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[tomh]

I've been tinkering with the macro commands and can't seem to locate what I want.  My wife leaves for work early in the morning every other weekend and I want to have the outdoor lights on when she leaves and go off after a certain period of time has passed (let's say 30").  I can start a macro using a timer and phantom modules, but this means I would have to program 26 separate macros, one for each weekend she works.  This isn't practical.  I could set up two Eagle Eyes and just have them come on when anyone passes by the front or back door and this way the weekends she doesn't work the lights won't come on.  I prefer the timer method though.  Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks,

tomh

[HA Dave]

I've been tinkering with the macro commands and can't seem to locate what I want.  My wife leaves for work early in the morning every other weekend and I want to have the outdoor lights on when she leaves and go off after a certain period of time has passed

It is difficult to program such things. Maybe... if she (or you both) carry a cell phone with BlueTooth... you could use BlueWatch (a third party software/add-on to AHP) as part of a Occupancy Sensing setup.

Another way would be to just give her a X10 keyfob remote (KR19A)... and write one macro that says: If light is turned on before "this" time.... delay for 30 minutes then turn off. That way your wife can turn on the light and drive off... knowing the light will turn itself off.

[Mellowmark]

It is not as bad as it sounds.. If You program one macro for your wife and set the timers in the macro. It should not be so bad.
My wife has same setup and we also call same macro with the keyfob Dave spoke of.  It works good for when she comes home late at night also.

[Knightrider]

Is it just one day, or Saturday and Sunday?

I think a conditional macro could be created that ran on the day in question only if a flag were set.  If the flag were not set then the macro would set it.  The first macro would clear the flag at the end and the second would set it.

Clear as mud, right?

 

[aussie mate]

Have you thought about using the Holiday Setting?

You could set up a holiday for every 2nd week (or as we say down here - every fortnight)
There would 26 holidays in total.
Then just use the holiday condition in the macro or timer...

[tomh]

Thanks for the ideas.  I've been experimenting since my last post and decided that I will just have an auxillary light come on in the evening.  I have lights that come on when the garage door opens and go off 4 1/2" later or are tripped if the door is open and the ground sensor path is broken (already built into the Chamberlin system).  What I don't have is a light that comes on when you enter the back door to the garage.  My son's room is just above the opener and is a nuisance late at night when my wife comes home and opens the garage door.  Now, if we enter the back door there is a light switch which one has to fumble for in the dark or if one is carrying packages.  So, I just set up a simple macro to turn the light on for a certain period of time when it's dark.  The only thing I haven't licked is that when motion is detected by the sensor it starts the timer, but if you pass by more than once (within the alloted 5" on setting) it continually resets the timer.  I want it to sense the movement, stay on for 5", then cut off without all the resetting if I pass by in that 5" on window.  I still want it to come on if I happen to walk by later.  In essence, how do I keep it from resetting each time if I walk by the sensor when the 5" on macro is running?  I have tinkered with the flags, but no success so far.  I have been working on placement of my EagleEye so that the cats don't trip it when they saunter by.  I connected a house module and placed a red bulb in it to monitor the activity from upstairs.  Sometimes the light doesn't always go off (the garage light goes off, but the test bulb doesn't).  I'm wondering if it's all the resetting of the timer.

Thanks,

tomh     

[HA Dave]

If the only tool in the tool box is a hammer. Everything gets pounded on.

I have LOTS of X10! But X10 isn't the solution to every problem. It seems everytime my wife comes home she has her hands full of stuff to carry in from the car. I used a standard off-the-shelf (from home depot) motion sensor switch at the garage door. I have another standard motion sensor in the laundry room. They are fast, they don't flood my power lines with PLC signals, and they rate high with Wife Approval.

[Tuicemen]

How about mounting a single motion sensor on her side of the bed.
This way you could perform same function as my shift workers macro
Set a conditional macro so that if the Sensor is tripped with in a 20 min time that she would get up (weekends only).
That way you could trigger bathroom lights or any needed lights to come on (including outside ones).
After the disired time turn them all off!
Of coarse if you have pets you'd have to keep them out of the Bedroom.
 

[dave w]

The only thing I haven't licked is that when motion is detected by the sensor it starts the timer, but if you pass by more than once (within the alloted 5" on setting) it continually resets the timer.  I want it to sense the movement, stay on for 5", then cut off without all the resetting if I pass by in that 5" on window.  I still want it to come on if I happen to walk by later.  In essence, how do I keep it from resetting each time if I walk by the sensor when the 5" on macro is running?  I have tinkered with the flags, but no success so far. 

Does this work?

Use the ON from the Motion Detector to SET a flag.
Use the SET flag to start a five minute timer.
When the 5 timer expires turn OFF your light, RESET the flag.

The problem with this is; even if there is continuous movement for 15 minutes, the light will always turn off in five minutes.

[Brandt]

When your wife's alarm clock goes off, there is a pin somewhere in there that goes high ~5vdc or more. You can find it with a DMM and attach it to a powerflash somehow. (The module can be activated by a low voltage (6-18VDC) or a dry contact (no voltage) switch closure)

Either that or use an X10 mini timer as an alarm clock. That can send a signal when it goes off.

Use that signal to turn on the lights or whatever X minutes later (however long it takes her to get out the door)