http://www.minervakestner.com/ Mon, 27 Apr 2026 20:08:23 +0000 At home - Twine community en http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/63/remote-home-monitoring Sun, 18 Nov 2012 11:32:24 +0000 At home Charlie Catlett 63@/discussions
When the temperature drops below 50F (we set the furnace at 55F) we know the furnace is out. Internet gear on a UPS with about 2-4h life so that things work even without power (the typical reason a furnace may go out). I'm sending email to an account associated with my home monitoring system (which uses Insteon and Indigo from perceptiveautomation.com) so I can take action about it there, but for backup I also have it text my mobile.

This 5 minute setup was fantastic compared to the previous 4 generations of remote monitoring I have evolved through in the past decade: (1) radio shack dialer connected to a thermostat, (2) regular tweets from a camera pointed at a thermometer (with a tea bag hanging from the ceiling vent to let me know if the blower was on), (3) webcontrol from CAI networks, (4) arduino. Most of the DIY solutions, including (3) and (4), have become cumbersome due to the fact that nearly all email services require SSL (this could be fixed with arduino, but not in 5 minutes!). Remote access also required lots of fiddling with dynamic DNS, again not a 5 minute solution and somewhat fragile.

Well done, SuperMechanical!]]> http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/15/how-accurate-is-the-temperature-sensor Wed, 31 Oct 2012 23:24:25 +0000 At home Robb Kunz 15@/discussions http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/268/moisture-sensor-how-water-proof Wed, 26 Dec 2012 17:16:07 +0000 At home Jay Krusac 268@/discussions http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/273/twine-updating-erratically Thu, 27 Dec 2012 18:10:40 +0000 At home fred krueger 273@/discussions http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/60/http-requests-not-firing Sat, 17 Nov 2012 23:54:02 +0000 At home Charlie Sneath 60@/discussions
I have a set of rules that open URLS, but those GET requests aren't being triggered.

I've tested some other rules using texting and it was working, so the device is communicating and executing some commands.

Any ideas why the URLs aren't working?]]> http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/67/time-based-rules Sun, 18 Nov 2012 15:19:27 +0000 At home Sami Laine 67@/discussions http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/258/where-are-rules-stored Tue, 25 Dec 2012 18:13:44 +0000 At home peter b 258@/discussions If I want to edit that rule -- or create a second rule, where can I do this. It seems that each time I click the 'rule' button, I start from scratch.

Are we limited to creating one rule and starting from scratch each time?

Thanks.]]> http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/247/has-anyone-got-sms-text-messages-working-with-optus-australia Sat, 22 Dec 2012 01:03:22 +0000 At home Andy Horne 247@/discussions
I have an Optus account, the drop-down for the SMS carrier says "T-Mobile (Optus Zoo)" so I suppose that's it. I tried sending a test SMS but nothing's come through. What format does the phone number need to be? I've tried 438xxxxxx, 0438xxxxxx, 61438xxxxxx and 610438xxxxxx.]]> http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/251/twines-mac-address Sat, 22 Dec 2012 06:39:06 +0000 At home Francesc Comellas 251@/discussions ]]> http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/228/how-to-obtain-the-firmware-update Sun, 16 Dec 2012 09:37:50 +0000 At home Robert Beckert 228@/discussions http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/208/orientation-change-at-all Wed, 12 Dec 2012 01:04:19 +0000 At home Frank Motta 208@/discussions
Yes, this means that I will get 4 notifications on a full rotation.]]> http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/253/anyone-thought-about-using-twine-for-a-bbq-meat-thermometer Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:30:22 +0000 At home Robert Beckert 253@/discussions http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/192/magnetic-switch-sensor-not-sending-email-sms-on-open-or-close Mon, 10 Dec 2012 15:18:13 +0000 At home Miguel Buenrostro 192@/discussions
- The magnet is RIGHT NEXT TO the sensor.
- I've tried closing the drawer, waiting various times, up to 5min before opening it.
- Once open, I've tried leaving it open for several seconds (BUT this trigger should be instant since a drawer or door may open/close quickly).

I have received an email:
- Once when opened.
- TWICE while door was closed, in a room by itself for at least 2hrs. So it wasn't a delayed email.

- I set an Orientation rule, which fires just fine, so far.

I bought it for the magnetic sensor, so if this what I can expect, it will have to go back

Note: Currently battery powered, but going to try micro usb powered to see if it makes a difference.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.]]> http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/250/email-and-using-if-this-then-that Sat, 22 Dec 2012 05:30:40 +0000 At home Alfie Dennen 250@/discussions http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/25/help-with-the-orientation-sensor Mon, 05 Nov 2012 20:25:34 +0000 At home Andrew Cohen 25@/discussions
So I wanted to see if I could use it to SMS me when my front door was opened. I'm not sure how the orientation sensor rules work. First is this rule possible and if so I exactly do I configure it?

Thanks in advance.]]> http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/153/making-the-twine-easier-to-take-out-of-its-cover Sun, 02 Dec 2012 15:46:20 +0000 At home Bill Spencer 153@/discussions http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/239/using-twine-to-address-my-absent-mindedness Tue, 18 Dec 2012 13:27:43 +0000 At home Dave Owen 239@/discussions
So, with the help of a blue glitter pipe cleaner (I have kids, and you make use of what you have around) through the casing hole, I've strapped my Twine to the inside of the garage door. When I open or close the door, Twine notifies me to let me know I've opened/closed it, so no more worrying all day or turning around to double-check.

There have been issues; T-Mobile texts aren't reliable (not very useful getting the closure message at midnight when I closed it at 9am), so I've switched to email, and this morning I got an extra "close" email without matching "open" one, even though I didn't open the garage. On the whole, though, it's been great.
]]> http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/219/motion-sensor Thu, 13 Dec 2012 23:56:52 +0000 At home Danny Weber 219@/discussions http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/207/twine-managed-humidor Wed, 12 Dec 2012 00:30:59 +0000 At home Frank Motta 207@/discussions http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/91/keeping-the-kids-out-of-the-christmas-closet Tue, 20 Nov 2012 18:02:58 +0000 At home Eric Raarup 91@/discussions http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/48/how-are-you-attaching-twine-to-things Tue, 13 Nov 2012 00:44:50 +0000 At home whataburger 48@/discussions http://www.amazon.com/3M-109-Wallsaver-Removable-Mounting/dp/B00004Z4BR/

I saw that other people were using things like duct tape. What else are you using?]]> http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/166/annoying-my-teen-aged-daughter Wed, 05 Dec 2012 19:32:58 +0000 At home Gypsy Rogers 166@/discussions
I now keep my twine on the table next to my chair and every time I feel like making he whine I flip it over and from whereever she is in the house I can hear her yell "Nooooooooooo!" and as an added bonus, because it comes from a different number every time she can't block it!

It's fun!]]> http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/183/twine-garage-door-monitoring-project-revisit Sun, 09 Dec 2012 15:36:02 +0000 At home Robert Savage 183@/discussions http://www.savagehomeautomation.com/projects/twine-garage-door-monitor.html) I demonstrated how to use the Twine to monitor the state of a garage door and send alert notifications via text (SMS) or email if the door had been left open for a certain period of time. In that article/project we used the built-in orientation sensor in the Twine and the Twine mounted directly to the garage door to determine garage door state. While this was a simple and elegant solution there a certain practical issues for a long term garage monitoring solution that this project did not really address.

I have published a new article/project using Twine along with external overhead door sensors to monitor the state of multiple garage doors and it has the additional benefit of being able to be locally powered and not rely solely on batteries.

NEW PROJECT/ARTICLE:
http://www.savagehomeautomation.com/projects/twine-garage-door-monitor-revisit.html

Happy Twining!
]]> http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/121/twine-operating-temperatures Sat, 24 Nov 2012 20:45:58 +0000 At home anthony melis 121@/discussions http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/218/sending-a-notification-by-pressing-a-button Thu, 13 Dec 2012 15:47:43 +0000 At home Kyle Watson 218@/discussions http://www.westfloridacomponents.com/SW078/Push+Button+Momentary+Switch+SPST+NO+Off+On+3A+125VAC.html

]]> http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/92/using-my-twine-to-tell-me-when-to-water-a-plant Tue, 20 Nov 2012 19:56:13 +0000 At home Kevin Murphy 92@/discussions
A.) If I stick the moisture sensor into the moist dirt in a potted plant, it reads "wet." I'm just curious how dry it will need to be for it to read "dry." This sensor seems very sensitive. Just holding it in my hand reads "wet." I'm guessing anything that conducts electricity is going to cause it to read "wet," right? So will dry dirt still read "wet" because it probably still conducts electricity a tiny bit? Or is that not how it works?

B.) Will leaving the sensor tip in damp soil for an extended period of time (days, months, decades) be bad for it? Do I need to worry about it corroding or anything like that?

Thanks in advance for any advice!
And thanks to Supermechanical guys for making this awesome gizmo.]]> http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/193/add-an-hour-condition-to-the-internet-interface Mon, 10 Dec 2012 15:58:29 +0000 At home georges cangiano 193@/discussions I'm adding a photosensor to the Breakout sensor to check if indoor lights are on or off
It could be userfull to add an "hour condition" to the internet interface like :
when breakout is closed and local time is after 11 Pm... then send an email

thanks in advance
georges in Paris, France]]> http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/210/infrared-sensor Wed, 12 Dec 2012 15:42:59 +0000 At home James Storozuk 210@/discussions http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/28/send-a-daily-message-with-temp Tue, 06 Nov 2012 17:20:06 +0000 At home Daniel Smith 28@/discussions http://www.minervakestner.com/discussion/182/how-long-should-it-take-for-twine-to-detect-a-change-in-orientation Sun, 09 Dec 2012 14:03:02 +0000 At home Paul Clip 182@/discussions
09:30: Opened garage door
10:15: Still no emails and twine website still shows door as closed
~10:20: Twine website finally displays that door is open. No email yet, assume that the 1200sec starts now
11:00: Still no email from Twine :-( Yes, I checked spam folder.

I'm hoping I misunderstood the configuration but it seems hard to get this wrong:

When orientation changes to back
- trigger after 1200 seconds in this orientation
- reset 1 second after this has been triggered

Any ideas? Thanks!]]> en