iTach flex: Relay/Sensor cable

Posted on
Wed Apr 25, 2018 11:10 pm
agame offline
Posts: 514
Joined: Jul 13, 2017
Location: Melbourne, Australia

iTach flex: Relay/Sensor cable

Having trouble setting up a Global Cache Itach Flex WIFI device (with the Relay/Sensor cable that provides 4 relay outputs and 4 sensor inputs).
I have successfully created a network device, but attempting to configure either relay or sensor devices, there is no address provided in the dropdown list so it isn't possible to link them to the iTach.

Judging by the logs, the network device appears to connect correctly...however doesn't get past the 'exploring' as its status (is that normal?) - also an error appears in the log:
Cynical Caché icy gate itach flex starting
Cynical Caché icy gate itach flex connecting to host
Cynical Caché plugin starting asyn operation
Cynical Caché using no IR database
Cynical Caché icy gate itach flex is now exploring
Cynical Caché icy gate itach flex enabling idle probes
Cynical Caché Error icy gate itach flex unavailable: ('Unconsumed event', 'RELAYSENSOR,1:1,4R4S')
Cynical Caché icy gate itach flex connecting to host
Cynical Caché icy gate itach flex is now exploring
Cynical Caché icy gate itach flex enabling idle probes

Although the guide pages to the plugin advise that all functionality of the itach devices is supported (except LED dimming), and that the device configuration should be automatically uploaded I'm now wondering if this particular Flex accessory is newer than the comment?? Or is something else wrong?? Any ideas?

Posted on
Thu Apr 26, 2018 6:09 pm
agame offline
Posts: 514
Joined: Jul 13, 2017
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: iTach flex: Relay/Sensor cable

okay I continue to work on this, and feel confident the plugin isn't aware of the sensor/relay accessory.

I see the plugin author hasn't been around since January so assume these plugins are no longer actively supported??

however, there is a compatibility mode 'sensor notify' that is ought to work (at least for the sensors...the relays aren't available in this mode)...still no joy though:

Starting plugin "Cynical Caché 1.8.0" (pid 90004)
Cynical Caché API version 2.0
Cynical Caché Python version 2.7.10.final.0
Started plugin "Cynical Caché 1.8.0"
Cynical Caché mapping device "icy gate itach flex" 524735217(gcnet)
Cynical Caché icy gate itach flex starting
Cynical Caché icy gate itach flex connecting to host
Cynical Caché plugin starting asyn operation
Cynical Caché using no IR database
Cynical Caché icy gate itach flex is now exploring
Cynical Caché icy gate itach flex enabling idle probes
Cynical Caché Error icy gate itach flex unavailable: ('001', 'invalid command')
Cynical Caché icy gate itach flex connecting to host
Cynical Caché icy gate itach flex is now exploring
Cynical Caché icy gate itach flex enabling idle probes

back to the drawing board?

Posted on
Thu Apr 26, 2018 10:04 pm
chobo offline
Posts: 126
Joined: Dec 08, 2013
Location: USA

Re: iTach flex: Relay/Sensor cable

agame,

I picked up this same cable some time ago and haven’t had any luck using it with the Cynical Cache plugin. Perry does stop by from time to time, and like many others, I’ve always had good luck with his plugins.

Let us know if you figure anything out in your testing. Subscribed for updates.

Thx!

Posted on
Thu Apr 26, 2018 11:48 pm
agame offline
Posts: 514
Joined: Jul 13, 2017
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: iTach flex: Relay/Sensor cable

OKAY thanks that helps me not waste time on the existing plugin.

I think there's a workaround, though I haven't made it work just yet: sending the command strings to the device via TCP.

The relevant strings are here: (thanks to Global Cache support)..

Commands for setting relay states for relays 1-4:
- setstate,1:1,<state>

- setstate,1:2,<state>

- setstate,1:3,<state>

- setstate,1:4,<state>

where <state> is 0 for off, or 1 for on.

Sensor commands for getting sensor states:
- getstate,2:1

- getstate,2:2

- getstate,2:3

- getstate,2:4

Note: All of the commands above should be terminated with a carriage return.


There's another plugin by Perry the Cynic (presumably the basis of the Global Cache one!) Cynical Network - that should handle this. Currently playing with this. I'm not there yet but this approach is showing signs of life.

Posted on
Fri Apr 27, 2018 12:07 am
agame offline
Posts: 514
Joined: Jul 13, 2017
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: iTach flex: Relay/Sensor cable

Pleased (and surprised to note) this approach (using the Cynical Network plugin and raw text commands) does work, and isn't too hard to get working at a basic level.

At this point I am successfully controlling all 4 relays and receiving status change confirmations.
Also successfully poling state of the sensors.
The relevant port number is 4998.

Only challenge is polling sufficiently frequently to detect brief events (for example, a button-press/ contact closure to open the farm gate this device is associated with, or a beam break on an IR sensor). I can probably work around this but note the device supports a UDP notification process that would eliminate polling (and notification lag) altogether. So far as I am aware, there's no Indigo plugin that will enable a UDP stream to be received and monitored for content?

Posted on
Fri Apr 27, 2018 4:39 pm
howartp offline
Posts: 4559
Joined: Jan 09, 2014
Location: West Yorkshire, UK

Re: iTach flex: Relay/Sensor cable

No, various plugins use UDP to locate devices, but as they all use the same UDP port they clash.

We need an Indigo-centric UDP watcher that plugins can subscribe to, then only that watcher is holding the port open.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Posted on
Fri Apr 27, 2018 5:30 pm
jay (support) offline
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Location: Austin, Texas

Re: iTach flex: Relay/Sensor cable

The only conflict I've heard of is port 1900 for SSDP (the basis for UPnP). If you open the port correctly then multiple apps (and plugins) can use it at the same time. Of course, this also assumes that other apps do the same... ;)

agame wrote:
So far as I am aware, there's no Indigo plugin that will enable a UDP stream to be received and monitored for content?


In Python, anyone can open any UDP port (if it's outside of Apple's protected range) and listen for traffic - no need for Indigo to be involved in any way.

Jay (Indigo Support)
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Posted on
Sat Apr 28, 2018 12:18 am
agame offline
Posts: 514
Joined: Jul 13, 2017
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: iTach flex

Gggggggggggg
Last edited by agame on Sat Apr 28, 2018 12:39 am, edited 1 time in total.

Posted on
Sat Apr 28, 2018 12:28 am
agame offline
Posts: 514
Joined: Jul 13, 2017
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: iTach flex: Relay/Sensor cable

Of course anything can be created from scratch...point here is that there are some common building blocks that eould be tremendous useful, especially for non programmers...creating events based on the content of the feed or state of the connection and managing the connections isn’t trivial but could be with an equivalent plugin to cynical networks

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