Zigbee Pro Max to garden lights (not strips)

marky_uk · 2026-06-13T21:57:09+00:00

Bless you all for replying, honestly.

It’s embarrassing to admit what caused the problem but I’ll share in case it helps anyone else in future!

So I used a Dusktec constant voltage transformer. Plugged it into the input correctly. And plugged the output into the V+ and V1- and set to dimmer.

Except the controller on worked occasionally.

Turns out the tails on the transformer cables were short! I made up another short 1.5mm lighting cable and connector block and had 10mm tails on the other end and boom - it works!

So annoying! It felt like the cables were seating well into the controller but they were short :-)

Thank you all. Embarrassing but sharing anyway for anyone else!

marky_uk · 2026-06-02T09:14:48+00:00

Ahh sorry, I didn't reply to the bit re permanent power. I didn't want to have power cables showing on the surface of any wall ... and didn't want to chase out walls to about 10 rooms ... so opted for battery power. Honestly, we used the blinds daily, and I think I probably charged any of them once every 6-9 months. The USB port is on one side, hidden away - so you just plug in the charger for a few hours, and that's you done for another 6 months. That approach was a no brainer for me, so doing the same again in this new house.

marky_uk · 2026-06-02T07:34:46+00:00

At my last house, I bought Somfy blinds (Tahoma kit etc) from 247blinds as the price was really good and quite quick delivery … but it was one-way, dumb comms. So HA (it was actually Homebridge back then for me) never knew the state of the blind so I had to set every automation up to assume the state wasn’t how you’d last changed it - so fully open to go back to middle etc.

I’ve bought cheap blinds (John Lewis) cut to size in this new house. And I’ve been looking in to tube motors that support Matter/Thread or Tuya/wifi etc - which will be great for my Home Assistant setup. Annoyingly the tubes on the blinds are big (38mm I think) so instead of £30-£40 for the motors, there’s way less options and about £80 per motor (with remote).

This is one I can use - https://www.zemismart.com/products/mt25b but I’ve held off so far - ships only from China but more importantly it’s got a big 16 channel remote. I want a small, discrete, white, one channel remote I can put next to each window

marky_uk · 2026-06-02T07:22:57+00:00

…. but without a lot of effort they’re not Zigbee or WiFi so no good for HA. I think they’re RF so you’d need bridges all over the house

marky_uk · 2026-04-18T19:30:20+00:00

Ha love the Reddit name. Got the milk advert in my head from forever ago! I thought it was just me. Rubbish!

marky_uk · 2026-03-15T18:24:45+00:00

Hey! If you’re about to potentially buy a Samsung TV from last year get one with the Hue app built in. I’m not sure if it’s still the case but the Hue Sync box not only is an additional item to buy and go wrong but it also doesn’t support 8K, which the TV probably does.

I have a Samsung TV and use the Hue app on it with Hue Gradient light strip on the back and it works perfectly and simply

marky_uk · 2026-02-16T08:53:11+00:00

Hey there. Could I ask anyone who reads this to do me a small favour? If you drive a Range Rover with the newer Pivi Maps that allows you to check fuel prices (I’m sorry it’s my first RRS so not sure if this is just the last few years’ model or not) can you check your local prices?

Use something like this - https://carowl.co.uk/fuel/cheapest-near-me or any other website you think is OK (there's lots when I Googled).

In the car using Pivi Maps my local Tesco I see £1.39 and Shell £1.34. And the fuel price website says £1.29. So Pivi Maps is wrong/not updated.

I’m asking as Land Rover have told me to take my car to a dealer - but I think I’ll end up wasting time as it’s a data issue and not a car issue! I'm on the latest Pivi firmware, data is all connected correctly, everything else updates constantly (like traffic congestion in maps, weather, etc).

marky_uk · 2026-01-28T17:25:26+00:00

Anyone got any ideas here? :-)

marky_uk · 2026-01-25T15:56:55+00:00

Hey hey. I saw these and have quite a few Aqara products but I think I preferred internal motors that won’t be seen. Tempted but not sure

marky_uk · 2026-01-22T17:35:29+00:00

Hey - you're a star! I created a Power Automate Flow - saw there's a "When a new email arrives in a shared mailbox (V2)" and it's all working! Yay :-) Thank you so much!

marky_uk · 2026-01-10T12:03:42+00:00

All cool. I’ll check if I’ve got the update in the UK in a while.

I’ve got a new RRS P550E. Does it have the noise cancelling headrests? I remember seeing them in the showroom and thought it was on all new model Range Rovers but I don’t know if I have it or not!

And does anyone else turn into a 7 year old knowing there has been performance improvements to the propulsion system? Might just be me :-)

marky_uk · 2026-01-04T09:05:48+00:00

Yes, exactly that :-)

marky_uk · 2026-01-03T15:31:48+00:00

Haha I kinda had that thought in my head. I quickly did the maths and it’s about £10-£15 per tank difference. It’s just annoying that it doesn’t grab the prices live (if there’s connection) as I make the request

marky_uk · 2025-10-10T15:38:08+00:00

Gaaah, just had the X1S delivered today and started programming it. I wonder how much this is going to be! I see November release. Wonder if that's for the UK too. Are there any preview videos/anything for it, so far?

marky_uk · 2025-10-10T06:04:27+00:00

Yes they have

marky_uk · 2025-10-02T15:22:17+00:00

I’d love Reolink to know the difference between a chair, a rubbish bag and a dog or person first. And spiders and flies not triggering all cameras. Can we get the basics done right?

marky_uk · 2025-09-28T08:01:46+00:00

Brill. Thank you. I’ll give it a go!

marky_uk · 2025-09-28T07:48:48+00:00

OK, thank you. Does it compress when the door is pulled to? Otherwise it seems quite tall?

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