@karenbobiv
I doubt it's related to the MySensors communication. Are you using a Dallas temp sensor? Could you check that the is actually connected to the dallas sensor by using isConnected().
When googling your problem I found a few hits on -196.6 which is the error code (DEVICE_DISCONNECTED) converted to Fahrenheit.
Start debug mode (Config.h) to see what the sensor actually sends.
@dbemowsk I'm sorry, I really don't know. I've never tried domoticz, not to mention any of its plugins.
I do have Alexa working with my system, but I don't like it, just because of sending recorded voice out of the house all the time. So I plan to replace it once I get time to get Rhasspy going, assuming that I can get it going well enough.
Alexa works very well with home assistant. Though we use a service that costs $5/month to be the cloud piece to interact with the Alexa service so that I don't have to get something standalone working here for that. Though I think that service is really only for integrating to home assistant, so it probably wouldn't do you any good. It's saved me a bunch of time, and as I want to use my time to replace the whole thing with Rhasspy, it's been worth it to me.
But part of the reason I mention all of that is that with a quick search, it looks like controlicz is a similar service. Although they do say that you need to add the skill to your Alexa account. That would be annoying to me - doesn't that mean you need to say something like "Alexa, ask controlicz to turn on the kitchen light" or whatever?? With Nabu Casa, it also just uses the built-in smart home skill, so you don't have to install anything extra, leaving those extra words out each time. After the 10th time of having to do it I bet I'd really be gritting my teeth!
@zboblamont OK, so experiments concluded that the return data from the latest version of Domoticz is a String whether it be V_VARx or V_TEXT.
I tried the dual declaration using the same CHILD_ID as intended and as VAR_X (using an RF24 - not sure of the relevance) and the actual value sent but failed to make any sense of abstracting the Ulong conversion or the string.
Only by presenting a fresh CHILD_ID and duplicating the send of data (water meter) as a V_VAR1 could I recover the last sent reading as a V_VAR1 from that fresh CHILD_ID, thence eventually arriving at 'strtoul' as a solution to restoring the last known value.
For clarity my Gateway and Controller run on a UPS, and I hope shortly to add the spare router to that UPS so I'm not left in the dark on what is happening in the dark on a battery powered laptop...
Hope this helps others trying to keep track of meters between relentless power cuts and reboots...
Thanks everyone for the answers. However what I would like to do is create a routine with Dzvents that when I have the "red" indication (as shown in the image) causes a switch to operate which cuts the voltage to a device. The value of ".lastUpdate.minutesAgo" seems not to be the right solution because it continues to be increased in any case, regardless of the temperature value and the status of the "red" or normal indication.
