| Author |
|
Gadgets
Senior Member
Joined: January 28 2008
Location: Canada
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 178
|
| Posted: January 28 2008 at 20:29 | IP Logged
|
|
|
Hi folks!
I am brand new to this Powerhome software. First up I DO NOT have any Insteon products yet, only X-10. I don't like using the sunset settings as they never seem to keep pace quite right, or at least not in the x10 software. So I have motion detector's dark/light sensor to activate a macro in Activehome. Now I'm wanting to do that in PH, but can't get it to work. I thought a trigger would be the way, but honestly I have no idea if I'm doing anything right. I do have Timed Events working fine. I see lots of formula's for Insteon products but not so much for x10, and I have no idea how to write formulas anyway. So hopefully one of you can get me going. 
what I need right now is:
B5 turns on, and it should activate A3, D2, & D3 (all lamp modules).
Thanks for any help
Brian
__________________
Friends, don't let friends install Norton Products
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
dhoward
Admin Group
Joined: June 29 2001
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 4447
|
| Posted: January 28 2008 at 23:01 | IP Logged
|
|
|
Gadgets,
Welcome to PowerHome!
There are still alot of X10 people here (alot are using a mixed environment as well) so you should have no problem getting answers.
The first thing to ask, is how are the X10 RF signals getting into PowerHome? Do you have a W800RF32A or similar serial X10 RF receiver or do you have transceiver modules such as TM751 that pick up the X10 RF and convert them to X10 powerline signals to be later picked up by your X10 controller? This question will determine the type of trigger to use. Since you didnt specifically mention any special X10 receiver such as the W800RF32A, I'll assume the latter case and that your X10 RF signals are converted to powerline signals before reaching PowerHome.
The second thing to determine is how you wish to turn your 3 X10 lamp modules on. You can do it several different ways. You can create a macro that turns on these 3 lights which may be the preferred way if you wish to treat these 3 lights as a group that may be controlled from multiple different scenarios. After creating the one macro, you can then just call the macro from triggers, timed event, etc. Since you're controlling more than just a single light, a Device Control String is kind of out since the current version doesnt yet support multiple devices in a DCS. Another option would be to just use a formula to control the lights. I'll show both the macro and the formula below. Im not sure if you defined the Lamp modules in the X10 setup or not (and assigned them ID's), so I'll show the macro with both the assigned ID route and the raw method.
Macro with devices defined in X10 screen:
10 X-10 LAMPA3 On
20 X-10 LAMPD2 On
30 X-10 LAMPD3 On
Macro with raw X10 commands:
10 X-10 X10CTRLID A 3
20 X-10 X10CTRLID A On
30 X-10 X10CTLRID D 2
40 X-10 X10CTLRID D On
50 X-10 X10CTLRID D 3
60 X-10 X10CTLRID D On
PowerHome formula:
ph_devicebtn(x10,"LAMPA3",xon,"") + ph_devicebtn(x10,"LAMPD2",xon,"") + ph_devicebtn(x10,"LAMPD3",xon,"")
Keep in mind, this isnt as complicated as it appears. Im just presenting multiple options so you can choose the way you wish to proceed  .
In the PowerHome Explorer, navigate to the Triggers screen. Create a new trigger. Set the Action type to either Macro or Raw Formula depending upon the method you chose to actually turn the lights on. Set the action appropriately. Set the Trigger Type to "X-10 In". If you do have a W800RF32A or similar, then set the trigger type to "X-10 RF In". Trigger ID will be "B", Trigger ID Number will be "5", and Trigger Value will be "On". Save the trigger (press F5) and you should be good to go.
Hope this helps,
Dave.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Gadgets
Senior Member
Joined: January 28 2008
Location: Canada
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 178
|
| Posted: January 29 2008 at 11:03 | IP Logged
|
|
|
Hi Dave,
Yes this helps a huge amount. Atleast I know my attempt at the Trigger setup was correct, just didn't have an action. I've now entered the formula and we'll see tonight what happens. :-)
Sorry I didn't post enough details, I had no idea what would be needed. I have a CM11a as the controller, I also have a TW523 module but I don't think I'll be using that now if I stick with PH is the right?? you were correct on your assumption on my RF signals, they are going through a TM751 (or similar).
I haven't bought anything new for x10 in some time. In my old house my x10 system worked flawlessly, I moved and have found x10 to be far less reliable. Most bugs are worked out now but there is still one circuit I can not get x10 signals to go through, I have yet to find that cause and it's been 7 years of off and on attempts! I have looked at the Insteon product to add to my setup because of it's wireless capability would solve the communication issues on that one circuit, but havn't invested yet.
Thanks so much for the help... I'm sure I'll be back before long as I work my way through the software.
Brian
==edit==
Just went through your reply again to make sure I didn't miss a step. I discovered something I've done to make my life more difficult I think. I created all modules with ID's, but the ID's are the names of the item, for example "recroom lights". This explains some of what I've seen posted in these forums and me not understanding where these numbers were coming from...  I'll be fixing that now. :-)
Edited by Gadgets - January 29 2008 at 11:09
__________________
Friends, don't let friends install Norton Products
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
dhoward
Admin Group
Joined: June 29 2001
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 4447
|
| Posted: January 29 2008 at 23:16 | IP Logged
|
|
|
Brian,
No problem  .
Concerning ID's...this is something that seems to catch new users to PowerHome off-guard and takes a little getting used to. Since PowerHome uses a relational database for all of its data storage, the ID's make sense internally.
What I generally recommend for ID's is for the user to use something relatively short (because you'll be typing it alot for nearly everything) but at the same time descriptive. ID's are limited to only certain characters (letters, numbers, spaces, dashes, and underscores) and all upper case. I recommend users use the "Description" field with mixed case for a more "detailed" description of the device or control.
Some examples of my ID's are:
MASTBROOM
FAMILYROOM
KITCHENLIGHT
KITCHENFAN
Of course, you can choose what makes the most sense and is easiest for you. Where confusion may come into play as well is that PowerHome usually has two sets of commands when dealing with devices. There is typically a "high" level set of commands that deal with a devices' ID. This usually requires fewer parameters since the default controller and address is assigned in the device screen. There is also usually "low" level functions that don't deal directly with device ID's and instead work at a device address level. These commands have the controller ID (you cant get away from the ID's ) and a device address and don't require that a device actually be defined in order to use them. An example of these two types of commands are below.
Lets say we have an X10 device that is address B4 and we've gone ahead and declared it as a device in the X10 screen and given it an ID of BEDROOMLAMP. Our X10 controller (lets say a CM11A) has been defined with an ID of X10CTLR.
A high level command would be: ph_x10btn("BEDROOMLAMP",xon,0)
A low level command would be: ph_x10("X10CTLR","B",4,0) + ph_x10("X10CTLR","B",102,0)
Hope this helps,
Dave.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Gadgets
Senior Member
Joined: January 28 2008
Location: Canada
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 178
|
| Posted: January 30 2008 at 00:49 | IP Logged
|
|
|
Hi Dave,
Yes this info helps a fair bit. I'm SLOWLY starting to understand how things link together so to speak. I was starting to think this software was too much for me.. but it can do such cool things, I just have to keep trying to make it work.
Quote:
Lets say we have an X10 device that is address B4 and we've gone ahead and declared it as a device in the X10 screen and given it an ID of BEDROOMLAMP. Our X10 controller (lets say a CM11A) has been defined with an ID of X10CTLR.
A high level command would be: ph_x10btn("BEDROOMLAMP",xon,0)
A low level command would be: ph_x10("X10CTLR","B",4,0) + ph_x10("X10CTLR","B",102,0)
|
|
|
Alright, now in those examples above. Particularly the low level command. I presume the HC/UC you are using is B4? But in this part ph_x10("X10CTLR","B",102,0) what is the 102 for, or is it the X-10 version of the "ON" command? Now can either of these levels be used, or do high level need to be used in some cases and low level in other??
__________________
Friends, don't let friends install Norton Products
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
BeachBum
Super User
Joined: April 11 2007
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1880
|
| Posted: January 30 2008 at 09:05 | IP Logged
|
|
|
" In my old house my x10 system worked flawlessly, I moved and have found x10 to be far less reliable. Most bugs are worked out now but there is still one circuit I can not get x10 signals to go through, I have yet to find that cause and it's been 7 years of off and on attempts! "
Is it possible that you are trying to send X10 signals to a different phase? This can be tested if you have an electric oven or drying running when you test the circuit.
__________________
Pete - X10 Oldie
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Gadgets
Senior Member
Joined: January 28 2008
Location: Canada
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 178
|
| Posted: January 30 2008 at 14:50 | IP Logged
|
|
|
BeachBum wrote:
Is it possible that you are trying to send X10 signals to a different phase? This can be tested if you have an electric oven or drying running when you test the circuit. |
|
|
Nope, did that test long ago, and several times since. I also used the capacitor coupler trick just incase, it solved ALL the problems in my old house and made it work rock solid. The office I can understand becuase of all the electrical noise, but the circuit I can't "talk to" is the outside lights. I even went as far as connecting the CM11a outlet directly onto that same circuit, and still won't talk. Incase you are wondering I have the CM11a on an outlet I installed AT the power panel, so the signal should be strong through out. It's only 3 lights, so I live without it for now.
Thanks for the idea though
__________________
Friends, don't let friends install Norton Products
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
BeachBum
Super User
Joined: April 11 2007
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1880
|
| Posted: January 30 2008 at 14:58 | IP Logged
|
|
|
That's interesting. I also have 1 circuit that the last devices on the line will come on intermit and can only be turned off if I connect a controller next to them. I believe it is isolated because of noise but I haven't found the source yet.
__________________
Pete - X10 Oldie
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Gadgets
Senior Member
Joined: January 28 2008
Location: Canada
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 178
|
| Posted: January 30 2008 at 15:41 | IP Logged
|
|
|
BeachBum wrote:
| That's interesting. I also have 1 circuit that the last devices on the line will come on intermit and can only be turned off if I connect a controller next to them. I believe it is isolated because of noise but I haven't found the source yet. |
|
|
Well good, I'm glad I'm not the only one!  I have a feeling in my case it could be the hot and neutrals being switched back and forth. There are a lot of electrical boxes in this house where they have added outlets, lights ans switches etc. My problem started when I had my panel upgraded from an old 60AMP fuses, to a 100AMP breaker panel, and the electrician was able to break down the circuits a whole lot more on to their own breakers. Not sure though, it's just a though. I play with it once in a while to see if I can get it to work.
__________________
Friends, don't let friends install Norton Products
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
|
|
Active Topics 
Memberlist 
Search 
Help
Register 
Login
PowerHome Messageboard : PowerHome Programming
Topic: Trigger not working
