configuration, today we’ll cover two ways to add a device to the ISY-994i. Without getting too technical, when we add a device to the ISY, in addition to…

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]]> https://homeautomationguru.com/adding-isy-994i-devices/feed/ 1 https://homeautomationguru.com/accessing-isy-994i/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=accessing-isy-994i Tue, 01 Nov 2016 13:42:02 +0000 http://homeautomationguru.com/?p=2360 It’s been a while since I’ve written here, and wow do I have a backlog of posts I want to get written! Let’s get started with a “QuickStart” mini-series to help out those of you just getting started with the…

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]]> https://homeautomationguru.com/cnn-scumbag-ads/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cnn-scumbag-ads https://homeautomationguru.com/cnn-scumbag-ads/#comments Mon, 01 Aug 2016 13:57:40 +0000 http://homeautomationguru.com/?p=2341 Sorry to step off script here, but I’ve just been disgusted with CNN ads lately and had to throw this out there. CNN is my go-to news channel; I mostly trust them and their largely unbiased content. But their ad…

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]]> https://homeautomationguru.com/cnn-scumbag-ads/feed/ 2 https://homeautomationguru.com/the-echo-dot-is-another-winner-from-amazon/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-echo-dot-is-another-winner-from-amazon Sun, 24 Apr 2016 01:44:30 +0000 http://homeautomationguru.com/?p=2328 Wow. You guys know about my love of Amazon’s Echo, my forays into developing Alexa skills, the thrill of trying out the ISY-994i integration the first time, and even the warnings about the placement of the Echo. The Amazon Echo…

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]]> https://homeautomationguru.com/power-insteon-wireless-devices-with-dc-adapter/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=power-insteon-wireless-devices-with-dc-adapter Tue, 19 Apr 2016 13:58:41 +0000 http://homeautomationguru.com/?p=2297 Tired of replacing batteries in your wireless Insteon devices like motion sensors or hidden door sensors? Power them from the wall with a 9v wall adapter. The process is similar to what we did making a USB connector, splicing the…

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]]> https://homeautomationguru.com/tivo-bolt/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tivo-bolt https://homeautomationguru.com/tivo-bolt/#comments Fri, 15 Apr 2016 13:03:25 +0000 http://homeautomationguru.com/?p=2309 Hi, my name’s Matt and I loath commercials. Care to join my Commercial Hater’s Anonymous group (CHA!)? Then check out the Tivo Bolt. I’ve been a Tivo guy for years now, but recently upgraded to the Tivo Bolt – and…

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]]> https://homeautomationguru.com/tivo-bolt/feed/ 2 https://homeautomationguru.com/facetime-yourself-electrical-work/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=facetime-yourself-electrical-work https://homeautomationguru.com/facetime-yourself-electrical-work/#comments Mon, 11 Apr 2016 12:08:10 +0000 http://homeautomationguru.com/?p=2285 If you have an iPad and an iPhone, did you know you can actually FaceTime yourself? Why in all hell would you WANT to do this? If you do a lot of electrical work in your house alone, it’s a…

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]]> https://homeautomationguru.com/facetime-yourself-electrical-work/feed/ 1 https://homeautomationguru.com/rotary-tool-fix-sticking-deadbolt/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rotary-tool-fix-sticking-deadbolt Thu, 07 Apr 2016 15:00:22 +0000 http://homeautomationguru.com/?p=2281 I’ve got an electronic door lock that I control via my Insteon system to lock when I leave the house, and even monitor whether the deadbolt is set or not. But over the winter, I found that the lock was…

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]]> https://homeautomationguru.com/hide-mobilinc-clutter-with-character-prefix/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=hide-mobilinc-clutter-with-character-prefix Sun, 03 Apr 2016 13:39:40 +0000 http://homeautomationguru.com/?p=2270 Here’s a quick and simple tip for you MobiLinc users out there: regardless of how your ISY994i folder structure is set up, you likely have a bunch of devices, scenes, or programs that you just don’t want to show up…

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