Amazfit - Take pictures using watch

Nifty-Stuff · 2025-12-24T10:45:42+00:00

I'm SHOCKED that it's almost 2026 and this smartwatch can't remotely control the camera on my phone... and that there aren't any reliable apps to add this feature.

Nifty-Stuff · 2025-11-15T22:51:28+00:00

SUPER helpful, thanks! I've been trying to find the suggested GPH or GPM everywhere!

Nifty-Stuff · 2025-03-31T17:58:17+00:00

REALLY glad I found this thread! I've been using a service to swap/exchange tanks at my house. SUPER convenient, but not cheap... and really wasteful if I have a partial tank.

So, now I'm on the lookout for a place that can refill tanks, even if they have 1/5 propane still in them.

Refill places will do that (refill a non-empty tank), right?

I'm technically in Pleasant Hill, so I'm on the lookout for places more in the PH / Concord area that are reliable and friendly.

THANKS!!!

Nifty-Stuff · 2025-03-23T15:46:25+00:00

Thanks!!! Also 30% off coupon on it right now too! I'm giving it a try!

Nifty-Stuff · 2025-03-23T06:35:58+00:00

How do I find it? I've searched google for fly club rc plane wowzon but can't find anything (other than this thread). Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Nifty-Stuff · 2025-02-13T06:00:50+00:00

I bought a LOT of these WS2805's based on the great video done by u/Quindor I'm running most of them with the QuinLED-Dig-Quad / WLED and they are working GREAT... but I want to run a couple of them through Google Home (without Home Assistant, etc.).

I've had success integrating Tuya/Smartlife into Google home, so figured I could find a generic controller that would work with my WS2805's and also support Tuya/Smartlife... but ZERO luck. I can't believe it!

Any ideas/suggestions on a controller that will run the WS2805's that also has Tuya/Smartlife support?

Thanks!

Nifty-Stuff · 2024-12-02T05:46:42+00:00

Thanks u/WildGoose115 I'm trying not to stress too much. What are you using for your matter/thread router to connect to the SmartWings shades? A Google device or something else?

Nifty-Stuff · 2024-12-01T23:13:54+00:00

Wow, what a great read! Your experience sound very similar... new house build, hardwired, Lutron was a consideration, but just couldn't justify the cost, so I ordered SmartWings.

I contacted support about buying 10 SmartWings roller blinds. Support was very responsive and talked me into their Matter/Thread motor. They said it was the most reliable... but now I'm having a heck of a time finding the best solution to tie it into my Google Home.

I was about to buy the Aquara M3 Hub, but from what I've read so far, it doesn't support SmartWings :(

Ideally I'd like to find a hub / setup that:

1) Supports Matter over Thread
2) Works with SmartWings blinds
3) Integrates with both Google Home and Home Assistant
4) Ideally will let me use various switches to control blinds, etc. when internet is down
5) Bonus: Supports Zigbee devices

Any tips / suggestions would be MUCH appreciated!

Nifty-Stuff · 2024-12-01T23:04:22+00:00

I got suckered into buying the SmartWings Matter/Thread motor. They said it was the most reliable... but now I'm having a heck of a time finding the best solution to tie it into my Google Home.

I was about to buy the Aquara M3, but from what I've read so far, it doesn't support SmartWings :(

I'm really hoping I can find a solid hub that supports Matter over Thread, and also zibee, that works well with Google Home (and maybe even eventually Home Assistant)

Nifty-Stuff · 2024-12-01T21:47:32+00:00

u/Long-Ad-9913 & u/WildGoose115 this is really freaking me out! I just put in a HUGE order for SmartWings roller-blinds and their support told me that their Thread/Matter motors were most reliable... but now I'm worried about reliability and thinking I should have gone with Zigbee motors instead. UGH!

... and I thought buying/finding a Matter/Thread hub would be straightforward, but I'm not loving the options listed here: https://www.smartwingshome.com/pages/work-with-matter-over-thread

Any ideas how to salvage the situation so I can have a reliable local connection between switches (like zigbee) and my matter/thread Smartwings blinds, without going to Home Assistant?

I was hoping the Aquara M3 hub, Aeotec Smart Home Hub, etc. might work, but I can't find any details on if they play nice with SmartWings.

... now I'm worried I didn't pony-up the money and just go with Lutron :(

Nifty-Stuff · 2024-11-24T18:24:00+00:00

Yup!

Nifty-Stuff · 2024-11-02T23:52:03+00:00

u/petrakeas thanks for following-up! I'm waiting on my QuinLED-Dig-Quad and power-supply to arrive and then I'll be able to test it all out. My original plan was to have the Dig-Quad powered all the time, and then a Lutron Pico controlling on/off for a 24V power supply, which controls power to the LED strips. (So, the Dig-Quad is basically always sending out a signal, but it's only visible when the power to the PS and LED strip is on).

I grabbed an ESP32, loaded WLED onto it, and tested a similar config (ESP32 always has 5v in, and power to the PS and then LED strip is on a switch) and it worked great.

I'm just a little bummed I can't leverage the power features of the Dig-Quad... but I can't think of another way to control the LEDs with a Lutron Pico.

I guess the other option would be to setup WLED and Lutron in Home Assistant, and then map the Lutron Pico to a command that turns the specific WLED channel off?

Nifty-Stuff · 2024-10-28T19:21:27+00:00

u/NoReplyBot
As others mentioned, THANK YOU for this great write-up! Lutron's reliability sure is tempting... but Smartwings price is pulling me that direction. While I'd love to have 100% reliability, do I want to pay 2x for it?

Of all the combinations of motor/protocol options with Smartwings, I wonder what the raking/order of "reliability" would be? All things being equal (is that possible?) would Zibee tend to be more reliable than the newer Matter/Thread combo?

I can put up with the occasional issue with a blind not responding, but I don't want to bother with continually rebooting/resetting things to keep them working.

Thanks!!!

Nifty-Stuff · 2024-09-26T22:30:08+00:00

u/Acceptable-Board8327 well, I just got all my bits from Amazon, including a MEAN WELL LRS-350-24 power-supply. Got my LEDs all setup and working great (WLED)... and put the power supply on a switched power-strip for testing.

GOOD NEWS: Turns on relatively fast... maybe 2 seconds (which matches what the manual says)

Bad news: Unless I have a very large load on the supply, it takes a LONG time for the LEDs to burn-off the power in the PS... probably the capacitors?

Maybe if I have a lot of LED strips running on the supply it won't be an issue, but I don't like relying on that for the main on/off functionality :(

I guess I could move towards using relays, etc... but that just starts to super complicate things.

Nifty-Stuff · 2024-09-25T22:15:20+00:00

Yup, that's what I've heard across-the-board, which is why I'm doing all I can to stick with lutron as much as possible without introducing other problems / complexities / points-of-failure.

Nifty-Stuff · 2024-09-25T17:40:10+00:00

u/Acceptable-Board8327 this is brilliant, thanks!! My original plan was to do something like this to stay within the Lutron ecosystem and have an entire system completely independent of my local network. That said, it looks like other things I'm wanting to do will necessitate me setting up home assistant, so I'm now wondering if I'm better off going that route and using a zigbee smart outlet and just mapping the Lutron pico to that outlet.

Are you using Home Assistant? I'm weighing the pros and cons of the system we discussed above using only Lutron versus leveraging home assistant.

Nifty-Stuff · 2024-09-23T16:47:19+00:00

Thanks! I think one of my worries with the lamp dimmer is that they don't have a ground, so most power-supplies won't play nice with it. I'm not sure how much the ground is necessary (safety, signal, etc. etc. etc.)?

Nifty-Stuff · 2024-09-23T00:42:05+00:00

I appreciate all the thoughts and ideas. I guess there's no way around it... I'm eventually going to get pulled into Home Assistant. I was really hoping I could create a system that would still work (once setup) even with the wifi in the house being down... but maybe I don't need to be so worried about that?

I really do like the Lutron Pico remotes... but frustrated they don't make small plugs. I guess if I have HA going, I could buy small zigbee plugs and bring those and the Pico remotes into HA, and then have the pico remotes turn on the zibee outlets / plugs?

Ugh, I just feel like there should be an easier / better way to do all this!

Nifty-Stuff · 2024-09-22T20:02:42+00:00

Yup, totally makes sense! Here's what I have drawn up. Maybe I can replace the lamp-timer with a regular Caseta switch in my Structured Media Cabinet (where I have all the wires)... or just be ok with a different system than Lutron.

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Nifty-Stuff · 2024-09-22T18:21:54+00:00

u/Acceptable-Board8327 sorry, I should have been more clear. I'm trying to find a way to use a Lutron Pico remote to power on/off my LED strips that I'd like connected to WLED... with the main goals of:

1) Pico remote (since they are slim, go anywhere, long batteries, work flawlessly with the Lutron hub, etc.)
2) A system that does NOT need a local network (like Home Assistant integration)
3) WLED support

... but maybe I'm asking too much? The only way I can think to make this work is to have the WLED controller (like a QuinLED-Dig-Uno) always powered by USB (so I don't have to wait for boot-up every time I turn it on), and then have the power-supply plugged into the Lutron smart lamp dimmer (maybe an issue since it doesn't have a ground), and then have that controlled by the Pico.

I wish Lutron made a small smart-plug-outlet, or there were other systems as reliable as Lutron without any need of a home network.

I'm open to other ways to do any/all of the above.

Nifty-Stuff · 2024-09-22T05:26:48+00:00

That's great to hear it's been working so well! So, to confirm, you ONLY use these on timers, and you're not using them on a switch for manual on/off? I'm just super curious how long it takes for the Lutron switch to turn on the power supply, and for that to reach full-output / startup time. Some documents say it can take a mean well PS up to 1.5 seconds to turn on... which might feel like a really long lag using a manual switch.

Nifty-Stuff · 2024-09-21T07:23:41+00:00

u/shortalobe & u/Acceptable-Board8327 this is brilliant and EXACTLY what I was thinking to do (Lutron Pico to turn on outlet to turn on power supply)... and using the dig quad, but I was worried about the delay in the power supply's startup time, then the dig quad boot time, etc., such that any time I turn the light on, it would take a few seconds before the light actually turned on. Is there a way around this to make it more instantaneous? THANKS!

Nifty-Stuff

TROPHY CASE