@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...
