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CarstenR
Newbie
Joined: October 05 2007
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Posts: 1
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| Posted: October 05 2007 at 09:31 | IP Logged
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All,
First off, thank you for allowing this newbie to post a couple of questions on the forum, and for reading my post!
I currently have an X10 set-up which I use every Christmas to run approximately 12,000 christmas lights. Using X10 'Activehome' software and a mouse-movement macro recorder, I "record" macros for a variety of Christmas songs where I have different colored lights and different sets of lights turn on and off or fade in and out to the music. When evening comes, I simply run the macro (which also starts the music) and let the songs / lights run by themselves. My home ends up looking like a slow-motion version of this famous light arrangement on a house in Ohio:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD4g0gmQSLk
I'm considering upgrading to PowerHome / Insteon from the current set-up, but before I invest in 24 new modules and the learning curve of new software, I'm hoping someone on this forum can answer a few questions for me on the command timing of the software / hardware.
On my ActiveHome / X10 set-up I have a lag of about a second between clicking on a module in the software and having the module actually fire (the lights come on). For almost every application except mine, that's no problem. For mine, however, it makes it much more difficult to synchronize the lights to the music. In the past I have had to "anticipate" the song and activate the lights a second earlier. It was very difficult to get perfect. My question is this: Does the Powerhome / Insteon combination have faster response time when you click in the software to activate a module?
Because of the one-second lag, it was also very difficult for me to do higher-rate on-off sequences. The fastest off-on-off transition I could do was about four seconds. I would like to be able to make such a transition in less than a second, making the lights flash, so to speak. Does the Insteon protocol allow for such quick command sequences?
Last question: X10 only allows processing of one command at a time. If I wanted to fade from one light strand to another (fade from red lights to green, for example) I would have to fade out the red lights by 10%, fade in the green by 10%, drop another 10% from red, add another 10% to green, etc. It was choppy and never gave the gentle color shift I was hoping for, and would take too long to make the change. Does anyone know whether Insteon allows for simultaneous commands to be processed, or whether I can send a fade-out command to one code and then send a fade-in command to a different code immediately thereafter to achieve the desired transition?
Thanks in advance for your help.
CarstenR in Michigan
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cmhardwick
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Joined: July 08 2006
Location: United States
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| Posted: October 05 2007 at 10:15 | IP Logged
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There is a software package, available on SmartHome, written by a user for this specific purpose. The protocol of Insteon won't allow for the fast fast changes you see on most videos, they use specialized equipment for that.
Here's the link to the software: http://www.jltsoft.com/ you can download the shareware version here (don't know the limitations) and view a sample video. The full version of this software is available here: http://www.smarthome.com/1425.html
__________________
Cicero, Enjoying automation!
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TonyNo
Moderator Group
Joined: December 05 2001
Location: United States
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| Posted: October 05 2007 at 14:01 | IP Logged
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That is the app I would recommend if PH can't do it. I should try some high-speed stuff this weekend...
FYI, Insteon is a lot faster than X10!
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dhoward
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| Posted: October 15 2007 at 11:16 | IP Logged
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Carsten,
I havent actually tried the JLTSoft package, but from what Ive read about it, I would definately give it a try. While PowerHome could probably do what you want, I think it would be alot of work, especially coordinating the lighting to music.
If coordinated lighting displays rather than home automation is your primary goal, then I would probably recommend a package other than PowerHome. That said, you should get much better results with Insteon over X10. The fade problems you cite with X10 will be no problem with Insteon since with a single Insteon command, you can fade multiple lights off with varying speeds whilst simultaneously fading multiple lights on with different speeds. While it certainly won't be as good as a dedicated lighting controller, Insteon should be much better than what you're used to with X10.
Good luck,
Dave.
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Topic: Newbie with Timing questions
