Dim Nexa to absolute level

I recently got the information that the Nexa dimmers (with learning code) can actually dim to absolute levels! This makes them useful for real in home automation when you can tell a lamp to dim to 75% for example instead of just dimming up and down in steps. The function is “hidden” in the protocol and I don’t even think their own equipment can use it! I can’t however take any credit for the discovery; it was the guys at Telldus who had figured it out. Well, I have added this support to NetHome now, so there is a new Item called NexaLCDimmer, which support dimming to four different configurable levels. It is not in the official release yet, but it is in the nightly build on the download page.

Another thing I have recently realized is that Nexa are really just rebranding this product in Sweden. Even in Sweden the same product is also sold by another company under the name “Proove”. It would be interesting to know which brand names are used in other countries. I am for example almost sure that the ELRO Home Easy-system sold in Germany is the same, it would be interesting if someone could confirm this.

Waveman support

I have now added support for Waveman devices in NetHomeServer. Waveman sell remote controlled switches which use the 433.92MHz RF band. I got a request for the support of that protocol, and he could send samples of how the protocol looked. It proved to be almost identical to Nexa, only the off-signal differs. This in now available in the nightly builds. I have added a WavemanLamp-item and encoder/decoder for the protocol.

NetHomeServer 0.9 released

Finally – NetHomeServer 0.9 is released! Most functions have been available for quite a while in the nightly builds, but I haven’t taken the time to document the stuff good enough for releasing. But now it’s done. The release notes can be found at: http://wiki.nethome.nu/doku.php/nethomeserver_release09. The highlights are: CUL-support, IR-Support with PowerMid and MAC OSX-support. There are also a lot of other new Items that are finally documented and released.