Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[paulbid]

I just received the AHP Pro package with the USB CM15A controller. I have set it up with two timers to run lights that come on at dusk and off at 10PM. All has been working well, until I disconnected the CM15A from the PC. Now my timers don't appear to be working (at least they are not turning on the lights). I can use a remote controller to activate the lights, so I know the CM15A can talk to the lamp modules. I have turned  on the "Store in interface" checkbox on the Timer Designer, and I have downloaded the timers/macros into the CM15A.

I should also state I have the SmartHome plug-in phase coupler, which seems to have fixed my problem of not reaching every outlet.

Have I missed something in the process of using the CM15A disconnected? Any suggestions on what to do next? I really need it disconnected because I can't use the remote controller when it is connected to the PC (too far away, I guess).

[Puck]

It sounds like you did everything right.

The only two things I can think of at this time is:

1) Do you have good batteries in the CM15A? (and inserted right... sounds like a dump statement but many problems are caused by the little things)

2) In AHP, did you set your Location / Time Zone correctly before downloading? (Not sure if the timers use PC time when the CM15A is connected.)

[paulbid]

I will check the condition of the batteries - they are not new.

Yes, the time/location was set correctly when I installed AHP.

X10 support wants me to: 1) turn on the "repeat" check box, if that doesn't work 2) Go to File/New and create a new file. They are thinking something is corrupted.

[paulbid]

Assuming I cannot get this working unless it is attached to the PC, could I use a TM751 to fix my problem? The problem I have is that I want to operate some lights from the 1st floor of my house, but my remote controller can't seem to reach the CM15A on the 2nd floor. This is why I disconnected it. I moved it to the 1st floor, and now the remote controller can send commands to the CM15A OK, but the timers don't work. I was looking at what the TM751 does, and I'm thinking that perhaps I could just buy one of those, and plug it into an outlet on the 1st floor and use it to send commands to the CM15A.

[Puck]

I will check the condition of the batteries - they are not new.

If you end up unplugging the CM15A while checking the batteries (ie removing the batteries), you will have to re-download from AHP to reset the correct time again.

X10 support wants me to: 1) turn on the "repeat" check box, if that doesn't work 2) Go to File/New and create a new file. They are thinking something is corrupted.

I'm not sure what the "repeat" functions does, so no comment on that. 

...could I use a TM751 to fix my problem?

Yes. But if you do, make sure your CM15A is NOT Transceiving the same house code as the TM751.
If you go this route, you might want to get the more polite RR501 version.

Two things to keep in mind when getting them to work together:
1) The TM751 can send commands received to the CM15A only via the power lines.
2) The CM15A can only send commands to the TM751 via RF.

[Charles Sullivan]

Assuming I cannot get this working unless it is attached to the PC, could I use a TM751 to fix my problem? The problem I have is that I want to operate some lights from the 1st floor of my house, but my remote controller can't seem to reach the CM15A on the 2nd floor. This is why I disconnected it. I moved it to the 1st floor, and now the remote controller can send commands to the CM15A OK, but the timers don't work. I was looking at what the TM751 does, and I'm thinking that perhaps I could just buy one of those, and plug it into an outlet on the 1st floor and use it to send commands to the CM15A.

There's no reason timers shouldn't work when the CM15A is disconnected from the PC (unless you have a defective unit)..  You'll open up another can of worms by adding a TM751.
Follow through on what's been suggested and let us know what happens, i.e.,
  1. Install known good batteries.
  2. Double check that your location and time zone are correct in Tools > Hardware configuration.
  3. Now that you're a little bit more familiar with AHP, start with a New Room and reprogram your timers and macros.  Go slowly and try not to make any mistakes that require correction.  Double check the "Download to Interface" button is seleted.  Don't forget  Tools > Download timers and macros to interface
 

[delibaker]

I had a similar problem when I purchased AHP when first released.  After @ 4 months timers and macros wouldn't function when the PC was turned off, but ran fine when the PC was on.  Turned out the CM15a went bad.  I got a RMA and I got X10 to cross ship a new unit and it's been fine since.  Do your timers work when the USB cable is plugged in and the PC is off? while the PC is on?  Do the timer events show in the Activity Log when the CM15a is connected to the PC?

[paulbid]

I have my fingers crossed, but it appears to be working now. I checked the batteries, and one was weak, so I replaced it. I also started over with my configuration. I cleared memory in the interface, did a File/New in AHP to created one timer, tested it thoroughly, then added the 2nd. Everything looks good so far. However, because I'm using dusk to start the timer, I won't know until tonight through a full cycle if it works. But the timers did shutoff last night properly.

I'm suspecting it was a corrupted config. in the CM15A, but who knows?

Thanks for your help.

[nklght]

It sounds like you did everything right and found the issue.  I had an issue with the dusk and dawn features this summer,  I had a couple of timers set up one was to turn the lights on 30 minutes before dawn and to turn them off at 6:30 am, another was to turn them on 30 minutes before dusk and then turn them off at 6:00 pm.  The only night this set up worked was on Wednesday's when I had a special setup turning the lights on 30 minutes before dusk and off at 11:00 pm.  I finally realized that the problem was that as the seasons change, the dawn and dusk times also change, so the problems I had were caused by an off command being sent before the on command.  To fix the problem, I had to bypass the dusk and dawn options, and assign actual times to the timers included with AHP Pro.  I believe the Smart Macro addition would fix this problem. 

[whsbuss]

I just received the AHP Pro package with the USB CM15A controller. I have set it up with two timers to run lights that come on at dusk and off at 10PM. All has been working well, until I disconnected the CM15A from the PC. Now my timers don't appear to be working (at least they are not turning on the lights). I can use a remote controller to activate the lights, so I know the CM15A can talk to the lamp modules. I have turned  on the "Store in interface" checkbox on the Timer Designer, and I have downloaded the timers/macros into the CM15A.

I should also state I have the SmartHome plug-in phase coupler, which seems to have fixed my problem of not reaching every outlet.

Have I missed something in the process of using the CM15A disconnected? Any suggestions on what to do next? I really need it disconnected because I can't use the remote controller when it is connected to the PC (too far away, I guess).

Which Smarthome phase coupler are you using?

[Dan Lawrence]

Just an aside to this thread, Saturday morning, the power supply in my PC died. At 8:15 AM, when I went to turn in back on, zilch.  I was able to get a repalcement power supply from my local electronics store and install it. While the box was open and the PC apart and all the cables disconected, the CM15A was not connected to the PC. At 10:30 AM it turned on the living room lights, the kitchen lights and all the inside Christmas decorations and the tree from the timers thay were uploaded to it.

By 11:15 AM the PC was up and running. Upon opening Active Home Pro, I noticed that it had not updated the module status for all the lamp modules, so I used achmd.exe from the Command Prompt to tell it to turn all those lamp modules to properly show their status in AHP.

[David Mark]

The repeat option on timers sends the command multiple times.  It can be useful if you have modules that respond sporadically.  It is just a band aid until you track down the offending signal sucker.  By the same token, you can send an RF command to a different (usually better) transceiver to reach weak spots.