Amazon Echo

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144 posts

Master Geek
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#1487292 8-Feb-2016 10:05

I have echo working with the wemo lamps and three light bulbs through ifttt. Also have Harmony hub through ifttt turning off and on the stereo and TV. All via voice and impressive. Wemo sux as a phone app but it's amazing with the echo.

nurcopolics

144 posts

Master Geek
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#1487293 8-Feb-2016 10:08

I would recommend the skill "ask my buddy" it works. Basically you tell echo to ask my buddy of you are hurt, it then phones the people you have set up and delivered a message to contact the echo owner to ensure they are okay

networkn

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#1489661 10-Feb-2016 11:55

Hmm well I linked Spotify, it warned me about non-US account.

I am wondering if this is the cause of the issue, where I say, "Alexa play Bruno Mars on Spotify" and she says "Playiny Bruno Mars on ... Spotify" and then nothing happens?

shortcircuit

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#1489679 10-Feb-2016 12:15

lchiu7:

Since Insteon is now available in NZ albeit not such a large selection as the US but at least the key modules (light module, dimmer, power outlet) the Echo and Insteon might well be the way to start towards home automation. That way don't have to purchase specific bulbs like Wemo etc but install tiny modules inside light switches or power module that plug into the AC outlet.

I tried my NZ insteon setup with the Echo/Alexa and the echo couldn't find the hub... it appears that only the US Insteon hub versions work with Amazon Echo (unless something's changed in the last month). I also had the same problem with the insteon hub not being compatible with the Harmony home hub/remote.

Alexa is sitting in the corner sulking because I'm running out of reasons to keep her (and god I wish they'd make an alternative man's voice for these 'assistants', it's like being henpecked even when you're alone!... I could call him Bruce )

networkn

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#1489681 10-Feb-2016 12:25

shortcircuit:

lchiu7:

Since Insteon is now available in NZ albeit not such a large selection as the US but at least the key modules (light module, dimmer, power outlet) the Echo and Insteon might well be the way to start towards home automation. That way don't have to purchase specific bulbs like Wemo etc but install tiny modules inside light switches or power module that plug into the AC outlet.

I tried my NZ insteon setup with the Echo/Alexa and the echo couldn't find the hub... it appears that only the US Insteon hub versions work with Amazon Echo (unless something's changed in the last month). I also had the same problem with the insteon hub not being compatible with the Harmony home hub/remote.

Alexa is sitting in the corner sulking because I'm running out of reasons to keep her (and god I wish they'd make an alternative man's voice for these 'assistants', it's like being henpecked even when you're alone!... I could call him Bruce )

If you decide you don't want her, can I please have her? I'll treat her good.

richms

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#1489708 10-Feb-2016 13:03

networkn:
Hmm well I linked Spotify, it warned me about non-US account.

I am wondering if this is the cause of the issue, where I say, "Alexa play Bruno Mars on Spotify" and she says "Playiny Bruno Mars on ... Spotify" and then nothing happens?

I just asked her to play bruno mars and she did.

I do have UnoTelly DNS on the echo from when I set it up. Might be helping.

Still get the skipping heaps of stuff problem when using connect to it tho.

Richard rich.ms

jbard

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#1489709 10-Feb-2016 13:06

Seems on Reddit the Echo needed a firmware update for Spotify to work smoothly, have you updated it?

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richms

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#1489711 10-Feb-2016 13:10

Hmm. Mine did flash its light in the middle of the night for no reason so perhaps it was updating.

Richard rich.ms

lchiu7

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#1489713 10-Feb-2016 13:15

shortcircuit:
lchiu7:

Since Insteon is now available in NZ albeit not such a large selection as the US but at least the key modules (light module, dimmer, power outlet) the Echo and Insteon might well be the way to start towards home automation. That way don't have to purchase specific bulbs like Wemo etc but install tiny modules inside light switches or power module that plug into the AC outlet.

I tried my NZ insteon setup with the Echo/Alexa and the echo couldn't find the hub... it appears that only the US Insteon hub versions work with Amazon Echo (unless something's changed in the last month). I also had the same problem with the insteon hub not being compatible with the Harmony home hub/remote.

Alexa is sitting in the corner sulking because I'm running out of reasons to keep her (and god I wish they'd make an alternative man's voice for these 'assistants', it's like being henpecked even when you're alone!... I could call him Bruce )

That's annoying. The Insteon site does say it only works with the hub 2245-522 whereas the NZ/AU hub appears to be 2422-522. But I would have thought the only difference between the hubs may be the AC supply and possibly the frequencies they use on the power lines to comunicate with the devices. The US one seems to use 131.65KHz powerline frequency and 915MHz radio.

How is the Echo supposed to talk to the hub? Is it over WiFi or does the Echo specifically have a transmitter that talks to the hub at 915MHz?

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SumnerBoy

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#1491479 13-Feb-2016 08:30

FYI - someone has just added a new binding to openHAB (to the beta v2.0 only) which makes openHAB look like a Hue bridge to the Echo. This means you can turn switches on/off and set number values (i.e. thermostats, volumes, dimmers) directly from your Echo. It is very early days but the author is a heavy contributor to openHAB so I am sure it will only get better with time. It is a direct/local connection to openHAB so switching is very quick since there is no need to go out to the cloud. This could be a bit of a game changer for me, the Echo all of a sudden has a LOT more appeal if it can directly control any switch I have configured in openHAB...

https://community.openhab.org/t/new-binding-amazon-echo/7457/4

chimera

511 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#1496962 22-Feb-2016 13:49

HA noob here, but been reading with interest. I learn better by doing than reading, so most of my learning comes from trial and error lol. I ordered my Echo a month ago, still patiently waiting for it.

I'm gonna try running OpenHAB on NTC C.H.I.P (getchip.com) coz its small and should be powerful enough for what it is. I assume OpenHAB is purely IP based - so talks out over the network for controlling devices and I don't need local USB ports etc as well?

I'm just about to build an Arduino garage door opener, coz I wanna eventually tie it into the Echo to open/close via voice commands. Is it as simple as just configuring OpenHAB (or the broker) to pass a website URL (that points to the Arduino) with an "open" or "close" command?

Also as an aside, just saw Noel Leeming have WeMo on sale until tomorrow, 25% off. Pretty reasonable price.

https://www.noelleeming.co.nz/shop/computers/tablets/belkin-f7c030au-wemo-light-switch/prod124532.html

Cheers

SumnerBoy

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#1496977 22-Feb-2016 14:23

I would suggest you look at using MQTT for communicating with your Arduino. Plenty of tutorials out there and there are some good MQTT libraries for Arduino. openHAB has MQTT support (via the MQTT binding) so it becomes quite easy to setup openHAB to send commands to your Arduino to open/close the door, as well as read a contact sensor to keep track of the garage door state (i.e. open/closed).

Once you have that working then integrating the Echo with openHAB will give you control over the door.

chimera

511 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#1496997 22-Feb-2016 14:58

Thanks SumnerBoy, so I'll run Mosquitto on my OpenHAB server too.

Did a search as suggested, the illustrations on page 2 of this explain it well.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Garage-Genie-Parking-Remote-Control/

I have ordered some contact sensors from Amazon, slow shipping though...!

Thanks

SumnerBoy

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#1497000 22-Feb-2016 15:02

You will need an MQTT broker somewhere, mosquitto is as good as any, and running it alongside your openHAB server is pretty common practice.

Getting into MQTT from the start is a good idea IMO. It nicely decouples your Arduinos and remote nodes from any other systems, i.e. openHAB, and allows for other systems to subscribe to and consume the data - i.e. you might want a notification system outside of openHAB to monitor your garage door state. By using MQTT it is as simple as subscribing to the door state topic which openHAB also subscribes, and then both systems have access to the same data.

Good luck!

chimera

511 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#1497213 22-Feb-2016 18:54

I'm preempting the arrival of the echo and trying to get the Amazon Alexa app installed on android device but getting not available in your location. I've tried running vpn app and getting a public IP from the US, cleared google play data/cache etc but still the same message

What's the trick?! I saw someone posted to install via Amazon App Store but can't see where to do that.

Cheers

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