CE Pro Community

Need help programming Somfy Motors

2009-07-03T22:05:06-06:00

I’m not a Pro, but a consumer hoping to get a little help. I purchased an automated shade set-up from an installer who went bankrupt before my job was complete. I’m fortunate that most of the work was done, but there was still some programming that needs to be complete. I’ve been working on this myself based on the instructions on the Somfy website, but things are not lining up quite like I would expect.

All of the motors are Somfy Sonesse 30s and all of my wall panels are the DecoFlex WireFree multi-channel panels. I’m having problems in multiple rooms, but the living room is most illustrative so I’ll use that as an example. The living room as a total of seven different shades, three of them are on one set of windows facing west and there are two each on a pair of windows facing north. Right now all of the each set of shades (west, north 1, north 2) are controlled with channels 1,2,3 respectively. I would like to change it so that channel 1 controls ALL the shades and 2,3,4 control the individual groups.

So I set about attempting to program the western set of three shades to respond to channel 4. This seems like a simple task of adding a new channel to those shades, but here is what happens. When I put the panel into program mode only two of the three shades ‘jog’ to acknowledge the programming command. I can successfully add channel #4 and get those to shades to respond to commands from channel 4, but never the third shades. All three shades continue to respond to channel 1.

Is there any reason the shade wouldn’t respond to being programmed? It is obviously functional.

The same issue is occurring on all the other sets of shades - one shade responds to the programming command, the other ignores it.

I’d be grateful for any help I could get.

What Cables Should I Run for a Wall-Mounted LCD?

2009-07-02T08:37:11-06:00

Q What AV cables should I run in-wall for my wall-mounted LCD HDTV? I was thinking power and two HDMI. S-video and component should not be needed since I plan to use a modern HDMI-switching and upscaling receiver and a PC hooked up by DVI-HDMI. Maybe Cat6 Ethernet and USB? - Jon Graves, Seattle

iPhone 3G S vs. iphone 3G: the new iPhone looks promising

2009-06-15T03:15:25-06:00

iPhone 3G S vs. iphone 3G: the new iPhone looks promising

source: http://bestvideoconvertersoftware.blogspot.com/2009/06/iphone-3g-s-vs-iphone-3g-new-iphone.html
The competition in the mobile phone world will never stop. On June 6th Palm have published its new competitive phone Palm Pre. Then on June 8, Apple has unveiled new iPhone at WWDC - the iPhone 3G S. It announced that new iPhone 3G S will sell on June 19th. The price of iPhone 3G 3.0 has slow down to 99 dollars and the rumor said that new iPhone will sell at 199 dollars of 16GB and 299 dollars of 32GB. Besides the price strategy, the new iPhone will largely improve its function as well as bring many new features to compete with Palm Pre. Then let’s have a close look at the new iPhone 3G S: How does the new iPhone improved compare with the original iPhone 3G 3.0?

Appearance: unchanged
From the picture we can found that there is not much change on iPhone’s appearance.
http://cdn.cbsi.com.au/story_media/339296852/iphone-compare.jpg

Battery life: longer
The new iPhone battery life last longer than the original iPhone 3G: for talk time, iPhone 3G can last up to 10 hours on 2G and iPhone 3G S is 2 hours longer; On Internet use, iPhone 3G can last up to 6 hours on Wi-Fi, and iPhone 3G S can last 9 hours on Wi-Fi; For audio playback iPhone 3G S can last up to 30 hours while iPhone 3.0 24 hours, and for video playback, iPhone 3G S can last up to 10 hours, 3 hours longer than iPhone 3G.

Storage capacity: bigger
The rumors said the capacity of new iPhone would be bumped to 16GB and 32GB. Much bigger than the 8GB of iPhone 3G,

The Speed: Faster
Apple is promising faster performance — the “S” in 3G S signifies “speed.” Apple claims it’ll render Web pages and launch applications twice as fast on average as the iPhone 3G. So the new iPhone would be faster to use.

New features of the new iPhone:
iPhone 3G S Camera
With 3 Megapixel, auto-focus camera the new iPhone will allow you to tap on the part of the photo you want to focus, and it will automatically do so. It will also be adding the ability to automatically handle exposure, white balance and better low-light sensitivity. If you want to get close to a photo subject, say up to 10cm away, the new camera will also have an auto-macro.
iPhone 3G S Compass
With the new iPhone you may always be able to find north, and if you double-tap the screen, it will show you your current orientation, even in the Maps app.
iPhone 3G S Voice Control
Why bother with touching your phone when you can just voice command it? Hold down the home button for a second and you will be prompted to start issuing voice commands which can include making calls, asking your device what song is playing, telling it to find similar songs and so on.

More multimedia functions:
Record video
The new iPhone camera is going to be able to shoot video! The new feature will allow you to record at 30 frames per second (fps) at VGA resolution with audio, auto-focus, auto-white balance and auto-exposure.
http://images.apple.com/iphone/iphone-3g-s/images/video-recording-shoot-20090608.jpg
Edit video on the go
With the new iPhone you needn’t to wait until you’re at your computer to start editing your mobile movies. You may trim your footage right on iPhone. Just drag to select start and end points on a filmstrip.
http://images.apple.com/iphone/iphone-3g-s/images/video-recording-edit-20090608.jpg
Audio playback
iPhone 3G S supports audio formats: AAC, Protected AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV
Video playback
As video files, the iPhone 3G S supported: H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Low-Complexity version of the H.264 Baseline Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats;
H.264 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Baseline Profile up to Level 3.0 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats;
MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats.
If you haven’t H.264 or MPEG-4 videos on your computer, you may use Nidesoft DVD to iPhone Converter to convert DVD files into iPhone 3G S compatible formats or use Nidesoft iPhone video converter to convert all other video files into iPhone 3G S, just follow the step by step guide.
http://nidesoft.com//forum/iphone3gs/iphone3gsvideo.jpg
Share video anywhere
With the new iPhone 3G S, you may send your video via MMS, or select video from the Camera Roll and let iPhone add it to a new email message. You may also publish videos to YouTube to share your videos.

So, after the comparison, the new iPhone 3G S seems more promising than the iPhone 3.0 to hit the new Palm Pre. Of course, nobody knows the result before it is published, let’s just wait for its official release date of June 19th.

Help! IR Repeater System Disrupts AT&T U-Verse Settop Box

2009-06-16T06:04:40-06:00

Q I had a functional IR repeater system - Speakercraft gear - that somehow disrupts the IR signal getting to my new AT&T U-Verse set-top box. If the distribution block is plugged into the power the U-Verse box will not get any kind of signal, even if the remote is right in front of the set-top box, pointed directly at the Box’s IR receiver. What could possibly be causing this? - Zac, Glendale, Calif.

Classic rookie mistakes?

2009-06-24T09:30:49-06:00

I’m doing a story for our consumer magazine, Electronic House, on typical mistakes that DIYers make on their home tech projects.

Can we start a list here?

If you have any great photos of these mistakes, please email to me at jjacobson at ehpub dot com.

Thank you!

iTouch/iPhone

2009-06-25T20:26:50-06:00

Is anyone using an iTouch-iPhone to control a Vantage Controls system?

Jack Goldberg, PE
Westco Smart Homes
Los Angeles

What kind of shoddy work have you fixed/repaired/undone?

2009-04-14T17:37:42-06:00

Some of the most recent news on this community pertains to the corporate competition potentially creating increased opportunity for shoddy work. So lets see some examples of jobs where you came in to fix somebody else’s work, whether it be Geek Squad, your local electrician, or the homeowner’s “friend.”

What System Should I Start With for a Fully Automated Home?

2009-06-19T05:37:57-06:00

Q: In which system order (control, security, home network, multiroom audio/video) do you recommend to start a fully automated home or MDU that is already built? Please be advised there’s a need to retrofit most of these systems through AC wires. Trying to avoid to run new cables. — Antonio Ducreux, Panama

Help! I Need a Motorized Window System

2009-05-04T08:53:01-06:00

Q: I live in Southern California, and my wife and I like to open windows a lot to get fresh air in to the house. We have to manually open and close these windows every time.

I would love to have a system that opens and closes the windows with a switch. Are there any motorized windows systems in existance that can operate like regular up / down windows, and if not what options for motorized windows do I have? - Ian, San Clemente, CA

Help! My Generator and Crestron Lighting Don’t Work Together

2009-05-18T06:29:26-06:00

Q: Within the last year, I had Crestron automated lighting installed throughout my house, including into my newly built home theater. My electrician then installed the current 20 kW Generac generator (model 5525: http://www.generac.com/Products/Residential/AirCooled/20KW.aspx).

These two aren’t working with each other.

When the generator is on, any light on the automated circuits flickers up and down constantly (though the non-automated lights work fine and do not flicker at all).

When the generator is off, Crestron and non-Crestron lighting works fine.

Crestron engineers haven’t been able to help. They said crystal generators, very expensive and used professionally but not residentially, would be stable.

Crestron offered to swap all of the variable lighting controls for simple on-off units, but then I don’t have lighting “themes” anymore.

Help! How do I get an air-cooled residential generator to work with my Crestron lighting ... now that I have paid for everything to be installed?

This bridge has to have been crossed before ....

Help! - Greg Searcy in Columbus, Ohio