Amazon Echo

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Networkn
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#1650362 13-Oct-2016 13:08

xbmcnut:

networkn:

I'd love to find a way to open and close the garage door with it :0

I'm opening and closing my garage door with it using Vera. Have ha-bridge running on a Pi2 which natively connects to Vera and Harmony hub as well as allowing API calls to the likes of Home Assistant (work in progress). Can water my garden, open garage door and invoke Harmony scenes with my Dot. Set up of ha-bridge only takes 10 minutes. Blog post on how to do that here.

Could you speak in English ? :)

xbmcnut

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#1650432 13-Oct-2016 14:23

networkn:

Could you speak in English ? :)

Touché.

I'm using a Vera2 with an Amazon Echo Dot via ha-bridge. So today you'd use a Vera Edge with various NZ/AU based Z-wave devices. If you want to integrate with Echo, ha-bridge running on a Raspberry Pi (<$60) will expose all of your devices and scenes on Vera to Echo. So at the moment I can say "Alexa, turn on back sprinklers" and ha-bridge will send that command to Vera instantly invoking the scene I have set up to water the back garden for 20 minutes. I can also say "Alexa, turn on garage door" and they garage door opens (or closes) before Alexa even has a chance to say "OK". The advantage of using ha-bridge to emulate a Hue Bridge is that you can also control a Harmony Hub with it, something I also have. So when I head down to the lounge at night, I say "Alexa, turn on Kodi" and my amp, TV and media player all come on. When leaving, I say "Alexa, turn 'everything' off" and all appliances are turned off. ha-bridge can also send API calls to control other devices and I've tested this with Home Assistant but again, you really need to know a bit of coding if you're going to go there.

To get your garage door to open, you'd just need a Z-wave device but of course, it depends what HUB you are using now.

RS820+, DS223, CoreELEC on Odroid N2+, 3 x Echo Dot & 7 x Google Homes connected to Home Assistant on Beelink SEi12.

networkn

Networkn
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#1650434 13-Oct-2016 14:26

xbmcnut:

networkn:

Could you speak in English ? :)

Touché.

I'm using a Vera2 with an Amazon Echo Dot via ha-bridge. So today you'd use a Vera Edge with various NZ/AU based Z-wave devices. If you want to integrate with Echo, ha-bridge running on a Raspberry Pi (<$60) will expose all of your devices and scenes on Vera to Echo. So at the moment I can say "Alexa, turn on back sprinklers" and ha-bridge will send that command to Vera instantly invoking the scene I have set up to water the back garden for 20 minutes. I can also say "Alexa, turn on garage door" and they garage door opens (or closes) before Alexa even has a chance to say "OK". The advantage of using ha-bridge to emulate a Hue Bridge is that you can also control a Harmony Hub with it, something I also have. So when I head down to the lounge at night, I say "Alexa, turn on Kodi" and my amp, TV and media player all come on. When leaving, I say "Alexa, turn 'everything' off" and all appliances are turned off. ha-bridge can also send API calls to control other devices and I've tested this with Home Assistant but again, you really need to know a bit of coding if you're going to go there.

To get your garage door to open, you'd just need a Z-wave device but of course, it depends what HUB you are using now.

I have nothing right now, except the devices I want to control. I don't have a lot of spare time to muck around with this sort of stuff, I was half hoping for some form of "fairly" plug and play solution.

If it's not, then the time I'd save, and convenience I'd get, would far be outweighed by the time it would take to get it working.

xbmcnut

492 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1650451 13-Oct-2016 14:33

networkn:

I have nothing right now, except the devices I want to control.

If you have nothing, you are best off with a Vera Edge. Low learning curve and Z-wave just works. You'd also need a RaspberryPi with ha-bridge, but that literally takes 30 minutes to build and get working. The ha-bridge interface is also very nice and easy to configure if you have a Vera.

PM me as I'm happy to offer some advice.

RS820+, DS223, CoreELEC on Odroid N2+, 3 x Echo Dot & 7 x Google Homes connected to Home Assistant on Beelink SEi12.

reven

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#1650464 13-Oct-2016 14:43

is anyone using a NZ/AU power adapter with these?

I dont particular want a big sticking out plug in the kitchen wall via a travel adatper, so looking for alternate dc adapters. so far found these, but not sure what the exact specs are for the amazon echo.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/AC-100V-240V-Adapter-DC-15V-1A-Switching-Power-Supply-1000mA-15W-AU-plug-5-5mm-/221526192322?hash=item3393fd70c2:g:2E8AAOSwwbdWLZnm

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/15-VOLT-2-AMP-AC-DC-POWER-SUPPLY-ADAPTER-15V-2000MA-2A-240V-AUS-1-4-9-2-1-5-MONO-/381689436378?hash=item58de7698da:m:m2YAsg9R8xuhNhfcdIXHPDQ

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/AC-100-240V-Adapter-DC-15V-2A-Switching-power-supply-AU-5-5mm-x-2-5mm-2000mA-/351555249904?hash=item51da5366f0:m:mYey9pJR7kugG21yXmjPt3Q

anyone using one they can recommend?

SumnerBoy

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#1650476 13-Oct-2016 15:01

I just bent the pins on the factory supplied US plug...naughty I know!

xbmcnut

492 posts

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#1650486 13-Oct-2016 15:18

reven:

anyone using one they can recommend?

Bit expensive, but you can buy one at Jaycar. Official spec is 15VDC at 1.4 amp but with either a 1.3mm or 1.6mm DC plug so your ones with a standard 2.1/2.5mm plug will not work unless you can solder on a new one.

RS820+, DS223, CoreELEC on Odroid N2+, 3 x Echo Dot & 7 x Google Homes connected to Home Assistant on Beelink SEi12.

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Kiwi0ne

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#1650487 13-Oct-2016 15:19

Well, I take back what I said before.

Actually the update of TimeZoneID did not work on Alexa.

xbmcnut

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#1650488 13-Oct-2016 15:21

Kiwi0ne:

Actually the update of TimeZoneID did not work on Alexa.

Did you just do "Pacific/Auckland" on its own? I did it a couple of days ago without issue. Nothing else works now but that.

RS820+, DS223, CoreELEC on Odroid N2+, 3 x Echo Dot & 7 x Google Homes connected to Home Assistant on Beelink SEi12.

networkn

Networkn
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#1650489 13-Oct-2016 15:21

SumnerBoy:

I just bent the pins on the factory supplied US plug...naughty I know!

Very. Your insurance company would have grounds to decline a claim.

maxeon

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#1650544 13-Oct-2016 16:27

Kiwi0ne:

Ok, managed to change TimeZoneID using the RequestMaker PTU hack.

Can you please advise on the above hack?

xbmcnut

492 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1650550 13-Oct-2016 16:30

maxeon:

Can you please advise on the above hack?

https://devdiner.com/internet-of-things/how-do-i-set-up-an-amazon-echo-in-australia

RS820+, DS223, CoreELEC on Odroid N2+, 3 x Echo Dot & 7 x Google Homes connected to Home Assistant on Beelink SEi12.

maxeon

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#1650554 13-Oct-2016 16:35

Thank you

SipTank

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#1657910 26-Oct-2016 09:09

Kiwi0ne:

Hello all,

Yesterday night I finally received my Echo. :) All happy and works automagically.

Now, I do have a couple of questions: by going into Music and Media, under Accounts, I can only find Amazon Music, Spotify and TuneIn.

There is no way for me to add Pandora and iHeartRadio apparently, as they are not there. Moreover, if I go under Default Music Service, Pandora and iHeartRadio are greyed out and cannot be selected. Just wondering if there's any way to add Pandora, at least?

Still have to tackle the change in Timezone and Address. Or at least try if that might work.

Cheers,

Emanuele

Hi, I've had an Echo now for a couple of weeks and the kids love adding chocolate, pizza, swimming pool, etc to the shopping list. I have a few queries.

As per KiwiOne, has anyone got Pandora or iHeartRadio working and how?

Is there a way to easily export the shopping list (other than email via IFTT)?

Is there a way to get the Alexa app. Both my Android and IOS accounts won't give me access because of region?

Thanks,

Sip

SumnerBoy

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#1657912 26-Oct-2016 09:11

Signup for Todoist and enable the Alexa integration. It integrates the Alexa shopping list and todo list with the Todoist app and you can share the lists with multiple Todoist users (i.e. I have it installed the app on both mine and the wifes phones and they both sync with the shopping list on Alexa). Works really well.

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