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[walking catfish]

Hi...

I'm trying to find out if there are any X10 RF remotes that send signals which result in Extended Commands being placed on the powerline by devices such as the CM15A (or other RF X10 transceivers that are capable of Extended Commands). Better yet, I am interested in help identifying any and all hardware that is capable of Extended Commands.

I have several SoftStart lamp modules that I would like to properly use the soft start feature with. What I want them to do is slowly come on to a certain brightness level from being completely off.

I have an Nstinct (Icon) IR34A that has several factory preprogrammed bright and dim levels that may (or may not) be sending Extended Commands. Those commands seem to work well with my PAT03 transceiver.  Unfortunately the Nstinct doesn't do timer events. I'm not even sure if the IR34A or PAT03 are capable of Extended Commands.

I also have a WM100 which I know only does standard Commands (I didn't know this at the time of purchase). Nevertheless, since it does do timer events, I have timers set up for these SoftStart modules to turn them on to a certain brightness level at specific times.The results with the WM100 are a crapshoot. Sometimes the lamps come on full bright, sometimes they come on so dim that they might as well be off. Rarely do they come on to the brightness level that I want.

As a result I have purchased a CM15A which, if I understand correctly, is capable of Extended Commands as well as timed events. I haven't decided yet what computer system I will use to program the CM15 (AHP, Raspberry Pi or others).

I only know that I want these SoftStart lamp modules to reliably come on and slowly come up to the specified brightness level -no more, no less. When I was younger and working full time I accepted the shock to my system that the old modules created by coming on at full brightness before dimming. After all I had to get to work on time. Now that I am retired I'm no longer going to accept that shock.

Any and all help or guidance is greatly appreciated.

[Brian H]

AHP for the CM15A.
Can send the Extended Commands.
There is two lists in AHP for dimmer modules.
One is Lamp Modules. That has soft start lamp modules in it.
The other is Before Soft Start dimmers.
X10 WTI did not change the name of the modules.
Caused confusing here. Using the wrong list for their modules.
I have not seen any X10 remote that can send extended commands to soft start lamp modules.
This touches on the differences. Not exactly a lamp module but later switches where also changed.
http://kbase.x10.com/wiki/Newer_Wall_Switches_and_Preset_Dim#Controlling_From_Current_Versions_of_Active_Home_Pro

[Brian H]

The soft start lamp modules are a completely different design.
Including a new power supply that is around 3.3VDC.
I did a partial schematic of the unit.
Also a new surface mounted controller.
Controller Chip: Sonix SN8P2501BSB
If you want to disable local control. All the information I found was for the old lamp modules.
Remove R14 330K 1/2W.
The newer appliance modules called CFL friendly do not have local control sensing voltage on the output. Just the am I on or off sensing.

[walking catfish]

Thanks for the info Brian. Some of it was new to me.

After receiving my CM15A and getting things set up in AHP v3.318 I now have my SoftStart lamp modules working as they are supposed to (Yay!  )

I have also determined that my Nstinct (Icon) IR34A remote does not send Extended Commands. I can see this by looking at the History window in AHP. What X10 did was to program all of those keys to send standard  Bright or Dim Commands for different lengths of time in order to achieve the desired result. Since the IR34A was probably the top-of-the-line remote from X10,  I suspect that you're correct in saying that no X10 remotes can send Extended Commands.


The combination of the CM15A and AHP v3.318 does SoftStart very well. The trick is to (1) use the Lamp Modules group (and not the Older non-softstart group as you pointed out) and (2) do not use the On/Off switch to activate the Lamp. If you use the On/Off switch the CM15A will only send Standard X10 Commands and the Lamp will act just like it's being controlled by a non-softstart module.


To control a SoftStart module and get the desired results from your lamp(s) do not touch the On/Off switch! Instead  simply move the dimmer slider up from zero to the desired brightness. As you do, the On/Off switch will turn on  automatically and the lamps will come on to the brightness level that you have set. If you now look at the History window you will see that this action resulted in an Extended Command being sent.


Do the same thing when setting up a timer. First set up your timer criteria and then move the brightness slider to the desired brightness level.


I have set up my system this way and all of my SoftStart modules come on and smoothly brighten only to the brightness level that I want -and they do so reliably.


Not surprisingly my WM100 doesn't show lamps that have been "SoftStarted" as being on since it cannot "read" Extended Commands.


Sadly, it appears that SoftStart from X10 remotes was never implemented.
  Say, I wonder if I could build a macro on a different housecode and use a remote on that housecode to set the brightness level only (no On/Off function) on a SoftStart module in my primary housecode? I'll have to give that a try!

[brobin]

That should work. I have two Housecodes dedicated to triggers. Alexa turns them on and off and my Stargate responds with the appropriate activities.

[Brian H]

Glad you have it working for your needs.

[walking catfish]

Say, I wonder if I could build a macro on a different housecode and use a remote on that housecode to set the brightness level only (no On/Off function) on a SoftStart module in my primary housecode? I'll have to give that a try!

That should work. I have two Housecodes dedicated to triggers. Alexa turns them on and off and my Stargate responds with the appropriate activities.

It sure does! I created 4 macros today to allow RF control of my softstart modules from a couple of different housecode triggers. These macros allow my RF remotes and my WM100 to use the CM15A as a proxy to generate extended PLC commands -and the WM100 can now show the current state of those trigger housecodes. Next up: purchasing a BroadLink RM4 Pro for Alexa skill

[brobin]

Just teach the same trigger codes to the RM4 Pro and that's it.