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[jgenter]

Hello all, I’m a newbie here and am playing around with AHP. I have a CM15A and AHP 3.271
I wrote a simple macro to turn on the carport lights (A1 socket rockets)  for 5 minutes when a probe type vehicle detector on the driveway is triggered. This signal gets to X10 via a PSC01 powerflash interface as B2.  I’ve chosen to store the macro in the CM15A. Here’s what I have:

Trigger conditions B2 on and
It’s after dusk and
It’s before dawn
End trigger conditions
Turn carport lights on
Wait 5:00 minutes
Turn carport lights off

The problem is, it works when I trigger it clicking on “run macro” in AHP, but not when B2 is on either from the powerflash or from within AHP by clicking on the B2 module. The powerflash signal is approx. 1 second long.
What am I missing?
Thanks in advance for any help!
Jack

[Dan Lawrence]

It may be 3.271.   It's It's another in X10's sorry history.   Same with 3.236.   Both are known buggy versions.

If you have no plug-ins, try this:  Go to http://software.x10.com/pub/applications/activehome/ and look for ahp_updt_204.exe.  Save that and apply it.  When it is finished, open AHP and use the flashing Update Available in the right side to update AHP to 3.228.   That is the last good version of AHP.

[jgenter]

Dan, thanks for the response.   I forgot to mention that I do have the MyHouseOnline and SmartMacros plug-ins installed. Will the software change you indicated still work?

[dbemowsk]

The software plug-ins will still work.  One thing you might want to try also is plugging in a lamp or appliance module set to B2 to get a visual of weather or not the powerflash is triggering or not.  You can also press F2 in AHP to see the activity log and look for the B2 trigger in there.  If you plug in the lamp module near where your powerflash module is and it triggers, but you don't see it in the activity log, it may be a case of differing electrical phases or the signal getting to weak before getting to your CM15A.

Regardless, I would still backtrack your software to 3.228 though.

[jgenter]

Thanks, Dan, I'll try the 204 update.

[jgenter]

Okay, I’m now running 2.28. I’ve set up a mock-up of the hardware using a spare powerflash and an AM 466 as the output. I’m using a jumper wire to trigger the powerflash and am indeed getting a trigger signal into the system. All of the units are powered from the same outlet.
Still getting the same thing… can trigger the macro from AHP on the macro itself and it executes perfectly. When I trigger it from the powerflash, the macro flashes briefly but does not turn on the output.

[-Bill- (of wgjohns.com)]

Something most people haven't stumbled over yet is that when you click a macro in AHP, it generally ignores all of the "conditions" and runs even if the "conditions" aren't met.   

Also, if you create a macro with a trigger of say "A1 On" and later change the condition to say "B1 On", the modified macro will blink in AHP as if it was triggered when it sees "B1 On", but won't actually execute.  Something about changing the macro trigger confuses AHP.  The solution is to recreate the macro from scratch starting with the correct trigger in the first place.

Maybe that will help.  Maybe not.

 

[Knightrider]

somewhere or other I posted about the dusk/dawn condition.  Maybe someone else did.

I set a phantom module on an unused HC/UC which has a timer attached from dusk to dawn.  I also have a macro on said HC/UC which trips flag 12, or clears it according to it's on/off state.

The flag is then used as my conditional.

[jgenter]

Okay… Here’s the latest info:
Per Bill, I deleted and recreated the macro (twice) and the results are the same as before.
I checked and indeed the macro runs regardless of conditions when triggered manually.
I then removed the dusk to dawn conditions completely and there is no change, i.e. the macro will not execute when triggered by the powerflash input, however the macro flashes briefly when this trigger is applied.  I’m stumped.
 

[Puck]

Here is a long shot, but I have seen some AHP macros not execute unless the House Code they are on is not set to transceive. I think I seen this more with macros stored on the PC, but if you don't have House Code 'B' set to transceive, it may be worth a try.

[jgenter]

Puck, House Code B is set to transceiver…But here’s the thing… I just set the macro to “Run From PC” rather than “Store in Interface” and it works like it is supposed to!
What can I infer from this?
 

[Dan Lawrence]

Leave it alone right now.   It works running from the PC.  Can you supply a printout of the macro so we can see what's going on?

[jgenter]

Okay here’s the latest. I did not realize I needed to download the macros and timers to the interface.
Now that I have done that, the macro is working except that it ignores the dusk to dawn conditions. I have just figured out how to use flags and have configured a “dark flag” to act as a condition for the macro to run. As of now it seems to working.
This forum is great!
Thanks for all the help!
 

[-Bill- (of wgjohns.com)]

Cool! 

Glad to hear you got it working!