|
|
Post by kenmb on Jan 16, 2022 10:46:38 GMT -6
Really like this Yo Link stuff. Just wired up my remote light switch and it was wired as speculated previously. It needs a neutral available so a guy can basically give it 120v for the internal power requirements. In my case I had a neutral running through the single device switch box so I had to cut into it and marett a pigtail to feed the yolink switch.
It's kind of bulky and have it in a standard depth box and so with 2 marrets in there and some extra wire I find my box to tight to mount the switch so I will pick up a box extension.
Easy peasy to setup. Unpack the device, launch the yolink app, touch the icon to add device, this launches built in qr reader in app, scan qr code on device and it loads into system. Then all a guy needs to do is power it up to complete the install. Switch is a momentary switch. Press once and light goes on, press again and goes off. From the remote app just select the light switch icon and select on or off. I installed the switch to run an outdoor light on shop. I don't have wiring to house for 3 way switch so I can use my app to turn light on and off from house so I don't walk into some trees while going to shop in dark. I could simply use dusk to dawn switch but I often don't like the light pollution.
I also picked up some outdoor motion sensors from yolink and will install them next. My hope is I can use the motion sensor to trigger the light switch via the software. So when leaving shop for instance the light will come on when I exit door and shut off say 2 minutes later. Will work on that in a couple days.
|
|
|
|
Post by Oatking on Jan 16, 2022 11:49:46 GMT -6
Calder , keep an eye out for looters. My neighbour caught what looked like a hutterite on his yard cam snooping around. This was around Morris. What are most guys using for theft camera's. What is a good system linked to your iphone.? I am not too tech savy. It bugs me to have the finer things in life only to worry if those things get ripped off.
Is it a complicated dealing with insurance on items such as atvs or power tools when they are stolen. ?
|
|
|
|
Post by kenmb on Jan 20, 2022 8:23:26 GMT -6
I am not into cameras myself. If the police would act on footage provided then I would likely have some but by all accounts the video is just nice to have but doesn't help much. I think I need to be my own security gaurd. That is my reasoning for tinkering with the motion sensors via yolink. I think a guy is better off to disturb the theft then to have video after the fact.
My thinking is to have motion sensors and a loud alarm, perhaps on building exterior. If I am home and the alarm goes off then I can see what is going on. If I am away, well then that is the same result as having video or relying on police to respond - stuff is stolen and end of story.
So I got the motion sensor to trigger the exterior light via the yolink light switch. The automation software is built into the yolink app. Took a little head scratching because I was trying what made sense to me but obviously that never works so had to figure out how the software needs it to be written.
I can detect motion, turn on the light, then set a time delay to shut the light off. There is also a scheduler function so I can enable this logic for only certain days or times. So I can do 7 days a week, 9 pm to 6 am for example for this logic to be active.
Put some more temp sensors in buildings around my yard that I received last week. This morning my shop temperature was down so went out and found my boiler was low on water so had locked out. Got it running now. In fairness, I saw last night the temp was down 2 deg f and should have looked into it but figured maybe the sensor not reading right being a new install. Nope, was doing exactly what I needed, I just ignored it for a while.
|
|
|
|
Post by hillbillyreefer on Jan 20, 2022 9:56:37 GMT -6
The system is pretty handy. A temp sensor alerted me to a frozen off furnace exhaust in a building, that one alert paid for the system again. The smart power strips/outlets are very handy for turning devices on/off on timers or remotely at the users whim. I needed a Herman Nelson controlled during the last cold snap, figured out how to link a temp sensor to one outlet on the smart strip. So basically I used the temperature sensor and smart plug as a thermostat/furnace. The power strip outlets are only useful for 15amp inductive load, not 15amp motor load, be careful with that, I cooked 2 powering an electric log splitter motor. The in rush current is too high and will destroy the controller. Lesson learned, pay attention which cord you grab. YoLink was fantastic with warranty on both devices, they were replaced through amazon with a shipping address. The motion detectors work well. I’ve got one left to setup as a driveway alarm, hopefully that gets done today. I have not linked the motion detectors to anything yet, a heads up from the app is good enough for my situation at the moment. I think the relay has the capability to turn bin fans on/off, I’m not positive on that yet. The relay has been sitting on the shelf for the last month waiting for it to warm up. Hopefully this warm spell time will permit to install and test it. If the relay works out, bin fan automation becomes easypeazy at a cost of around $75/bin. My electrician was here during the -40C weather, I forgot to have him look at the smart switch wiring for the lights, we had more pressing issues to deal with that day. Using the App to link things is not super intuitive, but with a little thought and experimenting it’s pretty easy after the first couple of tries. I’m sure there are tutorials on U-Tube university to help walk new users through the process. Overall I’m still pleased with the products. What started out as a desire to monitor building temperatures has snowballed into a decent sized network of automation, with more gadgets on the wishlist.  . |
|
|
|
Post by hillbillyreefer on Jan 20, 2022 10:18:54 GMT -6
The specs on that plug you’re using Ken are for 15amp inductive loads, the same as the power strips, be careful what you plug into them.
|
|
|
|
Post by Beerwiser on Jan 20, 2022 13:40:04 GMT -6
Where is the cheapest place to buy yolink stuff? Looks pretty good from what you guys are saying. I am particularly interested in the driveway sensor. Can it reach out 700'?
|
|
|
|
Post by hillbillyreefer on Jan 20, 2022 22:45:36 GMT -6
Where is the cheapest place to buy yolink stuff? Looks pretty good from what you guys are saying. I am particularly interested in the driveway sensor. Can it reach out 700'? I get quite a bit of it off amazon, anything not available there I order from YoLink’s US depot. Ordering from the States is generally more expensive, shipping, exchange add up, both of my US orders had taxes for sure and possibly some duty on them. I set a driveway sensor up at 1400+ feet with a few caraganas in the line of sight and am only getting intermittent connection to it tonight. I didn’t think it would work well, and will move it in the next day or two. Edit: YoLink isn’t the only company making stuff like this, do some research before you commit to one, make sure the brand makes products that fill any future needs you can imagine. |
|
|
|
Post by kenmb on Jan 21, 2022 16:37:31 GMT -6
Yes, I won't say yolink is the best. But it is certainly easy. Like Hillbilly, I was just looking for temperature indication and have a sensor in my house sump pit in case that fills up. So stuff like motion sensing is just an avenue I am following because the other stuff was simple to do.
The temperature sensor to control a heater via the app controlled plug in is an interesting idea also. I bought a wall plug-in but haven't used it yet. Was thinking maybe a block heater, say i don't need something plugged in all night but want to use it around 10 am, I can turn it on with the app while having morning coffee.
One thing that is good or bad is the basis of how it all works.
I have xplornet satellite internet and I can't use a Wan address since xplornet is using a dynamic address for my house. I may not have the right terms, I know big wire stuff but not computers. So for a wifi camera for example, I can't just set up like all the instructions say because my modem is not being served by a fixed address. The new Xplornet Lte25 package does not offer a static Ip address. That was my solution previously - pay $10/mo for static Ip address and then I got my wifi camera and my previous house monitor to be able to access remotely. And something like NOIP does not work either to solve my current issues.
So yolink solves this by working with a cloud based system. Don't know how they get through to my router/modem to get the data but they do. So I am pulling my info off a cloud and is why I can access it remotely. Now this does create one problem - if my internet is out like it was the same day my heat went off, then I can't access any info and no automation is working either. Being cloud based, if my Xplornet is down then there is no data going out to the cloud to be read and no data coming back to do automation functions.
What would be nice is if a system worked on its own within my yard if you are going to pursue a lot of automation. Relying on an external provider to be working is a bad situation. But then I have the original problem of not remotely accessing my system because Xplornet system structure seems to make it impossible.
So yolink solves my Xplornet access issue but creates an issue in that my system can not operate independently of the outside world.
|
|
|
|
Post by hillbillyreefer on Jan 22, 2022 18:48:15 GMT -6
Where is the cheapest place to buy yolink stuff? Looks pretty good from what you guys are saying. I am particularly interested in the driveway sensor. Can it reach out 700'? I moved the motion sensor today, it’s right around 1200 feet with clear sight lines to the window the base receiver is near. It’s communicating flawlessly, buuuuut, the post it sits on is a hair too far from the driveway to consistently trigger the sensor. Try again tomorrow. The one I have in a building hasn’t missed a trigger yet. But it’s closer to the base and a much shorter distance to the door. |
|
|
|
Post by OptimallyDismal on Jan 23, 2022 10:52:13 GMT -6
Not as advanced tech as the above systems, I have the driveway proximity sensor type of alarms, there are 2 Mighty Mule, and 1 Dakota Alert. We have quite a few motion lights that are stand alone units.
The mules are supposed to be up to 400' wireless range, and the Dakota is supposed to be a mile.
The mules have been in for several years now and they are pretty good, use 2 AA batteries that last about a year. They have given a false signal a couple of times, and missed a few triggers, but overall it is good to have an alarm when someone drives in.
I just put in the Dakota before freeze up, have had a few missed triggers which seem to be from a possible battery connection issue, they use 3 CR123 batteries that are a bit costly, and I am waiting to see how long they last. They do have an aux relay output.
|
|
|
|
Post by kenmb on Jan 26, 2022 8:28:14 GMT -6
I suppose you could measure the operating voltage of those 3 batteries and then wire in an external battery pack. Let's say they total up to 4.5v (I don't know what their voltage spec is), you could solder a + and - wire to where those battery contact pads are and then run some wires outside your device and have a box holding, say 3 D size batteries. Probably not worth the time and effort in the long run but an option, weatherproofing these modifications would be what would take the most effort and consideration.
As a side note, the outdoor motion sensor for the yolink unit will display temperature when I go into the settings page for the device. A simple way to have an outdoor rated temperature sensor for curiosity.
|
|
|
|
Post by OptimallyDismal on Jan 26, 2022 9:04:43 GMT -6
The CR123 is a 3V, so 9V total.
When it missed the trigger I rolled the batteries in the holder and it triggered as it would when the batteries are installed, so thinking there was poor contact on one or more, also the temp had dropped from install day levels.
Hope it is just a new install glitch that has resolved from cleaned contacts!
|
|
|
|
Post by Beerwiser on Jan 26, 2022 11:05:35 GMT -6
|
|
|
|
Post by Lucas @ Wilger on Jan 26, 2022 11:48:46 GMT -6
Totally didn't see this thread till now. In case you didn't find it out somewhere else/etc, you can typically EMAIL yourself a text message pretty normally. All you need is your cell services default setup for their texts.
For example, on Sasktel it is 3065551234@sms.sasktel.com. You send any email to that email and it'll pop up on your phone as a text message. My understanding is that it is something all text/phone providers have set up, but I have rarely found mention of it unless you are looking for exactly that.
|
|
|
|
Post by hillbillyreefer on Jan 26, 2022 14:14:09 GMT -6
That’s the one I’m using yes. Mine is about 50 feet from the road center line and only triggers about 2/3 of the time. I need another post closer to the road, but far enough back that the wing on the grader can’t get it. Our grader guy could care less about posts, he’s got 3 out of 4 of the warning signs on a nearby bridge knocked off already🤣. It is communicating flawlessly set at 1200+ feet from the base. It did trigger on a coyote walking down the middle of the driveway a couple nights ago. |
|
.
