GE 45600 Z-Wave Basic Handheld Remote

Works with Vera Controllers, but you must know how to program
Let me just start off by saying that this remote is one of the hardest things to get right with the Vera Lite controller I have. But once you know how to do it, it's not that bad. Here's the tricks I learned by putting together a bunch of stuff on other blogs and bulletins from other users (thanks to them).

1. If you use this as a secondary controller with the Vera acting as the primary, I don't believe it will control the lights with the LIGHTS option on the remote. But it can control SCENES so just create scenes on your Vera for it to control.

2. To get it working, simply pair the GE remote to the Vera just like it was another Z-Wave light module. Put the Vera into Pairing Mode and on the GE, press and hold down the SETUP button until the green and red lights flash twice. Then enter the programming code 967. After they pair, the GE remote will show up on the Vera device dashboard as a Scene Controller.

3. Now create some scenes on the Vera and...

Great product, but rely on the internet for programming instructions.
If the manual was well written this would be a five star review.

This remote was added to an existing Z-Wave network that consisted of only Instamatic products. I'm guessing that most people will want to use this as a secondary remote due to the lack of an LCD display so I hope that I can save you some time. Once your existing master remote is set to transmit your network configuration, all you need to do on this remote is hold setup until the two LEDs blink and press 967. This was not clear in the manual that came with the remote though I understand GE is working to rewrite the instructions. Again, this advice is coming from someone with an Instamatic controller and Instamatic devices.

The other issue that is unclear is the shift command to utilize the 10 through 18 register. One would think that shift + 1 would be 11 but with this remote, that would trigger event 10. For example, I have outdoor lighting set to scene 12. To turn this on I would need to...

Works great, but eats batteries
I am using this remote as a secondary controller with a GE Simon XT alarm system as the master. The basic programming (adding a light) was simple. Making it a secondary controller took some "trial and error" due to a lack of clarity of the instructions.
Now that I have it programmed, it works great! My only disappointment is that that batteries only last about a month under what I would consider minimal usage.
By the way, I was successful in programming it a secondary controller by the using the programming sequence under "Copying Network and/or Device Information to this Remote" on pages 11 and 12 of the instruction manual.

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