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[swmarquardt]

Running AHP ver. 3.206 on WinXP SP2 fully patched. 

There are some inconsistencies in the user interface that are annoying -

1.  In the Macro Designer - Both the Macro Reside In drop down box and the one at the top of the column on the right of the display do not respond to standard mouse operations.  For example, you can not LEFT-CLICK and drag the scroll bar to move about in the list and you can not click in the option space and use the mouse wheal to scroll up and down.  The only way to move through the options is to click on the up and down arrows in the scroll bar.  In fact, I haven't found an instance where the mouse wheel works on any window.  The LEFT-CLICK and drag on the scroll bar appears to work consistently at at the sub-window level, but not at the field level. 

2.  There appears to be no way to sort rooms, macros or timers.  The display order is usuall (but not always) the order of creations.  It would be beneficial if they were at least sorted alphabetically, or better yet if the could be dragged into an order and that order would be remembered from session to session.

3.  My ON timers (all three instances) fail to activate my ON macros, but if the ON macro is activated from the computer in AHP, the controller will run the corresponding OFF macro.  Originally I had one timeer with both an ON and an OFF event.  I split the Timers into an ON only and and OFF only, but that made no difference.  The ON ones do not fire from the controller, but the OFF ones do. 

4.  Frequently, 40% of the time, when I run a macro from the AHP interface on the computer, it hags the AHP application and I have to kill the "Not Responding"" task using Task Manager. 

5.  Is there a way to add other 3rd party modules for the module selection lists?

6.  I have two identical macros - one to turn a 5 light modules ON and another to turn the same five modules OFF.  Each of the 5 modules is separated by a delay of seconds to a few mintues to simulate the time it would take to walk around the house and trun the lights ON/OFF manually.  The macros are triggered by the ON and OFF activity of the same phantom module.  Triggering the phantom module ON runs the macro and turns on all of the lights on with the appropriate delays EXCEPT for the fifth module in the macro.  The fifth module is located in the same room with the controller and it can be turned ON and OFF reliably with the modlue control in the room presentation.  Triggering the phantom module OFF executes the identical OFF macor with the same delays and IT DOES turn off the fifth module. 

[Boiler]

swmarquardt,

Welcome to the forum.  Please realize that the members of this forum are not associated with X10.  We can help with specific problems and workarounds, but we will not be able to respond to requests for software or hardware "design changes".

First and foremost, I noticed that you are running AHP 3.206.  Are you using OnAlert or IWitness?  I believe this is what drives the AHP revision to 3.206 (forum members, help me out here).  I am running version 3.204 (not using either of the above plug-ins).  I can't help much with plug-ins that I don't have installed.

To make a long explanation short - I you have no need for OnAlert or IWitness, re-install AHP without these options.  I believe you'll wind up with AHP version 3.204 and a far simpler installation.

In regard to your list of complaints:

1.  In the Macro Designer - Both the Macro Reside In drop down box and the one at the top of the column on the right of the display do not respond to standard mouse operations.  For example, you can not LEFT-CLICK and drag the scroll bar to move about in the list and you can not click in the option space and use the mouse wheal to scroll up and down.  The only way to move through the options is to click on the up and down arrows in the scroll bar.  In fact, I haven't found an instance where the mouse wheel works on any window.  The LEFT-CLICK and drag on the scroll bar appears to work consistently at at the sub-window level, but not at the field level. 

2.  There appears to be no way to sort rooms, macros or timers.  The display order is usuall (but not always) the order of creations.  It would be beneficial if they were at least sorted alphabetically, or better yet if the could be dragged into an order and that order would be remembered from session to session.

Noted, agreed, not likely to change.  We've learned to deal with it.

3.  My ON timers (all three instances) fail to activate my ON macros, but if the ON macro is activated from the computer in AHP, the controller will run the corresponding OFF macro.  Originally I had one timeer with both an ON and an OFF event.  I split the Timers into an ON only and and OFF only, but that made no difference.  The ON ones do not fire from the controller, but the OFF ones do. 

4.  Frequently, 40% of the time, when I run a macro from the AHP interface on the computer, it hags the AHP application and I have to kill the "Not Responding"" task using Task Manager. 

• Make sure that your timers and macros are stored in the CM15a interface.  I haven't had much luck with running them from the PC.
• Does the ON command completely fail to execute?  Please post what Activity Monitor displays during this time
• Which task are you Killing in activity monitor (AHP or X10nets)?  Without the X10nets task running you will not be able to communicate/monitor status of the CM15a.
  [li]If tasks are hanging on your PC, restart your PC.  If this continues, you may want to try reverting to AHP version 3.204 (per the above) to "simplify" your installation.
• If timed events don't execute (no display in activity monitor) reset the CM15a - unplug, remove the batteries (wait xx), then reinstall.

We have other active threads looking specifically at timed on events -
Timed on events thread: Head Scratcher

5.  Is there a way to add other 3rd party modules for the module selection lists?

Simply put, NO.  You can normally use different combinations of the existing modules.  An alternative is to use a macro and "advanced commands" to tailor your commands to the device.

6.  I have two identical macros - one to turn a 5 light modules ON and another to turn the same five modules OFF.  Each of the 5 modules is separated by a delay of seconds to a few mintues to simulate the time it would take to walk around the house and trun the lights ON/OFF manually.  The macros are triggered by the ON and OFF activity of the same phantom module.  Triggering the phantom module ON runs the macro and turns on all of the lights on with the appropriate delays EXCEPT for the fifth module in the macro.  The fifth module is located in the same room with the controller and it can be turned ON and OFF reliably with the modlue control in the room presentation.  Triggering the phantom module OFF executes the identical OFF macor with the same delays and IT DOES turn off the fifth module. 

I don't understand enough about your configuration yet to reply to this.  Have a look at the link above and ask your self the same questions presented there.  In general, chaining multiple on commands (5 modules) invites problems.  Could you reconfigure your system and perform a "all lights on command"?  This would result in a single command on the powerline VS the 5 chained commands that you are now using.

Boiler

[Puck]

First and foremost, I noticed that you are running AHP 3.206.  Are you using OnAlert or IWitness?  I believe this is what drives the AHP revision to 3.206 (forum members, help me out here).

OnAlert is the plug-in behind version 3.206

[Boiler]

Puck,
Thanks for the clarification. 

Have you noticed any "complications" with timed events or macro's that arise from installing OnAlert?  From what I've read the OnAlert commands must be executed from the PC.

[Puck]

Have you noticed any "complications" with timed events or macro's that arise from installing OnAlert?  From what I've read the OnAlert commands must be executed from the PC.

You are correct... all OnAlert macros must be run on the PC.

I have not seen any directly linked problems with timed events or macros with OnAlert installed and active.

However, what I do notice with my DS10A sensors, is that when they do their normal RF hourly check-in, if AHP has just initiated a macro then the DS10A's RF signal will cause the macro to either be aborted or the addressing & commands get messed thus causing the macro to not function properly. This problem can be seen in the activity monitor.

Either the CM15A or AHP itself cannot handle macros properly when there are multiple RF triggers within seconds of each other. I notice this problem getting worse with the more DS10A's I put in use around the house (currently 19).