X10 Community Forum
🖥️ActiveHome Pro => Plug-ins => Smart Macros => Topic started by: lviper on January 10, 2011, 10:27:04 AM
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So I made my first attempt at a macro. I thought maybe I could turn on a light when the door sensor was triggered. So I setup the macro to listen for the front door sensor to be triggered. Set the conditions if it's dark and sunday through saturday (since I need 2 conditions), turn on I1 with is the security light on my ds7000 which is also I1.
The light does not turn on. However, in AHP it shows the light on and the log shows the macro ran and I see the transmit I1 On in the log.
So I thought about the PLC not reaching the I1 light, which is a wall switch, but I can control the light from AHP manually as well as using a palm pad set to HC I.
Not sure what's wrong. When I manually control the I1 light from AHP, I see the same transmit codes being sent in the logs as I do when the macro runs. If I can turn the light on and off through AHP, shouldn't the macro also do the same?
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hmmm,
get rid of the conditions and retry the trigger (via sensor).
make certain the signal from the sensor is reliably making it to the CM15.
If that works, add a basic condition, e.g., If time is between X and Y.
Recheck...
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hmmm,
get rid of the conditions and retry the trigger (via sensor).
make certain the signal from the sensor is reliably making it to the CM15.
If that works, add a basic condition, e.g., If time is between X and Y.
Recheck...
Thanks, I will try that when I get home tonight.
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... and sunday through saturday (since I need 2 conditions)...
I'm not sure what you mean by this.
If you are referring to the note on the "Day/night" condition that says "requires two conditions," that refers to the day/night condition using up two of the three slots available for conditions in each macro (because of the way AHP calculates day/night).
I would suggest the following:
1. Remove the "sunday through saturday" condition, since you shouldn't need to have it in there.
2. Try adding a delay (even 0 seconds) as the first step of the macro.
3. Trigger the macro from within AHP (by clicking on it). That should ignore the conditions, and run the commands no matter what.
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I actually just did this same macro this morning for a closet light in our family room
Try and set the macro to send an RF signal instead of a regular ON signal. I use a couple TM751A transceivers in my setup and have to use RF signals in some rooms instead of just PLC.
what kind of switch is it also? if it's dimmable try chaning it to a nondimming switch in AHP. Might also want to check and see if you have send ON instead of Bright 100%.
just my $0.02 ;D
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Ok, I set the macro without any conditions and opened the front door. The light turned on. So I set the condition to if it is nighttime then turn the light on. That did not work. So I changed the condition to between times and set it from dusk to dawn and that worked.
So I added a delay of a few minutes to turn it back off. That leads me to a question. I assume if the light is on and the front door is opend, the macro will still send the on command. So I assume it will also turn it off in a few minutes. So I guess I need to figure out how to tell the macro to only run if the light is off. Problem is the monitored house code is F and the front room light is tied to the security console on I, so I can't select the module state for the lights on hc I.
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I neglected to ask you what kind of sensor you're using...
If it's something like an EagleEye, then it's got the dusk/dawn sensor. Perhaps the light going on is enough
to trigger that. If so, then the sensor would transmit an N+1 signal, e.g., F2. @$$uming that's the case, you could
create a macro to trigger on 'F2 Off' (the light at I1 turned on) and set a flag in the macro.
Then you would simply include the flag test in your primary macro. Might be a bit clugy but...
Now, if you're using a mag security door switch, all bets are off....well, almost. You could still place an EagleEye
near the light and use it's dusk/dawn feature to detect whether the light is on/off.
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Sorry, guess I should have mentioned what I was using. It's the door/window sensor.
After I got it working with the between times condition I came to the conclusion that the nighttime condition must be for use with something like the eagle eye motion sensor.
On another thought. I have the front room lights on hc I to match the security console. Since I can turn a light on with a door sensor being triggered, can't I move the light to the monitored HC of F and make a macro on HC I UC 1 to flash the lights when the system is armed? The macro would flash the front room light. Can I do that?
If that would work, then I would have the front room light on hc F where I can monitor the status and make my condition be if light is off and time between dusk and dawn.
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I think I have answered my own question. The answer/solution is a phantom module to trigger the macro.
Yes, I've been searching and reading old posts all morning long. Slow here at work with the snow keeping most people inside.
So here is my thoughts, mostly so I can think out loud.
I will move my front room lights, in fact, all first floor lights to HC F.
I'll make a phantom module assigned to I1 to match the security console and be the macro trigger.
I'll make a macro to turn on lights I want the security console to flash as well as the off macro.
Then I can make a macro for when the front door sensor is triggered and my front room light is off and it's between dusk and dawn, turn the front room light on, wait 1 minute and turn it back off. This way, if the front room light is on the macro will not run and leave the light on till someone turns it off.
How are my thoughts? Just wish I was at home so I could test it.
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Oh man,
you've gotta get some of what I've got goin' on.
First, our neighborhood has been getting hit over the past year, so:
I poked a hole in my router at home (a bit dangerous but...)
From work, I use Microsoft's Remote Desktop Connection client and
connect to the PC at home via the web. Set up the DynDNS client on
the home PC last year for the kid's web project so I was already set
even when the IP address changes on my DSL circuit. Hope this isn't
too much tech-speak.
Now, I can 'watch' three outside cams and three inside cams in realtime.
Had a couple performance hurdles to jump but it's working great. I have
full control of the PC at home just as if I were sitting right there. And yes,
I can even play with AHP. I just saw my lawn man driving up so I disabled
the perimeter warning system (all X10) so he wouldn't get 100dB of screaming
siren in his ear :)
Anyway, maybe you could get something similar hooked up for these snowy
days (in my case, foggy S. Fla. days).
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..... I disabled the perimeter warning system (all X10) ..
...Anyway, maybe you could get something similar hooked up for these snowy
days
YES!!!
Perimeter detection and intrusion deterrence is IMHO the first steps in security. Of course... you want and need an alarm once the homes security has already been violated. But detecting and warning away potential intruders is the first step.
I've read that simple alarm signs reduce break ins by 400% (we CAN do better than a yard sign (http://forums.x10.com/index.php?topic=13351.msg74400#msg74400)). I've also read that security cameras can have an even greater effect. However... there are no stats I am aware of that reflect what a solid HA detection and warning system can do to deter an intruder. I wish we had some stats. I think they would reflect well on Home Automation (and X10).
I often remind people that home protection isn't a competition between the home owner and the criminal. (Any and every home can be broken into) It's most often a competition between the home owner... and his neighbors. Making your home the scariest (and hardest) home in the neighborhood to break into... will likely make it the last one broke into as well.
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Oh man,
you've gotta get some of what I've got goin' on....
I poked a hole in my router at home (a bit dangerous but...)
From work, I use Microsoft's Remote Desktop Connection client and
connect to the PC at home via the web. Set up the DynDNS client on
the home PC last year for the kid's web project so I was already set
even when the IP address changes on my DSL circuit. Hope this isn't
too much tech-speak....
Oh, I can access any computer at home from work. I leave my access closed and only remotely access the router to turn on my holes as needed. I use VNC instead of Remote Desktop. VNC is much faster then Remote Desktop. And I can play with AHP from work but I don't have any cameras yet to see things in action if they work or not. My wife works from home but I can't bother her to be opening and closing doors all day long as I test things.
I was setting up and configuring my MythTV (opensource linux dvr) system and did most of it from work using VNC. I also support my wife's computer she uses for work from my work as well as clean up all the junkware my kids put on their computers from work. Actually I do more personal work on my home stuff then I do while at work. That's the benefits of being the IT manager. Delegate all the crap to others while I play with my own stuff.
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Hey Dave,
Agreed...on all points.
Being the son of a LEO, I've been conditioned to think like a criminal. Not only has X10 given me some deterrence
tools, but I actually hacked into my FBII alarm system and added my cell phone number to the dial list. If anyone
happens to get in, my cell phone rings and I'll get the AHP notifications from the perimeter defense system.
I'm havin' too much fun with this stuff. Before you know it, I'll be linking X10 with my alarm system :)
c ya
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viper,
While reading your post, I thought I respond with 'Geek'...having read the entire post, looks like you're the
head 'Geek' :)
I thought about VNC. Actually use it to connect to the kid's crapple. I might have to light up the vnc server
on the HA box and try it out. I would be nice to have better throughput than RD offers. We also have vnc setup
on our SAP servers @ work in the event RD flakes out...which, being MS, it does on occasion :)
thanks for enlightening me.
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viper,
While reading your post, I thought I respond with 'Geek'...having read the entire post, looks like you're the
head 'Geek' :)
I thought about VNC. Actually use it to connect to the kid's crapple. I might have to light up the vnc server
on the HA box and try it out. I would be nice to have better throughput than RD offers. We also have vnc setup
on our SAP servers @ work in the event RD flakes out...which, being MS, it does on occasion :)
thanks for enlightening me.
The one nice thing about VNC is the ability to lower the colors from Full to 256 which really saves bandwidth and speeds up the connection. Not the best for video quality but it does smooth it out.
We use VNC to monitor and support all the computers at work. I have a program called Smartcode VNC Manager that allows me to view multiple computers at on one screen in view mode. So when a department manager wants me to monitor the people in their department, I can watch all of them at once on one screen. Then I can connect and kill any processes on their computer without them even knowing I was there. It's like playing GOD... rofl
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Ok, I have my new macro working and will probably share the setup in the user macros forum.
I moved my living and dining rooms switches to the monitored house code of F. Now I can check to see if the light is on when the front door is opened and will only turn it on if it is off and between dusk and dawn. I also set a flag when the macro turns it on so I can turn it off when the door is closed.
But here is my problem. I had those lights on HC I and tied in to the ds7000 which is on HC I. That way I could see when the system is armed by the light flash. So I tried to make a macro for I1 (the old light code) in AHP to turn on or off the living room light that is now on F9. I try pressing the light 1 key on the security remote, I see the commands in the activity log, but the light will not turn on. Could that be because the HC I is not a transceived code in AHP? And I probably don't want HC I as a transceived code because I have the security console, right?
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Well, just got informed of a problem with my macro. It seems the light is still turning on even though it is daytime. The condition to turn the light on is after dusk and before dawn. So the light should not be turning on.
I have the correct location set in hardware config and the dusk and dawn times appear correct.
If needed, I'm using AHP 3.301 and 2.296 (i think) for smart macros and on alert.
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The condition to turn the light on is after dusk and before dawn. So the light should not be turning on.
in "AHP logic," that condition will NEVER be true.
X10 uses a midnight-to-midnight day.
In a single 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM, there is never a time that is both "after dusk" AND "before dawn".
"Before dawn" is the time from 12:00 AM until Dawn, and "After dusk" is the time from Dusk until 11:59 PM.
Those times are at opposite ends of the day, so you will never meet both conditions at the same time.
Try changing the condition to "before dawn" OR "after dusk", and see if that makes a difference.
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Try changing the condition to "before dawn" OR "after dusk", and see if that makes a difference.
The condition I'm using is the Time Range. It says "If Time is Between" with options to set Start (set to Dusk) and End (set to Dawn). In the specific time boxes it shows the current times for Dusk(4:53pm) and Dawn (7:04am) once I selected Dusk and Dawn.
This is how the macro reads once saved:
Trigger Conditions Front Door Zone 1 - Sensor Triggered and
Module Status Off - Living Room Ceiling Light and
The Time is Between Dusk and Dawn
End Trigger Conditions
Turn M1 ON
M1 On is a macro that sets a flag and turns on F9 (living room light)
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Exactly.
The condition will NEVER be true.
Starting at 12:00 AM, you will never hit a time that is AFTER 4:53 PM and BEFORE 7:04 AM, without crossing midnight again.
AHP Conditions and timers don't cross midnight.
Since you can't have two parallel condition tracks with an "or" in between, I would use the "else" option isntead.
Create a second macro with the EXACT SAME trigger address. That should link the two together. You should see a tab at the top for each one.
On the first one, set the conditions to:
Module Status Off - Living Room Ceiling Light and
The Time is Before Dawn
On the second one, set the conditions to:
Module Status Off - Living Room Ceiling Light and
The Time is After Dusk
Put the same commands in both macros.
You should see them "join" together (there will be two tabs at the top, one with each of the macros). They function as an if-then-else condition. If the first one is true, then it executes. Otherwise, it checks the condition on the second one, and executes that.
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So basically you are telling me the time range condition does not work for any times that cross midnight? But I can set it to start at Dusk and End at 11:59pm and make another macro only changing the time range to be Start at 12:00am and end at Dawn? Do I understand?
I do understand the linked macros. I see that for this macro because I have another one on the same trigger to turn the light off. Can I have more than 2 macros linked?
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Oh yeah!
I've got a trigger with 3 OR's (four conditions in total). Works great. And none of them cross the midnight
barrier that Noam's talking about. I think he taught me that trick a couple months ago.
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I'm editing the macro now. I deleted the time rage and added Specific Time and set it to Before Dawn. I see that it will let me add and OR. Can I just put OR After Dusk in the one macro? Or do I still need to make another macro for the After Dusk condition?
If I add the OR this is how it reads now:
Trigger Conditions Front Door Zone 1 - Sensor Triggered and
Module Status Off - Living Room Ceiling Light and
It's Before Dawn or
It's After Dusk
End Trigger Conditions
Turn M1 ON
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I don't know if the "OR" applies to only the last two conditions (the first one MUST be true, and either of the last two must be true), or to the entire line (the first two must be true OR the last one must be true), but that shouldn't be too hard to test.
I have a series of about 5 or 6 "or" macros linked together, which are triggered by a PowerFlash module after a power-outage ends.
The logic was tricky to put together, but it does different things, depending on the day of the week, and the time of day when the outage ends.
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I see what you are saying. Either the light must be off and it is before dawn will turn the light on. Or it must be after Dusk (if the light is on or off) and turn the light on.
I'll check it when I get home. Can I just change the clock on my computer to simulate the time?
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I see what you are saying. Either the light must be off and it is before dawn will turn the light on. Or it must be after Dusk (if the light is on or off) and turn the light on.
I'll check it when I get home. Can I just change the clock on my computer to simulate the time?
That's even worse. If the CM15A is connected to the PC, it gets it's time from the PC.
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I see what you are saying. Either the light must be off and it is before dawn will turn the light on. Or it must be after Dusk (if the light is on or off) and turn the light on.
I'll check it when I get home. Can I just change the clock on my computer to simulate the time?
That's even worse. If the CM15A is connected to the PC, it gets it's time from the PC.
Which is exactly what he wants to happen so he can test! B:( rofl
>!
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Ok, so I got home and changed the macro to turn the light on only if it is off and it is after dusk. Opened the door and the light came on. Reset the time on the computer to Noon (before dusk) and cleared the interface and updated to make sure it showed Noon. Downloaded the timers and macros. Opened the door and the light came on. So I'm not sure if that test worked or not.
I checked my settings and put the clock back to the correct time. Which at the time is after dusk. Cleared and re downloaded. Before that I emptied the trash and purged all macros just to be sure. Opened the door and the light DID NOT come on. Said oh well and left it like that.
This morning when I left for work and opened the door, the light came on. B:( It's after midnight and before dusk. Why did it come on? My clock on the computer and in the interface are both correct.
Just to clarify, here is the macro as it is now:
Trigger Conditions Front Door Zone 1 - Sensor Triggered and
Module Status Off - Living Room Ceiling Light and
It's After Dusk
End Trigger Conditions
Turn M1 ON
M1 ON will set flag 1 and turn F9 on
I have a linked macro that is triggered by the door close with a condition for flag 1 set. Then it will run M1 OFF. This macro will turn the light off.
Guess I need to make the duplicate macro for when the door opens but change after dusk to before dawn. Then make sure the light doesn't turn on between Dawn and Dusk.
MACRO 1:
Trigger Conditions Front Door Zone 1 - Sensor Triggered and
Module Status Off - Living Room Ceiling Light and
It's After Dusk
End Trigger Conditions
Turn M1 ON
MACRO 2:
Trigger Conditions Front Door Zone 1 - Sensor Triggered and
Module Status Off - Living Room Ceiling Light and
It's Before Dawn
End Trigger Conditions
Turn M1 ON
MACRO 3:
Trigger Conditions Front Door Zone 1 - Door Closed and
Flag 1 - Set
End Trigger Conditions
Turn M1 OFF
Just wondering, does After Dusk mean 12:00am to Dawn? Does Before Dawn mean Dusk to 11:59pm?
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any way I can talk you into specifying exact times instead of dusk/dawn?
and maybe even get rid of the other conditions...just to test the time thing?
K.I.S.S. :)
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any way I can talk you into specifying exact times instead of dusk/dawn?
and maybe even get rid of the other conditions...just to test the time thing?
K.I.S.S. :)
Sure, I'd be happy to test it with set times. However, I thought my KISS would be using dusk and dawn so I wouldn't have to edit the times throughout the year. Would just love to understand the logic behind those settings. I understand the passing midnight thing, but if I set it to After Dusk I would assume that means from whatever time dusk is today until 11:59pm tonight.
However, since the light would not come on during that time frame, and it did come on this morning makes me think it does not know what time dusk is, even though the condition shows it grayed out in the specific time. But then again, even if it didn't know when dusk started, it still wouldn't meet the condition and the light shouldn't come on at anytime.
I tried using the Nighttime condition but it wouldn't turn the light on either. Never checked it during the day though.
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Yeah, I'm just aiming for the "troubleshooting by process of elim" method.
The fewer conditions the better. As you prove one condition, replace it with another. Once that has one
been proven, add 'em together to test the logic. Further, you'll also be testing for potential noise on the
line, i.e., if you know the condition cannot possibly be true and the light still comes on, you've got
something else goin' on.
Once you're comfortable and you've got 100% reliability, then replace the times with dusk/dawn and retest.
I know, it's a PITA, but...
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Ok, just changed the macro as follows.
Trigger Conditions Front Door Zone 1 - Sensor Triggered and
Module Status Off - Living Room Ceiling Light and
It's after 5:00 pm and
It's before 11:59pm
End Trigger Conditions
Turn M1 ON
It was set to It's after Dusk and the light was still coming on at 2:44pm.
I'm thinking if the condition is just after Dusk or 5:00pm, the condition will always be met. I think I need the and before 11:59pm so it knows it needs to be between 5pm and midnight. I'm waiting for someone to open the front door now. My oldest should be getting home shortly so I'm watching the log.
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That last macro did not work, no light.
So I removed the and before 11:59pm. Still did not work
So I removed all time conditions. Only check if the light is off, if it is off, rum M1 to set Flag 1 and turn on F9. It worked. Closed the door and the light went off 30 seconds later.
Added the condition of before 11:59 pm and the light did not come on.
Now I tried using the Nighttime condition and it worked. The first time I made the macro I used Nighttime and it didn't work.
I did notice in the logs I have M MTCDDVD usually just before and sometimes after the front door sensor trigger. I did further testing and I think I might be having a reception issue because looking back through the log I see lots of front door closed but no matching front door open. So I will work on my reception. I only have 2 of my 5 sensors that show the MTCDDVD before and after the event. THe other 3 are clean.
I'm thinking even though I see the door open in the logs, having the MTCDDVD is telling me it is having problems with reception and might not be getting inturpided correctly.
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Ok, to test my theory of a scrambled single from the ds10a on the front door, I changed the trigger to another door that is not giving the MTCDDVD messages. No go, it still did not work. So I stopped for the night only to find out the light was now coming on and off everytime the ds10a on the front door checked in. I figured all must be screwed up now so I deleted the macros and will start over.
I was also reading in the 3.303 released thread that someone was having trouble with their timers since upgrading. I wonder if 3.301 might have the same bug/problem. So I thing I will start completely over by uninstalling everything, install 3.296 and reinstall all sensors and remotes making sure I no longer have any scrambled MTCDDVD's in the logs. I will attempt this over the weekend.
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That's the spirit !!!!
Keep pluggin' You'll get it figured out.
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That's the spirit !!!!
Keep pluggin' You'll get it figured out.
I'll be dammed if I let a software program get the best of me and beat me. I just don't work that way. Besides, all this troubleshooting and stuff just helps me understand how this stuff works.
On another note, trying to improve reception, I first did the 18" wire reflector and did get very good results. But I wanted more so I purchased an old tm751 just for the antenna. I installed that and my results are nothing better than the reflector mod. So I'm also moving on to the ground plane antenna mod. And being that in house is big I think I will do the dual antennas with a signal combiner and maybe even a rf amp.
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Well, being as I had some time today at work, I decided to work on this a little more before I do the reload this weekend. I did an extensive search and have found others in the past with the same or very similar problems. Basically what I've learned is the macros triggered by security sensors cannot have conditions. And that would totally explain my problem, macros triggered by security sensors ignore conditions.
So after reading I've learned I need to make my macro that is triggered by the ds10a to operate a phantom (ghost) module. Then that phantom module can trigger the macro with the conditions to turn my light on and off. Here is my latest which I need to test when I get home.
Phantom Module P1 (using appliance module)
Macro 1 -
Front Door Sensor Triggered
Turn P1 On
Macro 2 -
Front Door Sensor Closed
Turn P1 Off
Macro 3 -
Triggered by P1
If living room light off and it's nighttime
Set Flag 1
Turn F9 On
Macro 4 -
Triggered by P1
If Flag 1 On
Delay 30 seconds
Turn F9 Off
Clear Flag 1
If all works right, when the front door is opened, as long as the light is already off and it's nighttime, the living room light will turn on and flag 1 will be set. Once the door is closed and as long as flag 1 is set, it will turn the light off. This way, if the light is already on I don't send the on command again and no flag is set. Since no flag is set, if the light was already on, closing the door will not turn it off.
Got my fingers crossed.
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Just wanted to give a quick update. I'm watching the activity monitor from work and as my ids are coming home from school and work I can see the front door sensor turning P1 on and off as the door is opened and closed. The good news to this, the macros are not running as they shouldn't because it isn't nighttime. So even though P1 is turning on and off, the light is not. The true test will be when I get home tonight which will be after dusk and it will be nighttime. Hopefully I see the light turn on for me as I open the door. I'm optimistic it is going to work this time.
If it all works correctly I will post the macro in user defined since I have seen several others having the same problem in the past.
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I admire your persistence! The really great part is this being Friday means you can keep the kids up late tonight going outside... and then back in. Till you get this resolved. rofl
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The really great part is this being Friday means you can keep the kids up late tonight going outside... and then back in. Till you get this resolved. rofl
Yeah right!!! They will keep me up all weekend coming and going all night long. My bedroom is just off of the dining room where the security console is so I hear all the darn arms and disarms as well as the ding dongs when the door opens. My wife likes the run 2 mode so she knows when a door is opened. She works at home and we have a big house. So the ding dongs lets her know someone came in.
Coming soon is the front porch motion sensor to let her know someone is on the porch.
Then I was just looking at pc companion and will have to get that as well. I want to system to announce which door was opened. Something like a ding dong sound followed by "Front Door Opened"
I got the bug....... :'
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I got the bug....... :'
There are far worse addictions!
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Happy to report. IT'S WORKING! :)% :)% :)% :)% :)%