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🖥️ActiveHome Pro => ActiveHome Pro General => Help & Troubleshooting => Topic started by: misterbeefy on October 15, 2010, 05:25:15 PM

Title: A2 signal from macro fires A1!!
Post by: misterbeefy on October 15, 2010, 05:25:15 PM
OK, this is TOTALLY weird! I have a macro that turns off my formal living room lights every 5 minutes. They are set to House/unit code A2. I have a rather large house, so I have a TM751 to help relay RF signals from my remotes. When it's plugged in, my family room lamp that is on A1 turns off every 5 mins when the macro fires. What gives?? It was working fine, but I just updated AHP to the latest version so I could install it on my Windows 7 PC. FYI, I'm also getting the flood of traffic for M unknown A00TV A00TV in my activity monitor as well. Thanks in advance for any help!
Title: Re: A2 signal from macro fires A1!!
Post by: anthonylavado on October 15, 2010, 07:17:35 PM
1) Have you tried making a new ActiveHome file (AHX) and setting up just that macro to check?
2) Do you have any cameras or security modules in your set up?
Title: Re: A2 signal from macro fires A1!!
Post by: misterbeefy on October 16, 2010, 09:56:57 AM
1. Haven't tried creating a new macro because that one took so long and is so big!
2. Yes, I have both security and cameras. The main security controller isn't plugged in, but some door/window sensors still are.
Title: Re: A2 signal from macro fires A1!!
Post by: Dan Lawrence on October 16, 2010, 08:37:06 PM
Do us a favor: Post the contents of the macro, so we can see what's going on and provide a solution.
Title: Re: A2 signal from macro fires A1!!
Post by: misterbeefy on October 18, 2010, 11:31:55 AM
Do us a favor: Post the contents of the macro, so we can see what's going on and provide a solution.
It's A2 Off
Wait 5 minutes

I repeat this for a total of 55 minutes, in addition to timer job which fires the macro every hour, on the hour, which makes it run every 5 minutes 24/7.
Title: Re: A2 signal from macro fires A1!!
Post by: Brandt on October 18, 2010, 11:57:05 AM
This is usually due to noise on the line 'morphing' the x10 signal. I have an XPT type switch that when I turn on the outdoor 'party lights' sometimes the security light will come on instead and it is only one unit code difference.
Title: Re: A2 signal from macro fires A1!!
Post by: Dan Lawrence on October 18, 2010, 01:37:39 PM
OK, this is TOTALLY weird! I have a macro that turns off my formal living room lights every 5 minutes. They are set to House/unit code A2. I have a rather large house, so I have a TM751 to help relay RF signals from my remotes. When it's plugged in, my family room lamp that is on A1 turns off every 5 mins when the macro fires. What gives?? It was working fine, but I just updated AHP to the latest version so I could install it on my Windows 7 PC. FYI, I'm also getting the flood of traffic for M unknown A00TV A00TV in my activity monitor as well. Thanks in advance for any help!

Just a question.  WHY do you have a macro that kills lights every 5 minutes?   Once the lights are off, they stay off.  My single keypress macro turns off lights in 3 housecodes and they stay off until either timer triggered or turned on locally by SS13's.

Title: Re: A2 signal from macro fires A1!!
Post by: misterbeefy on October 18, 2010, 02:20:37 PM

Just a question.  WHY do you have a macro that kills lights every 5 minutes?   Once the lights are off, they stay off.  My single keypress macro turns off lights in 3 housecodes and they stay off until either timer triggered or turned on locally by SS13's.


Hehe, this is an easy question to answer :) I have 4 kids, 3 still at home, that don't know how to turn the lights off! This particular switch has 2 chandeliers on it with 6 - 20w bulbs each. That's 240 watts getting sucked down whenever they're on. Very rarely is there a need of light in this room for more than 5 minutes, as it's connected to the kitchen and formal dining room in an open floor-plan,  and the ambient light trickles through. This is to try to cut down on my 5-600 dollar a month electric bill.
Title: Re: A2 signal from macro fires A1!!
Post by: dave w on October 18, 2010, 02:30:59 PM
This is to try to cut down on my 5-600 dollar a month electric bill.
Gasp!
Title: Re: A2 signal from macro fires A1!!
Post by: Dan Lawrence on October 18, 2010, 08:25:12 PM
Another question:  Where are you located?  A 5-600 dollar a month electric bill?  GASP!!!   


Now I understand why the every 5 minutes.  It's a shame X10 doesn't make a treadle switch.  If they did, you could assign a house and unit code to it and have it control the 2 lights.  When the kids leave the room, they walk over the switch (under the rug?) and the lights go out.

All seriousness aside, try making the interval 10 minutes and see what happens.   I'm not a macro expert, but I believe one macro can call another, so you could brake your macro into 2 or 3, all called by the first one.   
Title: Re: A2 signal from macro fires A1!!
Post by: hawk1 on October 18, 2010, 08:42:20 PM
Not to be funny or anything but $500?  Seriously, take the light bulbs out!!!   :'
Title: Re: A2 signal from macro fires A1!!
Post by: HA Dave on October 18, 2010, 10:34:35 PM
Not to sound... morbid.. but lights are generally a tiny portion of an electric bill.

The cost of electric... is mostly regulatory. The only way to reduce the cost in both the short and the long term... is to replace the people that regulate your electric use.
Title: Re: A2 signal from macro fires A1!!
Post by: dave w on October 19, 2010, 10:16:55 AM
The cost of electric... is mostly regulatory. The only way to reduce the cost in both the short and the long term... is to replace the people that regulate your electric use.
I can see November 2 from my living room.
Title: Re: A2 signal from macro fires A1!!
Post by: Dan Lawrence on October 19, 2010, 01:11:12 PM
The cost of electric... is mostly regulatory. The only way to reduce the cost in both the short and the long term... is to replace the people that regulate your electric use.
I can see November 2 from my living room.

WOW!!!   Do you have access to a Way-Bak Machine?    ::)
Title: Re: A2 signal from macro fires A1!!
Post by: pconroy on October 19, 2010, 03:19:30 PM
Another question:  Where are you located?  A 5-600 dollar a month electric bill?  GASP!!!   

My first house, in TX, was all electric.  I can certainly see how a monthly bill could hit that. Especially if I had my family of 5 back then.

Now, in CO, I'm electric and natural gas.
In the depth of winter, a $450 total utility bill isn't out of the question.
 :'(
Title: Re: A2 signal from macro fires A1!!
Post by: misterbeefy on October 19, 2010, 06:33:53 PM
I'm in Louisiana. The bad part is, my house isn't totally electric. We do have 3400+ sq. ft. that is heated/cooled. I just dropped 1500 bucks for 3 months because I forgot to pay it lol.  It's mostly due to our single 5 ton unit that is used to cool the house in the summer. We keep it on 78 during the day, and 75 at night, which is very hot in this humidity. In the winter, even with the gas added, our bill is more like $250-275.  We use upwards of 9 mega-watt/hours in the months of July and August.
Title: Re: A2 signal from macro fires A1!!
Post by: Dan Lawrence on October 19, 2010, 08:13:55 PM
Did you try to break the macro into 2 or 3 parts?  I believe one macro can call another.  If so, when you trigger Macro 1 runs and calls Macro 2 which runs and calls Macro 3 which runs. 

At least each macro is smaller and takes less room.

BTW I presume the kids go to bed around 9 or 10 PM, so the macro(s) don't need to run as the lights don't get turned by the kids.
Title: Re: A2 signal from macro fires A1!!
Post by: misterbeefy on October 20, 2010, 11:56:06 AM
Actually, I just moved my devices on A1 to B2 lol.  You're right though, I said it runs 24/7 but actually, it only runs from 8 am till 11 pm. (We're up late sometimes).
Title: Re: A2 signal from macro fires A1!!
Post by: Dan Lawrence on October 20, 2010, 01:31:35 PM
If it works for you, great!!!

Several posters here will say never to use Housecode A. I do, but my X10 system dates from the middle 1980s, so I still have seven modules (all Lamp modules) still on Housecode A.

Did you ever try to break the macro into 3 separate macros, #2 and 3 are called by the first?  That way you have 3 separate parts that take up less room than a large macro that does everything.