Control of Rako stuff / Rako control of other stuff
Discussion
Just after some options / input / advice.
Moving into a house with a fair amount of Rako stuff in it, and control is obviously via apps on iPhone. House also has an iPad mini built into the kitchen wall for central control as well.
I want to add some Velux blinds (probably the solar powered ones) which I've fitted previously to our cottage, and which come with their own RF remote control. I wondered if it was possible to control these via the Rako stuff (i.e. add them in as part of a 'scene' or 'room') and either have direct control of them, or control via external sources like IFTTT / Alexa etc.
Also wondering about other means to 'control' Rako stuff - its still hard to live without a proper remote control in the living room (I have an original Harmony 1100 at the moment which is clunky but works well). I wonder if I went with something like a Logitech Harmony Elite (with the Harmony Hub) whether I could control the Rako stuff (and hence the blinds and things as well) or am I being mad?
Heating is via Heatmiser Neo (upstairs) and Honeywell (downstairs) so these are IP-based and have app control as well.
Dunno if the current owner has linked much of it together, or what I might best add to the solution for doing other things (e.g. he has some garden lights on a standard timer which I'd remove straight away and replace with something IP / IFTTT based, maybe Rako controlled)
Just after ideas / options really... what does everyone else do?
Oh, and Alexa - anyone using that with Rako (yet)... anyone using Alexa with anything home-automation related? (specifically Heatmiser / Honeywell)
Moving into a house with a fair amount of Rako stuff in it, and control is obviously via apps on iPhone. House also has an iPad mini built into the kitchen wall for central control as well.
I want to add some Velux blinds (probably the solar powered ones) which I've fitted previously to our cottage, and which come with their own RF remote control. I wondered if it was possible to control these via the Rako stuff (i.e. add them in as part of a 'scene' or 'room') and either have direct control of them, or control via external sources like IFTTT / Alexa etc.
Also wondering about other means to 'control' Rako stuff - its still hard to live without a proper remote control in the living room (I have an original Harmony 1100 at the moment which is clunky but works well). I wonder if I went with something like a Logitech Harmony Elite (with the Harmony Hub) whether I could control the Rako stuff (and hence the blinds and things as well) or am I being mad?
Heating is via Heatmiser Neo (upstairs) and Honeywell (downstairs) so these are IP-based and have app control as well.
Dunno if the current owner has linked much of it together, or what I might best add to the solution for doing other things (e.g. he has some garden lights on a standard timer which I'd remove straight away and replace with something IP / IFTTT based, maybe Rako controlled)
Just after ideas / options really... what does everyone else do?
Oh, and Alexa - anyone using that with Rako (yet)... anyone using Alexa with anything home-automation related? (specifically Heatmiser / Honeywell)
So currently Rako can not be controlled by Alexa, but it is coming, due in a couple of months I am told.
Harmony can do basic control of Rako via Rako's IR to RF receiver so if you are clever with the brogramming you can get it to trigger scenes that aren't even available on the Keypads.
Other control systems can easily talk to Rako either via RS232 or IP, control4 being just one of them.
Control of velux might be tricky via Rako, unless you can get contact closure velux' and then Rako just fires into that.
I am also planning to have my alarms trigger and 'away' mode in Rako so if the alarm is set then Rako knows we are out and instigates occupancy simulation.
More to come with Rako as I dream it up! Lol
V.
Harmony can do basic control of Rako via Rako's IR to RF receiver so if you are clever with the brogramming you can get it to trigger scenes that aren't even available on the Keypads.
Other control systems can easily talk to Rako either via RS232 or IP, control4 being just one of them.
Control of velux might be tricky via Rako, unless you can get contact closure velux' and then Rako just fires into that.
I am also planning to have my alarms trigger and 'away' mode in Rako so if the alarm is set then Rako knows we are out and instigates occupancy simulation.
More to come with Rako as I dream it up! Lol
V.
It was a long time ago, but I co-developed the Rako app for pronto TSU9600 years ago (other guy did the graphics, I did the code). We could control lights and blinds - we did so at some event in London.
I may be remembering incorrectly but I thought the blinds understood the same basic commands as the lights
I may be remembering incorrectly but I thought the blinds understood the same basic commands as the lights
The blinds have an RF remote control, so presumably anything which can 'learn' or be programmed could handle this... that's why I was thinking if I had some sort of control system which could fire off RF to the blinds, I could tie that in with everything else.
I'm also pretty sure the Harmony Elite can do other stuff, and is Alexa compatible too.
Just thinking of ideas and options, basically!
I'm also pretty sure the Harmony Elite can do other stuff, and is Alexa compatible too.
Just thinking of ideas and options, basically!
chasingracecars said:
What ever the controller is it must be able to send RF commands. There are devices that can be connected to control systems to give them RF connections just for this very reason.
And IR remote for example will not send RF commands. And visa versa.
Yep. The pronto had extenders (boxes with lots of ports) and you could plug something into the RS232 which then talked to the light module. I still have one but switched to using harmony last year - the only thing I really miss is the ability to control my lights.And IR remote for example will not send RF commands. And visa versa.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Toxic is correct the Harmony hubs can control other stuff than just IR, it can help the remote see sonos and the Fire Tv stuff as well as (I think) my Yamaha AVR via IP.It also allows Amazon Echo to then be able to control anything on the Harmony. Either via the Harmony skill or (as I do) using Yonomi.
Finally RF is not an open and universal protocol, it stands for Radio Frequency. Meaning it is pervasive than IR which is only line of site. So just because two different things are RF it doesn't mean that they will talk or learn each other's codes. More often than not they won't.
Rako do do curtain and blind controllers, initially as an OEM for others, but now they have their own range, not sure it cover velux.
Need far more details before we can take this further, then your chosen integrator should be able to research the comma between the different bits of kit.
V.
Actually looking at Rako lighting controls thanks to a recommendation here, so far it looks great. Have also seen they do blind controls so following this closely. The Rako bloke was supposed to drop in and see me the other day but cancelled.
VEX and other AV folk, do you do any work in London? I need to do something that should be a piece of p1ss (4 screen hd tv distribution) but people seem to be struggling with...
VEX and other AV folk, do you do any work in London? I need to do something that should be a piece of p1ss (4 screen hd tv distribution) but people seem to be struggling with...
It's a 2 bed flat, nothing fancy, the only hiccup is that one ariel comes in at the living room, the other in the bedroom, so I need to link them up, then distribute from there. Only looking to distribute the one sky box signal to all other rooms, but wanting freeview everywhere. Happy to only have 2 TVs controlling the box, I guess via io link. One bloke wanted to do hd over coax, the other with hdmi. A friend suggested the hdmi terminated fiber stuff. Flat is back to concrete at the moment so good opportunity to do it properly. I'm assuming it shouldn't be that hard at all!
That is the ideal time to do this!
I would still run Coax, means you get freeview if sky signal goes, plus you can control sky via coax too.
(Old HD Only not Q)
Don't bother running fibre, A CAT6 pair and a pair of Extenders would do the job.
By all means run a HDMI if it is under 10m you will not have a problem consider though you will need a HDMI DA.
Give me a shout back I can fit this in if you need any help.
I would still run Coax, means you get freeview if sky signal goes, plus you can control sky via coax too.
(Old HD Only not Q)
Don't bother running fibre, A CAT6 pair and a pair of Extenders would do the job.
By all means run a HDMI if it is under 10m you will not have a problem consider though you will need a HDMI DA.
Give me a shout back I can fit this in if you need any help.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Yeah as above, just want the same thing on all TVs. Mainly so I can just go to bed etc and watch the same thing I was watching in the other room. The Tvs I'll be sticking in will be smart tvs so I guess I'll be able to pick up stuff like amazon and netflix if needed.The block isn't ready yet for Sky Q, so need to hard wire everything, I guess with thought given to switching to Sky Q if/when it becomes available.
yep, got mine up and running last weekend too.
I like the direct control option. Or just ‘kitchen 50%’
Or the ‘Tell Rako, Kitchen Scene 4’ For more specific scene control.
Just trying to get my head around the routines of Alexa. Because it would be great to say ‘Alexa we have visitors’ and the outside lights ramp up automatically for 10mins. I have it on a button, so shouldn’t be to hard.
V.
I like the direct control option. Or just ‘kitchen 50%’
Or the ‘Tell Rako, Kitchen Scene 4’ For more specific scene control.
Just trying to get my head around the routines of Alexa. Because it would be great to say ‘Alexa we have visitors’ and the outside lights ramp up automatically for 10mins. I have it on a button, so shouldn’t be to hard.
V.
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff