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[axgupta1]

X10 gurus,
This issue has bothered me for a long time since I could never get this to work with CM11 and now with CM15. I must be doing something wrong so please help.

I have x10 modules on house codes A, G, C and D. Sometimes, lights are left on by accident, like someone goes to the basement, forgets to tun off the light. Since all lights are controlled by x10, I wrote a macro which has "All units off" for each of the house codes A, G, C and D. The macro is assigned to a timer which runs at 2:00 am every morning.

However, I find that only the modules on house code G are turned off at 2:00 am. The modules on house codes A, C and D are unaffected. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks...
Arun

[JMac]

I think that only the monitored house code will respond to "All Units Off", but I'm not sure.  Is House Code "G" your monitored House Code ?  Maybe some one else knows for sure.  If not maybe staggered times for the macros would work.

[axgupta1]

Yes, the monitored house code is G. I have tried staggered time for the macros but no effect. I also suspected that it might have something to do with monitored house code but looking for a confirmation.

Thanks...
Arun

[HA Dave]

.......... I wrote a macro which has "All units off" for each of the house codes A, G, C and D. The macro is assigned to a timer which runs at 2:00 am every morning.

I am guessing here.... but my guess is it's your macro. An all units off... can't serve as a trigger (that could conflict with the DS7000). So if your settings have that as a step or process in the order of the macro... it may not be recognized. Try writting a separate macro for each House code (letter code).

[axgupta1]

An all units off... can't serve as a trigger (that could conflict with the DS7000)

I am sorry but I could not understand what you said. The macro is:

Turn all units off for house code A
wait 1 minute
Turn all units off for house code C
wait 1 minute
Turn all units off for house code G
wait 2 minutes
Turn all units off for house code D
wait 5 minutes
Turn all units off

My observation is that when macro runs, any modules on house codes A, C and D do not turn off. All modules on house code G turn off. If I switch on any light on house code G during the 7 minutes wait, it is turned off by the last command. However, none of the lights on house codes A, C and D are effected. As you can see in the order of calling, G is called in the middle. Why modules on G obey the command but rest ignore them? The last command of Turn all unit off should turn off every module on any house code. Even this works only with G modules. I am totally confused here.

Thanks...
Arun

[Charles Sullivan]

What happens if you set the monitored house code to A, C, or D ?

[Boiler]

My observation is that when macro runs, any modules on house codes A, C and D do not turn off. All modules on house code G turn off. If I switch on any light on house code G during the 7 minutes wait, it is turned off by the last command. However, none of the lights on house codes A, C and D are effected. As you can see in the order of calling, G is called in the middle. Why modules on G obey the command but rest ignore them? The last command of Turn all unit off should turn off every module on any house code. Even this works only with G modules. I am totally confused here.

Arun,

Are you running the macro from the interface or the PC?

What version of AHP are you running?

The following was generated running from the CM15a interface with AHP version 3.228:

Macro L11
House code A All Units OFF
Delay 5 Sec
House code B All Units OFF
Delay 5 Sec
House code C All Units OFF
Delay 5 Sec
House code D All Units OFF
Delay 5 Sec
All Modules All Units Off

The activity monitor output is shown below -


Event       Date/Time               Action         Data
0     11/30/2008 8:55:44 AM       Macro    A All Units Off
1     11/30/2008 8:55:49 AM       Macro    B All Units Off
2     11/30/2008 8:55:54 AM       Macro    C All Units Off
3     11/30/2008 8:55:59 AM       Macro    D All Units Off
4     11/30/2008 8:56:04 AM       Macro    A All Units Off  { All Modules Off Command Start}
5     11/30/2008 8:56:04 AM       Macro    A All Units Off
6     11/30/2008 8:56:05 AM       Macro    A All Units Off
7     11/30/2008 8:56:05 AM       Macro    A All Units Off
8     11/30/2008 8:56:06 AM       Macro    A All Units Off
9     11/30/2008 8:56:06 AM       Macro    A All Units Off
10    11/30/2008 8:56:07 AM       Macro    D All Units Off
11    11/30/2008 8:56:07 AM       Macro    F All Units Off
12    11/30/2008 8:56:07 AM      Macro    F All Units Off
13    11/30/2008 8:56:08 AM       Macro    G All Units Off
14    11/30/2008 8:56:08 AM       Macro    G All Units Off
15    11/30/2008 8:56:09 AM       Macro    G All Units Off
16    11/30/2008 8:56:09 AM       Macro    L All Units Off
17    11/30/2008 8:56:10 AM       Macro    P All Units Off

From the above, the "All Modules - All units Off" command is a bit weird.  AHP Outputs a "all units off" command once for every unit on the houscode (6 times for my house code A).  None the less, this should work.

Check to see if activity monitor shows the off commands.  If the CM15a is putting the information on the powerline, your modules should respond (unless you have a noise/phase issue).

[Brian H]

All Units Off are House Code related.
So you would have to send an A All Units Off; C All Units Off; D All Units Off and G All Units Off.

[axgupta1]

While I was testing with different house codes etc., I noticed that one RR501 was faulty. It was recieving rf for only the 1st module code and ignoring all others. After I replaced this RR501 with TM751 (this was the only I had on hand), the problem disappeared. The activity monitor was showing all units off being sent out correctly before and after replacement. After replacement, all modules started obeying the "all units off" command.

The only exception is the 1st module code on TM751. The built-in appliance module ignores the "all units off". This is not a problem as I can easily add a dedicated "D1 off" step to the macro.

Thanks for all the helpful ideas. These do help me gain more insight into working of x10 and solve problems. I still have a lot to learn from all the contributors in this forum.

Thanks...
Arun

[JeffVolp]

While I was testing with different house codes etc., I noticed that one RR501 was faulty. It was recieving rf for only the 1st module code and ignoring all others. After I replaced this RR501 with TM751 (this was the only I had on hand), the problem disappeared. The activity monitor was showing all units off being sent out correctly before and after replacement. After replacement, all modules started obeying the "all units off" command.

This may not be due to a faulty RR501.  That unit checks for powerline activity before transmitting.  If there is a lot of noise on the powerline (or perhaps repeating signals ping-ponging around), then the RR501 will not transmit.  The TM751 is a "dumb" transceiver, and will relay RF commands to the powerline regardless of any powerline activity at that time.

Jeff

[HA Dave]

This may not be due to a faulty RR501.  That unit checks for powerline activity before transmitting.  If there is a lot of noise on the powerline (or perhaps repeating signals ping-ponging around), then the RR501 will not transmit.  The TM751 is a "dumb" transceiver, and will relay RF commands to the powerline regardless of any powerline activity at that time.

Your so right.... PLUS both the  RR501 and TM751 only handle one code each.... does that mean axgupta1 has a transceiver for each code (A, G, C and D)? AND a CM15A?

[axgupta1]

Yes, I have a RR501 for house code A, one TM751 for house code D, one RR501 for house code G and CM15 for house code C. These transceivers are necessary because of the limited range of CM15. The KR-22 remote works within 2 in (yes, 2 inches) of CM15. With RR501, the KR-22 works at 6 ft without a problem. I am still unsure how replacing the faulty RR501 fixed the issue or why it caused the issue, but that was the only thing I could find wrong.

Thanks...
Arun

[Brian H]

I had a power supply go bad in a RR501 and it did all kinds of strange things. My Smarthome TesterLinc was showing things like bad start codes and bad blocks.
I fixed mine by replacing some overheated components.

[HA Dave]

Yes, I have a RR501 for house code A, one TM751 for house code D, one RR501 for house code G and CM15 for house code C. These transceivers are necessary because of the limited range of CM15.

Yeah... I also own the CM15A. I found the range in my home so limited that the CM15A was nearly useless. But I really needed AHP so I could run BVC. So I performed a fast and dirty antenna mod I read about here at the forum.

The CM15A has two antennas. The one you can see is the receiving antenna... and that is the antenna often modified. The modification of that antenna could extend your range [whereas you'd not need to have the additional transceivers]. There are several posts about the "CM15A antenna modifications" (here's mine). The [2nd] internal antenna is the sending antenna... and where its range also seems a bit limited to me... it is not so much as the receiving problem. Very few devices actually use the RF signal... beside the transceivers... the ninjas, the VCR commander, and the RF repeater are the only devices that come to mind.

But if your happy with the additional transceivers... and your not having a reliability issue or signal collision problems.... what the heck, why change.

[axgupta1]

But if your happy with the additional transceivers... and your not having a reliability issue or signal collision problems.... what the heck, why change.

Very true.