Get more out of your Arlo security cameras

If you use Netgear's Arlo security cameras, you are probably a very happy customer, as their rating of 4.3 on Amazon.com would suggest.

I have used them at home for well over one year, having two setup outside and two inside. There are plenty of out-of-the-box configuration options - schedules, sensitivity, video quality, recording length, notifications, etc.

With notifications, you can essentially have the Arlo app notify you on your smartphone or have it email you. I have both enabled and it certainly is handy. The notifications are almost immediate - we are talking 2-3 seconds from when motion is detected. Impressive.

One issue I had, though, is that I was getting a lot of notifications. My outdoor cameras are mostly armed, whereas my indoor cameras are only armed overnight. Most notifications I get are not urgent and simply allow me to be aware of what is happening in and around my home - people visiting, kids moving, etc. Overnight activity outside my home, however, is very different - I want to be woken up when there is motion detected.

This is where I was a bit stuck - Arlo doesn't really cater for this, neither does using a service like IFTTT by itself. My solution was to combine Arlo with Stringify and IFTTT.

I've got my system configured now so that if it's night time, I will get a phone call if one of my outdoor security cameras detects motion. Very handy!

I didn't need to change my Arlo schedule or configuration at all, I just left that as is. What I did need to do was to setup two Stringify "flows" and two corresponding IFTTT "applets" (for my two outdoor cameras).

Stringify is needed as I wanted to have a condition to only call me during night time. IFTTT was needed as it has the VoIP calling service.

Here is the Stringify flow for my front door camera:

And here is the corresponding IFTTT applet:

And here is how it seamlessly works together (yes it's dark... it's night time!):
Note - the LIFX light flashing is simply a separate IFTTT applet.

More IoT toys and gadgets = more integration

Ok it has been way too long since I posted here - over one year!

Ever since that first foray into the geeky Internet of Things (IoT) world with a LIFX Wi-Fi LED smart light bulb, I've certainly racked up a few more purchases. And, along with new devices, comes the ability to integrate.

Here's a list of my current "gadgets":

• LIFX light bulb
• Amazon Echo speaker
• Amazon Tap portable speaker
• Belkin WeMo Insight Switch
• Logitech Harmony Companion universal remote (replaced my originally purchased Logitech Harmony Smart Control)
• Netgear Arlo security cameras
• Awair Air Quality Monitor

You could add to that some other items, but at present these are more standalone and not really integrated with much else:

• Fitbit Charge 2
• Withings Smart Body Analyser scale (now Nokia-owned)
• Xiaomi Mi Robot Vacuum Cleaner
• SMA Sunny Boy Smart Connected solar inverter

I have to say, out of all these items, the biggest disappointment has to be the Belkin WeMo Insight Switch. This is for two reasons: 1) the app is crap (come on Belkin, you should do a lot better!); and 2) not many devices these days work by simply turning their power supply on. I'm very happy with all the other devices. Sure, they each have their pros and cons, but overall they work really well.

I'm not going to get into the specifics in this post, but here are my main and most useful integrations (thanks to either native integration or via IFTTT and Stringify):

• Turning on and using the TV simply by talking (thanks to Alexa on our Amazon Echo and Logitech Harmony)
• Locating our mobile phones simply by asking (thanks to Alexa on our Amazon Echo and IFTTT)
• Blinking our living room lamp a certain colour three times to indicate which Arlo security camera has just detected motion (thanks to Arlo, LIFX and IFTTT)
• Receiving a phone call detailing which outdoor Arlo security camera has just detected motion when it is night time (thanks to Arlo, Stringify and IFTTT)

So cool. And not just a novelty, these are very useful!

The frustration of a Logitech Harmony universal remote... or is the LG TV to blame!?

After seeing and hearing a bit about universal remotes, I finally decided to give one a go. Reading through online reviews, it seemed that the Logitech Harmony line of remotes stood out above any of the competition. Checking for compatibility with my devices via Logitech's Harmony Device Compatibility site, it quickly became clear that I needed a remote with a Harmony Hub. At this point, I was quite impressed with the details provided by Logitech - their compatibility page was extremely helpful and had a large number of devices listed. Thumbs up there.

So after doing some shopping around I found a good deal at JB Hi-Fi and got myself a Logitech Harmony Smart Control.

After unpacking it and successfully connecting it up with my devices, the frustration started to creep in. And it only grew as the compatibility problems could not be resolved. To this day, I am unable to effectively create any workable solutions. The dream of getting rid of these four remote controls...

...by replacing them with this universal remote...

...seems as though it may never become a reality.

After literally spending hours and hours, day after day, configuring "activities" (that's Logitech Harmony lingo), I just couldn't get the remote to reliably do what I wanted. The culprit, though, I believe is my TV rather than the remote itself. Let me explain...

The devices I have are:

• LG 55" LED LCD Smart TV (55LN5710)
• Philips Soundbar Speaker (HTL3140B)
• Amazon Fire TV (1st Generation)
• LG DVD Player (DV7821P)

The basic "Watch TV" Logitech Harmony activity that I setup uses the LG TV and the Philips Soundbar.

Now, the fundamental problem I have with the LG TV is an inconsistent input changing method - menu toggle (or menu cycle) - due to media server connectivity. Logitech has a very good support article explaining the different input changing methods, but there is no way that I know of to work around an inconsistent listing of inputs. The LG TV may or may not have my DLNA media server and / or my Plex media server showing, and there are no LG TV settings to disable them from showing or to change the order in which they appear.

Here is the LG TV input list without any of the media servers showing:

And here is the LG TV input list with both of the media servers showing:

This is a big problem, as the remote needs to know precisely in what order all the inputs are listed otherwise it will select them incorrectly.

The LG TV does have a direct input button for TV / Radio, but that simply toggles between the two. So if it is used with a Logitech Harmony activity, you'll get TV one time and Radio the other time. No good.

About two months ago, I lodged a support request with LG via their website asking for assistance, specifically seeking a direct method of selecting the TV input. I have had no response. And since then, the Logitech Harmony remote has been gathering dust on our cabinet. I'd love to be able to use it, but if every second time it is used you have to go back to the original remote, it's pretty much useless. It just defeats the point of having a universal remote.

I intend to research this in more detail and will attempt to get technical support from Logitech and / or LG (again). With some luck, perhaps this dream of a universal remote can become a reality. If it can, maybe then I can look at integration with the likes of IFTTT and Alexa. Scheduling the TV to turn on at specific times or instructing it with your voice - now that would be neat!

How to make a homemade solar heater for an above ground swimming pool (with an automatic schedule and smartphone control)

So a few days after setting up our above ground pool, we quickly realised that we were going to need to heat it, particularly as it was undercover, otherwise it was not going to be getting used very much.

After searching for an affordable and effective heating solution, I gave up and decided to make my own. And after seeing the results - an increase of over 5 degrees Celsius in a few weeks for an outlay of $50 - I thought I'd provide the details here, including how I setup an automatic schedule with the pool pump using a Belkin WeMo Insight Switch.

I will say, though, that the biggest contributor to keeping the swimming pool temperature high is the pool cover. They say that water evaporation results in approximately 70% of heat loss, so do make sure your pool is covered when not in use if you want good results.

This homemade solar heater took me about four hours to setup, which includes the trips to Bunnings. Incidentally, this was probably around the same amount of time I spent researching and driving around trying to find a ready-made solar heater to purchase.

All parts came from Bunnings, including the WeMo device. Total cost was $125.05 (or only $50.31 excluding the WeMo device).

Here's the full list of parts:

• 1 x Holman 25mm x 25m Black Poly Drip Irrigation Tube (1 x $35.89)
• 2 x Holman 34mm x 25mm Reducing Coupling (2 x $3.97)
• 2 x Toledo 21-38mm Perforated Clamp Hose Fit (2 x $1.52)
• 2 x Toledo 27-51mm Perforated Clamp Hose Fit (2 x $1.72)
• 1 x Belkin WeMo Insight Switch (1 x $74.74)

I did get the WeMo device at about a 25% discount to the RRP thanks to Dick Smith having it on special. Bunnings, per their policy, beat them by 10%.

Making most of Dick Smith prices. Bunnings beat them by 10% on this #WeMo Insight Switch. #IoT #homeautomation pic.twitter.com/uVHI9nI2b7

— Greg Solon (@gregsolon) January 5, 2016

The above ground swimming pool we have is an Intex 15ft x 36in Metal Frame Pool. This solar heater should work with most above ground pools that come with a filter pump. A pump is required, as the solar heater works by filtering water out of the pool, moving it through a length of black pipe that gets heated by the sun, and ultimately returning it back to the pool. The returning water should be slightly warmer, thereby slowly warming your swimming pool. Here's what the assembled solar heater looks like:

Setting this up is really a breeze. Essentially, all you need to do is extend the hose / tube that returns water from the pump to the pool with the black poly tube. The poly tube should be positioned to ensure maximum sun exposure - both in terms of its surface area and duration of day. Obviously, the hotter the day and the more sun exposure the flowing water gets through the black tubing, the better results you'll get.

I found the Holman 34mm x 25mm Reducing Coupling as the most suitable product to use for attaching the standard pool pump hose / tube to the black poly tube. This was secured using the appropriately sized Toledo clamps to ensure no water leaks. The same reducing coupling and clamps were used to connect the black poly tube back to the swimming pool. Here's what the two connections look like:

So there you have it, for $50 you can setup something similar. And after a few hot days you should be noticing your swimming pool water temperature rising. As mentioned above, do ensure you cover your pool to prevent heat loss due to evaporation!

So now comes the automatic scheduling. Unless you plan on running your pool pump 24 hours a day, you'll need to turn it on and off at various times. Given the pool pump powers the solar heater, it's best to turn it on in the morning and off in the evening to ensure it does get maximum sun exposure. You can do this manually, but it's a little mundane and you can forget some days. As stated above, my solution to this was the Belkin WeMo Insight Switch. The cost of the WeMo device is high and you can get some cheaper and simpler products at Bunnings that can automate turning on and off a pool pump, though given my interest in home automation I decided on dabbling a bit with Belkin's WeMo range. WeMo devices also provide smartphone control and the Insight Switch offers further functionality such as providing power usage statistic, which is an added benefit.

I have set my pool pump to turn on at 6:30am and off at 5:30pm daily. Here's a screenshot its power consumption today. I turned it off early as the temperature of the water increased to 29 degrees Celsius! I thought that was warm enough.

And here are some photos of the Belkin WeMo Insight Switch:

The WeMo device was very straightforward to setup and I didn't experience any issues. The WeMo Android app, somewhat disappointingly, is quite rudimentary. It has the basic functionality you would expect, though is not as polished as most smartphone apps. It almost seems as though it has been put together by a high school student working a summer gig at Belkin, rather than an experienced team of developers. Hopefully that will change with time.

So there you have it. A simple yet effective solar heater for an above ground swimming pool. It has achieved its intended outcome, as we have definitely used the pool more!

Turning off a light without touching anything

So now I've made our Amazon Echo even more useful by integrating it with our LIFX light bulb.

Simply saying "Alexa, trigger turn on the lamp" or "Alexa, trigger turn off the lamp" and the light turns on or off. It is pretty handy to be able to have this functionality from anywhere in the room without having to move or push any buttons.

This was achieved by an IFTTT recipe with Alexa and LIFX. You can configure the phrase you say to Alexa, and the colour, brightness and fade in / out duration of the LIFX light.

It hasn't been flawless all the time, though. The day before, issuing the same commands resulted in the lights turning on / off after about a 10-15 minute delay. I believe this was because of IFTTT, as checking Alexa online or on the app, the command was issued, but IFTTT only showed the recipe had triggered after the delay. Obviously this is not ideal, though I'm not yet sure if it was a once-off or will continue to frequently occur. Time will tell.

Once you have a few of these home automation devices, it's really amazing what you can connect and configure. And although some of it may be gimmicky, there are those genuine uses that can make tasks just that little bit easier.

Unpacking the Amazon Echo in Australia

So I was lucky enough to receive an Amazon Echo from Santa Claus this Christmas. He must have read that letter I wrote. And, of course, I have been very good all year.

Alright, in all seriousness, I had been wary of putting the Amazon Echo at the top of my Christmas wish list. I wasn't sure whether it would A) be really that good and B) work well outside of the US.

But now that I have been using it for a few days - and I do want to emphasise the word "use" here, rather than simply "play" - I'm so glad that I did. It is awesome! In a nutshell, it is really that good and it works very well here in Australia.

In fact, it is so good that not only does my wife use it, but when my mother comes over, she uses it. And she's not exactly tech-savvy. Quite the opposite actually. Apart from time, alarm and weather - everything works perfectly here in Australia. I was worried that time, alarm and weather would mean about 30% of its functionality was useless outside the US. The fact is that time, alarm and weather probably make up about 0.1% of what this thing can do.

As with most products from Amazon, the packaging is nice - protects the product well yet is very easy to open. And, like the LIFX Color 1000 Wi-Fi LED Smart Light Bulb, setup seemed amazingly simple:

1. Plug in
2. Download app and run setup

And somewhat unlike my experience with the LIFX light bulb, the actual setup was in fact amazingly simple. Around three minutes and I was done. Now all I had to do was learn about all of the things this little device could do. The questions and commands noted on the outside packaging were just the tip of the iceberg.

When the Echo is not "awake", it has no lights illuminated.

And when the Echo is "awake" and listening for a question or command, it lights up blue.

Using it is really that simple. Say the wake word, "Alexa", and ask a question or say a command. That's it. Its simplicity is ingenious. In my experience, 95% of the time it works a treat. I was genuinely surprised at A) how well it can interpret nuances in the English language and B) how well it can hear across a room, even if people are talking, music is playing or the TV is on.

By far the most use we have had from the Amazon Echo is playing music. Christmas music to be precise. Kids Christmas music to be even more precise. Given it is Christmas and given we do have kids, I have to say that it did make Christmas that little bit more festive and fun. Keep in mind, you do have to have an Amazon Prime membership for it to play music from Amazon's library (which in my experience has music from a lot of artists, but not as much as Spotify). You can also easily connect it to free options, such as Pandora or TuneIn - which I did. Again, very easy to do and very cool.

On a side note, and it is a side note as I'm not that savvy when it comes to music or sound or acoustics, the speakers on the Amazon Echo are very good. For me, the sound is comparable in quality to devices of similar cost and at full volume, I was surprised at the quality and clarity for such a small device. Browsing around the JB Hi-Fi website, you can find wireless / Bluetooth speakers ranging from $75 to $500+, but they will only produce sound. They don't answer questions nor take commands. Boring! ...Oh, my cost for the Amazon Echo was $225 AUD ($159 USD) minus postage (ummm, I know this because Santa, for some strange reason, left the receipt).

We have also used the Amazon Echo to:

• Add items to our Shopping list
• Add items to our To Do list
• Convert units of measurement (very handy for when you are cooking and have your hands dirty or full!)
• Set timers for various tasks (for boring stuff like reminding us to hang up the washing when the washing machine cycle ends)
• Ask for the time in overseas locations (given it's Christmas and we have family overseas to call, this was very handy)
• Seek answers to random questions during family discussions - yes, I was right that a tomato is actually a fruit even though it is mainly treated as a vegetable (gosh I hope that is right, otherwise the Echo is lying to me!)
• Get traffic updates for my commute to work (yes, it's only four days after Christmas and I am back at work)
• Tell us jokes (not as humorous as watching a sitcom, but fun nonetheless)

So technically, all this good stuff I'm talking about here is actually made possible by Alexa. Alexa is Amazon's cloud service that powers the Amazon Echo. Amazon Echo is just the hardware device. Alexa is what actually interprets and responds to questions and commands. Alexa is also available on Amazon Fire TV units (currently only the second generation ones), though I gather the experience is less automatic as you need to push a button to interact, whereas the Amazon Echo is always listening (cue X Files music).

The good thing about this is that because the Amazon Echo uses Alexa, it is always learning. Apparently it learns your voice and adapts, so that must be good, but the services and functionality available will continue to expand. And this is definitely something I have already noticed, as on Boxing Day Amazon announced some additions, such as The Beatles being available on Amazon Prime, horoscope predictions and "The Bartender", where you can ask for the ingredients, amounts, and instructions for mixing cocktails.

So on the whole, there is nothing else that I have seen that compares to the Amazon Echo. And the service that powers it - Alexa - simply works and is superior to its competitors. I have used Google Now, Microsoft Cortana and Apple Siri. None compare. Besides, none have a device similar to the Amazon Echo so in my mind it's a moot point.

I feel I have yet to truly experience the power of the Amazon Echo and Alexa. It has IFTTT connectivity and I get all excited like a kid in a candy store thinking about all the possibilities!

If you are in Australia (or anywhere outside of the US for that matter) and are debating whether to get the Amazon Echo or not, stop debating. Get it!

If you are considering getting a wireless / Bluetooth speaker, stop! Get the Amazon Echo. You'll have your cake and can eat it too!

Netflix and LIFX

This is my Netflix LIFX red. Perfect for Narcos.  :)