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[RebHawk]

Hi all
I have recently installed 10 DS10A's in OnAlert/AHP.  However, only two of the sensors show the battery status icon on their "module" in AHP.  All of the sensors seem to be working just fine.  Is this icon just a low battery warning that shows up when OnAlert/AHP thinks the batteries in that sensor are low?

Thanks,
Cheers,
--Lee

[Puck]

I have recently installed 10 DS10A's in OnAlert/AHP.  However, only two of the sensors show the battery status icon on their "module" in AHP.  All of the sensors seem to be working just fine.  Is this icon just a low battery warning that shows up when OnAlert/AHP thinks the batteries in that sensor are low?

I haven't played with this enough to fully understand how it works, but it appears to me that when AHP/OnAlert receives the regular hourly check in signal from the DS10A, the light on the ICON turns green; when it misses the check in signal then the ICON light turns orange (I can only assume it has to miss the check in signal for 4 hours like the DS7000).

Are you saying that 8 of your installed sensors show no ICON light for the battery status?

[jtykal]

I haven't seen any type of battery status for the DS10A in AHP. I see a green light indicating (along with animated "open" contacts) that the switch is open, but that light is OFF otherwise. I added an extra test switch to my system and gave it time to "check in" a couple of times. I have removed the batteries, and now I'll wait at least 4 hours and then see if there is any indication in AHP that this module hasn't checked in...

[RebHawk]

Puck:
Exactly, no icon at all on some of my sensors.  For example, at the moment 3 of DS10As show no icon, while 6 of them show a battery-shaped icon with a lightning bolt, where the top ~2/3 of the "battery" is yellow, and the bottom ~1/3 is grey.   However, all these door sensors seem to work reliably, and trigger the macros they are programmed to trigger.  I didn't set up any of these as being "installed in a security console".

Cheers,
--Lee

[jtykal]

Strange... I don't see a battery icon on any of my DS10A sensors...

[Puck]

Exactly, no icon at all on some of my sensors.  For example, at the moment 3 of DS10As show no icon, while 6 of them show a battery-shaped icon with a lightning bolt, where the top ~2/3 of the "battery" is yellow, and the bottom ~1/3 is grey.

I haven't used OnAlert since I got my V572RF32, so it's been awhile since I seen what was on the icon. Now that you mention the battery with the lightning bolt, that does ring a bell. I was sure there is a green light on the icon when all is well... I will install one of my DS10A's in OnAlert this evening to see if I am getting the same as you.

I didn't set up any of these as being "installed in a security console".

I wonder if this is what displays the green light? I know all mine were set to "installed in a security console". jtykal stated that he sees the green light, so I wonder if he has "installed in a security console" set. I am looking forward to seeing how his test goes.

[RebHawk]

I have a suspicion that mine show the "yellow" battery icon because I use NiMH batteries in them, instead of alkalines.  This only gives 2.4 volts instead of 3.  However, they are still all running fine after a few months, so I think the trade-off of having to recharge is worth it (in other words, I haven't had to change batteries/recharge batteries yet).  If I get a year out of a charge, I'll be happy.  On the other hand, if they need recharging next month, I'll probably switch to alkalines.  Luckily, unlike the MS14As, the DS10As seem to remember their address on power failure for a good while.  I had to remove the batteries from one of mine for at least 30 minutes (perhaps longer, I forget) before AHP finally quit recognizing that particular DS10A as already being assigned.

I'll swap out NiMH for alkalines on one of mine tonight to see what effect that has on the iconage

Cheers,
--Lee

[jtykal]

I set up my test module so that it is NOT installed in a security console. However it still looks the same as my other DS10A modules (except the little console icon in the upper-right corner is missing).  No battery icon on any of them.  I get the green light ONLY when the contacts are open, so it does not appear to be an "I'm alive" indication -- rather just an indication that the door/window is open.

The battery has been pulled from my test module for about 3 hours now -- still no indication in AHP that the switch has not checked in -- will wait a couple more hours before drawing any conclusions...

Lee, interesting observation about the NiMH batteries. I'm curious to see if your "iconage" changes with alkalines.

[jtykal]

Well, after 7 hours w/o batteries in the DS10A, I can confidently declare that AHP does NOT provide any indication that a module has stopped sending it's hourly heartbeat.  It would be nice if the green status indicator was used to indicate receipt of the heartbeat, but alas, it only lights up to indicate an open door/window (as if the animated magnets moving apart weren't enough of an indication...  )  I've never seen this indicator display anything color other than gray and green, and I don't think it is used to represent anything more than then open/closed status of the sensor.  Unless you also have your sensors registered with a security console (which does indicate a missing heartbeat), you'd better remember to test them every now and then!

[Puck]

jtykal: Thanks for doing the "dead battery" test. Even though it makes you wonder how (if) X10 determines the battery state when it can't recognize dead ones, you provided some helpful information.

Hopefully RebHawk can provide some information about a certain voltage level (window) that produces the battery icon. The only information I can find on the signals produced by the DS10A is just the following two:

        NORMAL           0x31 (Contacts closed & hourly check-in)
        ALERT             0x30 (Contacts open)

So I wonder if there really is a signal for low battery. But something does produce that battery icon.

[RebHawk]

Yep, when I got home this evening I swapped the NiMH batts in my screen porch door sensor to Alkalines.  It's been 2 hours, and I still have the same "yellow" battery icon.  Both batteries are new.   No loss of "registration" of this sensor when changing the batts, either, so this supports the theory that, at least for reasonable time periods, AHP will not forget a given sensor.  I'll report back if the icon changes or goes away...

Cheers,
--Lee

[RebHawk]

The only information I can find on the signals produced by the DS10A is just the following two:

        NORMAL           0x31 (Contacts closed & hourly check-in)
        ALERT             0x30 (Contacts open)

So I wonder if there really is a signal for low battery. But something does produce that battery icon.

There is also the following paragraph on the HAKB description of the security wireless protocol:

The newer security transmitters append 9 extra bits that do not vary to
the above 32 bit sequence (a total of 41 bits).  These bits appear to always
be 000000101 (left most is rx first).

[/color]

Perhaps if the units were always tested with good batteries, these 9 extra bits were unvarying, whereas if they had been tested with older batts, the bits perhaps might have changed.  That's only speculation, though.

Cheers,
--Lee

[Puck]

Perhaps if the units were always tested with good batteries, these 9 extra bits were unvarying, whereas if they had been tested with older batts, the bits perhaps might have changed.  That's only speculation, though.

Good point; it would be a new place to put that extra info.

[RebHawk]

Well, it's been about 18 hours, and the battery icon on the unit that I switched over to alkalines is still the same (yellow).  Other than me, Puck, and jtycal, does anyone else see something different?

Regards,
--Lee

[jtykal]

Most of my DS10A sensors are several years old, but I did just get a few new ones that I've been playing with. I don't see any difference in the way they are displayed in AHP, so if the new sensors do send some extra bits, AHP doesn't do anything recognizable with the data -- i.e., no battery icon.  (That, or my new sensors were from old stock...)