Grid Connect tips, tricks and help

[CSParnell]

Hi all,

I thought it may he good to have a feed where we could share any tips and tricks to do with any of the Grid Connect Range being Arlec, Deta, Verve, Orion.

I am learning from trial and error and really just accident so sharing with others and sharing back we may be able to create some good learning information for us all.

Please post below starting with what the trick is as the title then how to do so as the body of information.

Carl 

[JacobZ]

Hi @Ben_M,

The Arlec technical team have asked you to contact them directly with some details of your issue.

They can be reached via email at techenquiries@arlec.com.au

They've asked that you include some screenshots of your current automation scripts so they can help to troubleshoot.

Apologies I couldn't help further, but the technical team at Arlec are going to be the best point of contact to assist.

Jacob

[JacobZ]

Hi @Shih,

The Arlec technical team have asked you to contact them directly with some details of your issue.

They can be reached via email at techenquiries@arlec.com.au

They've asked that you include some screenshots of your current automation scripts so they can help to troubleshoot.

Apologies I couldn't help further, but the technical team at Arlec are going to be the best point of contact to assist.

Jacob

[GreenHouse]

Disable timer if raining update . . .

So far, my suggested 3 automations to solve the 'disable timer if raining' problem appear to be working!

Not raining today and the 'Power Point' switched on at 2:00pm for 20mins. 😀

I just changed the test from 'rainy' to 'cloudy', because it's 'cloudy' here at the moment, and adjusted the time and it worked OK.

As testing for 'cloudy' works, I would assume 'rainy' would work in exactly the same way. AND it should also work at night if required!

(It does amaze me how you can work around the limited Grid Connect instruction set to achieve what you want, BUT you may have to get a little 'devious' and think 'outside the box'.)

I think I can confidently say that my suggested 3 automations to solve the 'disable timer if rainy' problem do work!

[Shih]

OMG! I don't really want to go down that path if GC can work it out for me....at least not until they frustrate me enough

[EricL]

Hello @Shih 

Please keep us updated with your progress, we look forward to seeing your automation program solved.

Eric

[GreenHouse]

Disable timer if raining update:

My final post on this topic . . .

It was forecast to RAIN here is SA around 9:30pm tonight!

I quickly adjusted the timings of my 3 automatons (refer my original reply) to suit a ‘Timer ON at 10:40pm’.

It was raining 🌧️ at 10:39pm and so the ‘Timer ON’ automation was disabled by Grid Connect and accordingly the Power Point was NOT switched ON.

(Had it not been raining, the ‘Timer ON’ automation would not have been disabled and accordingly the Power Point would have switched ON.)

Therefore, I think that’s the end of it !

AND the solution obviously would work day or night.

[EricL]

Hello @GreenHouse 

Let me tag @Shih to make them aware of your recommendations. So would you say the final program should look like the one you posted earlier in the post. I've placed your original images below. Please let us know if you modified the program.

Thank you for sharing this solution.

Eric

 

[GreenHouse]

Hi

To prove the logic within the 3 Automations for the 9:30pm rain event in Adelaide SA tonight, all I changed was the times in the Automations to suit.

The (very simple) logic in the 3 Automations remained identical and un-modified.

[GreenHouse]

SMART WIFI MINI UNIVERSAL IR REMOTE – QUICK REVIEW:

I already have an ‘Antsig Smart WiFi IR Universal Remote’ (working well), but when I saw this IR controller for around $5.00, I thought I would try it out just for fun.

This device is much smaller than the Antsig (about the size of a 50c coin) but appears to have the same functionality.

It appears to have a bigger library of in-built devices and also includes a DIY ‘learn’ setup, just in case your device is not included in the library.

The device paired with Grid Connect very quickly and I had it controlling my old Panasonic TV with my Android phone in just a few clicks.

The various control screens are very clearly laid out and easy to use. Most impressive!

I was then able to control the TV with voice commands via my Google Mini and it would be a snap to write various Grid Connect Scenes and Automations to achieve any required functionality.

You can add as many IR controllable devices as you like.

I certainly got $5.00 worth of fun out of it and at that price, you can’t go wrong.

[CSParnell]

@GreenHouse Nice,

I have the Antsig one but I never use it, I find I just end up using an android app on my phone for the TVs