At this point I have already taken the plunge and started ordering ZWave devices (Leviton) to try to replace my old X10 infrastructure, but one of the things that I need to figure out is a good remote control capable of controlling my home theater devices (IR) as well as ZWave switches/dimmers.
I have read through the forum, and there is really not much comments on support for this remote within the MCV architecture, so I will like to ask the forum if anyone is using this remote and what are the experiences and problems encounter (MCV, if you have any comments, please share them). I currently have a Philips Pronto that I would like to replace with Nevo Q50 in order to control both, home theater devices as well as ZWave devices. My home theater components are in plain view, so I will not need the NC50 accessories, but please feel free to comment on both devices if you have worked with them.
Any thoughts/comments will be greatly appreciated.
Hi Markiper,
to be clear I don’t own, nor have I ever touched a Q50. However, I’ve done lots of search on the net (I also have a pronto that i’d like to replace).
They seem to be hard but “ok” to program for DIY users (pretty much as the new lines of Prontos that are not sold in electronics stores anymore).
The only issue precisely is that the Nevo products are really just made for installers: they strictly limit sales and even software updates to them. In other term, if you order online, you might be stuck with an old version and absolutely no support.
My guess is, if you find a neat installer that accepts to sell it to you “blank”, with just the legal guarantee, then you might go for it.
Just a few thoughts from someone who has (for now) given up ;D
Hi Morton, I also have my Nevo setup as secondary controller and manage to control my lights, but now it doesn’t seem possible to connect to my NevoConnects NC-50’s. How did you get that to work?
Thanks everyone. Not having support for programming is something that I could handle, but not having firmware upgrades makes it difficult to justify spending money on this remote, even though I think it will be a good replacement for my Pronto. The other option I was considering is replacing the old Pronto for a newer one that has support for 802.11g, so I can control my ZWave devices from the same remote that I control my home theater components.
I made a generic Z-Wave device and linked a Basic set 1 to Veras controller.
I then made a Vera scene that activated on Nevo 1.
Regrads
Morten[/quote]
I could not get this to work with the S70. Anyone else have a Nevo and got this to work with the new vera (V2/UI4)?
On a different note, and I know I’ve brought this up before, but my NevoConnect shows 5 child devices in vera, all of which are shown as scene controller devices. Anyone else see this, or found out how to do anything with them?
We use UE Nevo products on simple installations. You’ll need a NevoConnect to use with Q50 or S70 so you can bridge over to Z-wave directly. NevoConnet is the RF base for Nevo Q50 or S70 as well as the a Static Z-wave controller in addition to 6 universal ports that handle RS232, IR, Contact Closure, Video sensor, and Contact closure. Price wise no one can touch NC-50 for what it does. As for firmware, you’ll need to have the proper credentials to logon to the UE website for upgrade. As for scenes, Nevo has a much more elegant way of handling scenes and now it support widgets since StudioPro 3.0 came out. S70 has a built-in browser which makes it possible to hit Vera through the remote. The software is fairly simple if you have worked with similar tools. I used a S70 in my house for while till I bought Vera. I’ve been playing around Global Cache and SQ Remote and Vera for while just for the hell of it and so far I’m not impressed mostly this is very raw and I’m used working with fairly stable platforms with descent software tools and support but. In terms of Z-wave capable remotes Nevo is the top of the line right now. BTW, using Leiton’s Scene controllers and Nevo gets a little tricky so if you decide to buy one, let me know and I’ll send you a document so you can configure your system. Also, you’ll have to build your Z-wave network buy starting with
Nevo q50 or S70
NC-50
Vera
Other controllers
Other devices
To avoid problems.
[quote=“markiper, post:1, topic:166021”]At this point I have already taken the plunge and started ordering ZWave devices (Leviton) to try to replace my old X10 infrastructure, but one of the things that I need to figure out is a good remote control capable of controlling my home theater devices (IR) as well as ZWave switches/dimmers.
I have read through the forum, and there is really not much comments on support for this remote within the MCV architecture, so I will like to ask the forum if anyone is using this remote and what are the experiences and problems encounter (MCV, if you have any comments, please share them). I currently have a Philips Pronto that I would like to replace with Nevo Q50 in order to control both, home theater devices as well as ZWave devices. My home theater components are in plain view, so I will not need the NC50 accessories, but please feel free to comment on both devices if you have worked with them.
Any thoughts/comments will be greatly appreciated.[/quote]
Just to correct, you do not need the Nevo Connect to use the S70 in your z-wave network if you don’t use RS232.
I use the S70 myself and the z-wave network works perfect without the Nevo connect. I don’t even have one.
Confirmed, you do not need a nc50 to get your nevo on zwave. Also, for the price, the software/UI is still buggy. In fact the first widget I wrote after the release of NSP3.0 exposed a bug in thermostat control. Nevo has been aware of this since about two weeks after release of 3.0 and apparently stated that it is not important enough to fix until the next major release. They said they’d release a workaround about 6 months ago, but I lost interest waiting after nothing was done about it for 6 months. The Nevo is a fun project, but for the price it’s certainly not the end all device. And, from a z-wave reliability issue, it works fairly well, but not perfect. In fact, of all the zwave controllers I have, my h890pro’s are definitely the most reliable - 100% track record in my house - but the H890’s only control lights and appliance modules. From an interface perspective, I found myself spending a lot of time making the s70 act like the H890pro, since the way the 890 interface is set up works very well for AV and lighting control.
I’d have to say scenes are handled much better on Vera than on nevo. Especially since nevo doesn’t handle door locks, and battery powered sensors are annoying since they can’t be polled, and only report status when tripped or wake up… So usually the Nevo doesn’t catch that status. To make the Nevo control the garage door, I had to set an association between the sensor and the unused local load on a Leviton 4-scene controller, so the Nevo could poll that. And if you want to include any luup plugins in your scenes (security, etherrain, etc) plan on getting a S70 and handling that through IP back to Vera.
As for zwave setup, I’d set up your Vera as your primary controller, include all your zwave devices, then include your NC50’s, and then your Nevo remotes. If you include (learn) your remotes before you include your devices, then you will have “learn” your remotes again after adding all your devices.
And, if you want to control door locks, get a S70, and have your installer code a simple widget for interfacing with Vera.
You are right if all markiper wanted to do was to execute scenes with Z-wave devices but he wants IR and RS232 support for A/V devices. NevoConnect provides a less expensive and a more flexible platform than anything Vera supports at this time.
[quote=“hankai, post:13, topic:166021”]Just to correct, you do not need the Nevo Connect to use the S70 in your z-wave network if you don’t use RS232.
I use the S70 myself and the z-wave network works perfect without the Nevo connect. I don’t even have one.[/quote]
Again, one of markipers conditions is the ability to control A/V devices. In fact it sounds like that would be the primary function and having Z-wave support is a side benefit. Hell a smart phone with wifi can access Vera to run scenes on Vera no need to spend $ 300.00 0n Q50. As for widgets on Nevo. I specifically said “S70 now supports widgets”. UE has released a handful of widgets for very few devices. These widgets were supplied by the hardware manufacturer using the very same StudioPro 3.o ad released through UE to illustrate industry support. UE is in the remote Control business and not writing widgets for third part manufacturers. They said that when they released the product. The idea is to any third party hardware vendor to write their own widgets to run on Nevo. A perfect example is is the Vidabox VA widget that runs on the S70.
You can spend the $300 on a H890pro and another $100 on the RF extender rather than the $1200 for an S70 (or $700 on the q50, which is what i believe it really costs) and the $300 on the nc50. And we’re not talking 3rd party widget support here - I was talking standard zwave thermostat support being buggy in UE’s widget creator and UI. For $1500, that’s pretty irritating. So, my S70 now provides me with the same z-wave and AV support that the harmony does, for almost 4 times the cost. So from a purely AV perspective, all the added cost of Nevo provides you is serial control, but only if a widget exists (or you pay your installer to create one), and if you spend another $70 on the cable. I can live with IR control for a fraction of the price. Oh, and before you go out and buy the serial cable, realize that serial communications can only be solicited by the nevo, so it’s not really 2-way. So, you can control serial devices through your NC50, but you can’t control nevo from other devices through serial.
Finally, per the “rules” that UE has on it’s nevo pro remotes, anytime you add a device to your setup, be prepared to call your installer back, since the software is supposedly only available to installers. I think some installers will give it to you though.
And, just to follow up, the original poster didn’t mention needing serial control ;). Seriously though, if you want an unbiased opinion here get on the remotecentral forums.
For $150 for a 7" android web tablet & another $50 or so for a USB IR blaster, some money for USB EXTERNSION CABLES, + the Vera, I can do way more…
Hell,… I have PCs attached to my TVs and can do it all from the on screen HTPC interface (Linux, so no $$$ on software, either).
The PCs only cost a couple hundred more than the $400-650 this thing lists for.
It is unfair to compare a Nevo to a Harmony as they are two different type of devices. The most fundamental feature of a remote control with Macro or Scene support is its ability to confirm device status. This capability keeps the remote always in sync with the current status of the devices it controls. Where as Harmony will send an IR command and puts the device in certain operating mode. That is all great as long as the next macro is executed from Harmony and no device has changed state since the last macro. Otherwise if anything is changed on a specific device through the Harmony or another remote, then Harmony will be totally unaware of that change and you have use the help menu on the Harmony to put things back in the proper operating state. That’s why you’ll never see a professional installation with a Harmony or similar device, unless it’s a kid’s room or kitchen or some simple setup. With 2-way RS232 support the logic can be programmed in the macro so that the remote is aware of the status of the device. BTW, 2-way RS232 support is not same as support for widgets. Two separate things. The programming utility that is used to program Nevo has a built-in utility to control a device via RS232. This utility is used to either load an existing RS232 file for a specific device or to create a RS232 code file from scratch. If a specific device has an RS232 port, then the codes are listed within the user guide or you can obtain the code from the manufacturers. As for cost, the prices you are quoting are full list price. You can purchase a S70 for about 750.00 on e-bay all day long which includes the software. As I mentioned, we are a UE dealer so I’m well aware of the cost.
[quote=“woodsby, post:17, topic:166021”]You can spend the $300 on a H890pro and another $100 on the RF extender rather than the $1200 for an S70 (or $700 on the q50, which is what i believe it really costs) and the $300 on the nc50. And we’re not talking 3rd party widget support here - I was talking standard zwave thermostat support being buggy in UE’s widget creator and UI. For $1500, that’s pretty irritating. So, my S70 now provides me with the same z-wave and AV support that the harmony does, for almost 4 times the cost. So from a purely AV perspective, all the added cost of Nevo provides you is serial control, but only if a widget exists (or you pay your installer to create one), and if you spend another $70 on the cable. I can live with IR control for a fraction of the price. Oh, and before you go out and buy the serial cable, realize that serial communications can only be solicited by the nevo, so it’s not really 2-way. So, you can control serial devices through your NC50, but you can’t control nevo from other devices through serial.
Finally, per the “rules” that UE has on it’s nevo pro remotes, anytime you add a device to your setup, be prepared to call your installer back, since the software is supposedly only available to installers. I think some installers will give it to you though.
And, just to follow up, the original poster didn’t mention needing serial control ;). Seriously though, if you want an unbiased opinion here get on the remotecentral forums.[/quote]
Oh, beware buying Nevo products on eBay. And I recognize the difference between widgets and serial support, but my comment holds true, you cannot control Nevo through serial… You can only control other devices from nevo using serial. So, essentially, the two-way is only solicited two-way. Glad I made up my own serial cable before spending $70 to discover that.
And, you are right, nevo and harmony/monster are apples and oranges, but let’s be honest here, the only apparent reason they waited so long to allow variables/status flags was to push their misc accessories. And again, you are right, there is no better way to prove the TV is on than through serial or power monitor, but I think it’s only fair to fully explain the benefits, weaknesses and costs. Some people can live with pressing a help button if it saves them hundreds of dollars. Especially since most of us have only one remote in the room, and probably would be looking to hide the av equipment anyway. I have both a harmony and a nevo in my family room controlling the same equipment and they have passed the girlfriend test… But it helps having discrete power codes, which I guess mostly prevents us from ever having to press the help button anyway.
Edit: but hey, I just remembered others are struggling with getting the h890pro/monster remotes working with UI4 and/or Vera 2… I’ll check it out as soon as I have time and post on the respective thread. I’ll similarly confirm the same with Nevo.