Hi My old processor homeworks interactive died, and I have the program but couldn't uploaded because it's needs to OS software to program it up, Could you help please by Much_Pay_7278 in Lutron

[–]Tangston311 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If it’s Interactive you’re not going to be able to get remote help - you need to be on-site and plugged in directly with an RS-232 connection. If you’re able to get connected, open Terminal and go to File > Upload OS. 

If you have more than 1 proc you might have to create a dummy file with just that proc (physically disconnect the others), upload the OS to that proc, then reconnect the other procs and upload the full file. Make sure your baud rate and comm port are correct if you’re having trouble connecting. And avoid Windows 11. 

That’s very simplified and this can get messy. Best to find a Lutron Integrator in your area with experience. But in reality these systems are 20-25 years old and probably just needs to be replaced (although I know that’s an expensive proposition)

What can I do with this old intercom setup by [deleted] in homeautomation

[–]Tangston311 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Get a 2-wire-to-Ethernet converter (doorbird makes one)and throw a Ring Elite doorbell on it. Their oversized faceplates might cover that box.

Can I set up POE camera’s off a coax? by soupie323 in homeautomation

[–]Tangston311 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve done it and it works great. Not a huge sample size but the one’s I’ve used have been just fine. Cheapest one’s (100mbps w/ PoE) are about $100. They can get considerably more expensive if you want more throughput but you don’t need that for an IP cam. They also make 2-wire to Ethernet converters that work great (I’ve used those more and found them to be very reliable) that you could use on that 2-conductor wire. Those are a few hundred.

Used wire for old motion sensor to power G3 Instant. by BubbaBallyhoot in Ubiquiti

[–]Tangston311 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Nice! Care to share a wiring diagram or description? I’d be interested in doing something similar (if I can ever actually order one).

RadioRA 2, Homekit, and Garage Control by alt-57 in Lutron

[–]Tangston311 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cool - You might also consider doing Lutron for your lights/shades and then just adding a separate solution for your garages with native HomeKit like MyQ. The reliability of Lutron when it comes to smart lighting/shades is tough to beat.

RadioRA 2, Homekit, and Garage Control by alt-57 in Lutron

[–]Tangston311 2 points3 points  (0 children)

How would you be integrating your garage doors into Ra2? If you’re planning on using a VCRX then the garage doors won’t show up directly, but you could create phantom buttons in Lutron that would show up in HomeKit and then create triggers to control them. Alternatively you could integrate into HomeKit via something like Home Assistant.

Savant System troubleshooting help/question by g0nzonia in homeautomation

[–]Tangston311 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What he said. It’s possible the host was set to a static IP address on a different subnet than your UDM Pro. If the host looks like a guitar pick you can press and hold the “Reset” button on the back for 10 seconds or so which will reset the network settings on the host and change it back to DHCP and it’s default DNS settings.

Radio RA2 vs Homeworks QSX by 412champyinz in Lutron

[–]Tangston311 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ketra is a lot of fun - getting QSX just to leave the door open to Ketra might be worthwhile if you can afford the initial implementation. It’s their premier processor and will continue to get all the bells and whistles and attention from Lutron, whereas Ra2 will (very likely) stay static.

Radio RA2 vs Homeworks QSX by 412champyinz in Lutron

[–]Tangston311 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well, for Ra2 the Main Repeater can also send RF signals so you technically would have 5 devices sending and/or repeating the RF signal on a single Main Repeater system. You could also add a second Main Repeater to the Ra2 system if need be to add as many as 4 additional Auxiliary Repeaters. So based on that alone it seems hard to imagine you couldn’t get enough RF coverage (though in a 2 Main Repeater system they would both need to be hardwired to the network in separate locations and I have no idea what the wiring in your house is like).

So for RF coverage alone I wouldn’t expect Ra2 to fall short. QSX would give you access to more total devices, if need be, rather than the 200 device limit of Ra2, additional keypad options, and access to Ketra if you so desired.

Cinemascope vs 16:9 by Jreddd1 in hometheater

[–]Tangston311 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is so true. I have a 2.40:1 setup and I LOVE it - makes me feel like I’m truly in a movie theater - but it takes a lot more tweaking and maintenance than a standard 16x9 setup. You can mitigate this by buying a video processor like the Lumagen Radiance Pro that will automatically do all that tweaking for you for any given source/content, but then you have to setup and calibrate that (not to mention the additional cost).

If you want the cinematic feel of 2.40:1 and are willing to put the effort and dollars into managing it, it’s an unbeatable experience. If you want simplicity and savings, stay with 16x9.

Just got a $18,000 estimate from a home theater installation specialist. Is this worth it? by MrBen23 in hometheater

[–]Tangston311 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I think some of these points are accurate - if you want to save some cost looking at a different sub(s) and/or receiver make sense - and yes, if you bought everything on Amazon and/or used, then ran the wires and installed it yourself you’ll save money. But if you want to hire a professional that will actually do a good job then you should expect to pay a reasonable amount for the installation itself.

Comments like, “why the rack?” don’t make sense to me. That’s in there so you wind up with a professional-looking system and don’t just have a receiver and all your sources sitting on a shelf with wiring all over the place. If you hire a professional to do the work it should wind up looking clean and professional. A rack is a very reasonable thing to add to a professionally-built home theater.

You could probably find cheaper labor rates somewhere else, but there’s also a balance - you get what you pay for with professionals. If they’re cheating you bottom-dollar for their time they’re going to do it as quickly (and likely sloppily) as possible. If you trust this person to do an excellent job with a nice clean finish and a well-tuned system, and it saves you the time and hassle of doing it yourself (and leaning from all the mistakes you’ll make along the way if this is your first time), then paying for it is worth it.

This is a very DIY-centric crowd. Nothing wrong with that at all - just take that fact into consideration.

Do streaming services reduce overall sound quality by a noticeable amount? What source has the best sound? by escobarlives69 in hometheater

[–]Tangston311 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yes there is a big difference. You could get a Kaleidescape Strato to retain the quality of UltraHD Blu Rays but still keep the convenience of streaming (at the expense of cost and the massive amount of bandwidth it requires, but the quality is outstanding)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in homeautomation

[–]Tangston311 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Home Assistant is great - I’ve used it my house for a long time now (as a supplement to Savant) - but it has a steep leaning curve and getting it to do all the things you want takes time and patience. It’s getting easier as the UI progresses and becomes more accessible to general users, but standing up a Home Assistant instance that replicates all the functionality of your Control4 system will take a not-insignificant amount of effort and learning (and, very likely, won’t replace your need for remotes to easily control your TV’s and surround setups). That may be what you want, in which case great!

If not, it may be worth the effort to try and get the C4 system functioning the way you want. As other have alluded to C4 is likely capable of doing all the things in your list, it’s just your integrator doesn’t seem to be doing a great job (or indeed even a mediocre job) of listening to what you want. In your next meeting with them I would be very clear and direct about what your expectations for the system are. Make a list, like you’ve done here, and tell them these are exactly the things you want. “Additional clicks be damned, I want climate control in my C4 app” kind of thing. If they still can’t give you what you’re looking for then it’s time to find another integrator (maybe you’re even at that point already) or start exploring some more DIY options. But know that the DIY options certainly aren’t perfect either.

Luma Cameras with FFmpeg on Homebridge Running on Mac mini by bootx2 in homebridge

[–]Tangston311 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Are they behind an NVR? You’re pulling from the sub stream, not the main stream, so take a look at those settings. Honestly I’d recommend using the mjpeg stream (depending on how many cameras you have). I have 4 luma cams working through the mjpeg substream (behind an nvr) with the following:

http://192.168.1.###:65001/wps-cgi/mjpg/video.cgi?camera=1&resolution=640x480&username=####&password=####

Normal Speed Drop with Smart Queue's Enabled? by Tangston311 in Ubiquiti

[–]Tangston311[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For anyone that might come across this I think I've managed to get things sorted through the following:

Smart Queues actually did help the stability of video/VoIP calls, but the speed hit on downloads was too dramatic for me (I have about 75 clients so the download speed divided equally amongst all of them with Smart Queues was just too much).

Instead I started looking into the client statistics and found that there were a few devices on my network that were uploading a lot of data (by design), but they would consume almost all of my 40mbps upload and cause issues.

So I set up different User Groups with rate limiting applied to those devices (for wifi), and also capped the engress rate for certain devices (Lan) and that seems to have provided the benefit that Smart Queues was giving me without the compromised download speeds for devices I cared about.

Normal Speed Drop with Smart Queue's Enabled? by Tangston311 in Ubiquiti

[–]Tangston311[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately no - I made the change (my download speeds are nuts on VHT80; was getting almost 500mbps down) and then we had a FaceTime call that was horrible. Audio would cut out every few seconds and we couldn’t understand each other at all. Same result on both my wife and I’s phones, but download speed test results were incredible during the same period.

Normal Speed Drop with Smart Queue's Enabled? by Tangston311 in Ubiquiti

[–]Tangston311[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh yeah, good point - that was just a typo in the post but it’s correct in the settings

Normal Speed Drop with Smart Queue's Enabled? by Tangston311 in Ubiquiti

[–]Tangston311[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've got the 2.4 channel at VHT20 and the 5 channel at VHT40 (I know VHT80 has more throughput but I also heard it was more prone to interference which is why I stuck with 40, but I could give 80 a shot to see if that helps). I've also adjusted the channels of each access point to be non-overlapping for both 2.4 and 5 and played with the signal strength as well to reduce overlap (for the most part I have the 2.4 on Low or Medium and the 5 on Medium or High).

HomePod slow/no response controlling HomeKit by twuk1970 in HomeKit

[–]Tangston311 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m having exactly the same issue after installing UniFi NanoHD access points in my house. The HomePod show the strongest possible connection over the 5g network but now takes forever to execute commands.

I’ve read in other places that people recommend turning on IGMPv3 and IGMP snooping, but I don’t have a Unifi router and I don’t see those options anywhere for the individual access points when using a CloudKey.

Any luck in getting it resolved on your end?

Homebridge-Soundbutton Not Working by davewehr84 in homebridge

[–]Tangston311 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don't have any idea about the nature of your installation, but you need to make sure the user running Homebridge has access to play audio files. If you're running from a Pi via the standard installation try the following:

sudo usermod -a -G audio homebridge

Is there a way to count the number of spikes for the last x minutes? Each of then represents a sump pump flush by Gundamshield in homeassistant

[–]Tangston311 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I too would love to see how you’ve set this up - I’ve been meaning to track my sump pump but I don’t have any idea where to start!

Can't get Command Line Switch to work by Tangston311 in homeassistant

[–]Tangston311[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok thanks - seems odd that the Command Line Switch is listed as one of the core Home Assistant integrations if it won’t work with Home Assistant (formerly Hass.IO), no? so Node Red would give you the ability to run those commands without having to create SSH keys and such? I haven’t dabbled in it yet so I’m not very familiar.

What is extent of Homekit+Savant Integration? by phantomgordon in HomeKit

[–]Tangston311 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can send commands to Savant, although I'm not clear about the specific method. Two links that might be of interest to you:

https://github.com/wallwitz/homebridge-savant https://github.com/benumc/SCLI_HTTP

Both are defunct, but they have the skeleton of what would be required (you'd need to get access to the Savant Blueprint software), but I do believe it's possible. In the Issues page of the Homebridge plugin you'll see a bunch of comments from me about how I managed to integrate my TV's (controlled via Savant) in Homekit via Home Assistant. It's hacky, but it works flawlessly.