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[Noam]

Noam, Still not having much luck. I also tried to create timers for this macro but there is no stop time shown to set however there is a start and stop time shown when I look at creating a timer in the camera or wall switch modules.
Can I ask you to suggest exactly how to set this up? This is what I have so far. F4 is the macro trigger, select the backyard camera A4, then 1 sec delay, then select preset position "Pool", 1 sec delay, snapshot, 1sec delay, snapshot, 1 sec delay, snapshot, 1 sec delay, snapshot, 1 sec delay, RF command A4 off. I want this to run ONLY during the day, say dawn to dusk. How would you or anyone else propose I should modify this set up without flags if possible. Thanks to all for your inputs.

There is no "Stop" time for a macro, because a macro doesn't have an "off" state. A macro is a just a script of commands to run in a specific sequence (the SmartMacros plugin adds conditions, but it still is simply a list of commands to run).
You activate a macro, and it runs until it completes (or until you purge all running macros - which is usually if something locks up). There is nothing to turn off.

[troll334]

Hey Frank,
Geeeez, this should be a no-brainer eh?  I've got macros doing just this very kinda thing; using dawn-dusk window.
So, forget the timer idea. As long as you've got something actually sending an F4 On AND AHP is hearing it, you
shouldn't need (or want) a timer for this application.
1) What's programmed for F4, an EagleEye or something like it?
2) Does this macro work at any time during the day or is it completely dead?
One of my Time-conditional macros:
Trigger Conditions
F7 On and The time is between Dusk and Dawn
End Trigger Conditions
Turn Hall_Entry ON
WAIT for 1 Second
Turn Foyer_Entry ON
WAIT for 1 Second
Turn Front_Porch ON

F7 is an EagleEye in my Foyer area.
This works without fail.
I know I'm restating the obvious but...

[Frank3d]

Noam, Still not having much luck. I also tried to create timers for this macro but there is no stop time shown to set however there is a start and stop time shown when I look at creating a timer in the camera or wall switch modules.
Can I ask you to suggest exactly how to set this up? This is what I have so far. F4 is the macro trigger, select the backyard camera A4, then 1 sec delay, then select preset position "Pool", 1 sec delay, snapshot, 1sec delay, snapshot, 1 sec delay, snapshot, 1 sec delay, snapshot, 1 sec delay, RF command A4 off. I want this to run ONLY during the day, say dawn to dusk. How would you or anyone else propose I should modify this set up without flags if possible. Thanks to all for your inputs.

There is no "Stop" time for a macro, because a macro doesn't have an "off" state. A macro is a just a script of commands to run in a specific sequence (the SmartMacros plugin adds conditions, but it still is simply a list of commands to run).
You activate a macro, and it runs until it completes (or until you purge all running macros - which is usually if something locks up). There is nothing to turn off.

Thanks Noam, There is a He?? of a learning curve with this stuff being as there are no detailed instruction manuals. Do you know any reason why there aren't?

[Frank3d]

Hey Frank,
Geeeez, this should be a no-brainer eh?  I've got macros doing just this very kinda thing; using dawn-dusk window.
So, forget the timer idea. As long as you've got something actually sending an F4 On AND AHP is hearing it, you
shouldn't need (or want) a timer for this application.
1) What's programmed for F4, an EagleEye or something like it?
2) Does this macro work at any time during the day or is it completely dead?
One of my Time-conditional macros:
Trigger Conditions
F7 On and The time is between Dusk and Dawn
End Trigger Conditions
Turn Hall_Entry ON
WAIT for 1 Second
Turn Foyer_Entry ON
WAIT for 1 Second
Turn Front_Porch ON

F7 is an EagleEye in my Foyer area.
This works without fail.
I know I'm restating the obvious but...

Troll334, I have tried this once before but will gladly try it again. If I use between dusk and dawn it works ok after the dusk time but if I use between dawn and dusk after the dawn time of day it does not work. Remember I want this to work only during the day. Ill try it in the morning after the designated dawn time 7:21am and will let you know. Buy the way I'm using an Eagle eye on F4 for the macro trigger and I want the macro to work all day only.

[Frank3d]

Hey Frank,
Geeeez, this should be a no-brainer eh?  I've got macros doing just this very kinda thing; using dawn-dusk window.
So, forget the timer idea. As long as you've got something actually sending an F4 On AND AHP is hearing it, you
shouldn't need (or want) a timer for this application.
1) What's programmed for F4, an EagleEye or something like it?
2) Does this macro work at any time during the day or is it completely dead?
One of my Time-conditional macros:
Trigger Conditions
F7 On and The time is between Dusk and Dawn
End Trigger Conditions
Turn Hall_Entry ON
WAIT for 1 Second
Turn Foyer_Entry ON
WAIT for 1 Second
Turn Front_Porch ON

F7 is an EagleEye in my Foyer area.
This works without fail.
I know I'm restating the obvious but...

Troll334, I have tried this once before but will gladly try it again. If I use between dusk and dawn it works ok after the dusk time but if I use between dawn and dusk after the dawn time of day it does not work. Remember I want this to work only during the day. Ill try it in the morning after the designated dawn time 7:21am and will let you know. Buy the way I'm using an Eagle eye on F4 for the macro trigger and I want the macro to work all day only.

Noam, Well heres another reason why I think its a software related problem. It did not work this morning at 7:30am when set to between dawn and dusk but did last night when set to dusk to dawn.

[Noam]

Noam, Well heres another reason why I think its a software related problem. It did not work this morning at 7:30am when set to between dawn and dusk but did last night when set to dusk to dawn.

I'm really not sure what's going on, then.
You probably need to speak with X10 support, and ask to be escalated to a Tier 2 support person.

[Frank3d]

Noam, Well heres another reason why I think its a software related problem. It did not work this morning at 7:30am when set to between dawn and dusk but did last night when set to dusk to dawn.

I'm really not sure what's going on, then.
You probably need to speak with X10 support, and ask to be escalated to a Tier 2 support person.

Noam, Thanks for trying to help. I havnt had much satisfaction with the X10 support folks I have spoke with in the past and thats why I have resorted to this forum. Arnt there Tier 2 and up X10 support folks watching this forum?

[Noam]

... Arnt there Tier 2 and up X10 support folks watching this forum?

Theoretically, yes.
In practice, however, they have been very busy, and haven't stayed on top of the forums.
You can post something on the X10 facebook page, that usually gets them to call you pretty quickly.

[Frank3d]

Theoretically, yes.
In practice, however, they have been very busy, and haven't stayed on top of the forums.
You can post something on the X10 facebook page, that usually gets them to call you pretty quickly.

Thanks again.

[Noam]

This has been bugging me.
Refresh my memory, please.
Have you gotten macros to work with ANY other conditions (module status, flag status, etc?)
What about day of the week conditions?

When you look in the activity log, you SHOULD see the macro firing, even if it thinks the condition is not met, and doesn't run any of the commands afterward. Do you see that?

Can you post a screen shot of the condition screen for the macro that isn't working?

Where are you located?
What time zone is the PC set to? (humor me and double-check, please)
What "location" is AHP set to?
Do the CM15A clock and the PC clock match? (You can see the CM15A date and time if you go into the "Hardware Configuration" screen.
Do the "Dusk" and "Dawn" times listed on the Hardware Configuration screen match the approximate times for where you live?

I wonder if there is a bug with a specific time zone/location combination. Maybe I can try to replicate the issue.

[Frank3d]

This has been bugging me.
Refresh my memory, please.
Have you gotten macros to work with ANY other conditions (module status, flag status, etc?)
What about day of the week conditions?

When you look in the activity log, you SHOULD see the macro firing, even if it thinks the condition is not met, and doesn't run any of the commands afterward. Do you see that?

Can you post a screen shot of the condition screen for the macro that isn't working?

Where are you located?
What time zone is the PC set to? (humor me and double-check, please)
What "location" is AHP set to?
Do the CM15A clock and the PC clock match? (You can see the CM15A date and time if you go into the "Hardware Configuration" screen.
Do the "Dusk" and "Dawn" times listed on the Hardware Configuration screen match the approximate times for where you live?

I wonder if there is a bug with a specific time zone/location combination. Maybe I can try to replicate the issue.

Noam, Yes it has been bugging me also even worse.
I called X10 support and talked with a Janelle. I asked for a tear 2 level support tech and she said I had to go through her first because there is only ONE tear 2 tech available and he is very busy. So I explained in detail to her the simplest way I could and that is the conditional macro works fine when set up for between Dusk and Dawn but would not when set up for between Dawn and Dusk. First she said she suspected power line noise. Then I told her that the Sentinel and Vanguard cameras use on/off RF commands and do not use PLC on/off commands like the Ninjas do and that I watch the Activity Monitor and see the macro triggered but stops after that. Then she told me to change the house codes. She said I had to do all she asked before she could escalate this problem to a tear 2 tech. So I said OK and hung up.

To answere your questions YES the macro works with any particular days of the week or weeks as the only condition. I have not used flags or module status.

Yes the macro fires but stops at that.
I will send a screen shot of the macro conditions tonight, I'm at work now.
Here's what it says:
F4 is the macro trigger that is sent by an Eagle Eye or for testing I use my Palmpad.
The macro condition is Between Dawn and Dusk,
Select Back Yard Camera A4,
1 sec delay,
Go to Preset Position " Pool",
1 sec delay,
snapshot,
1 sec delay,
snapshot,
1 sec delay,
snapshot,
1 sec delay
RF command A4 off
END

I'm located in Jacksonville, Fl. Eastern Time Zone and yes the PC is set to this.
The location in AHP Hardware config is the same as above.
Yes the CM15A clock and the PC clocks are the same.
Yes the Dawn is 7:21am and the Dusk is 5:30pm. This is accurate to real conditions.

I wonder how many people are using a day time condition (Dawn to Dusk) most people only use night conditions. I plan to use my PR511 to trigger the snapshots during the night.

[Noam]

Well, I did a little experiment at about 10:00 AM, after I sent my earlier post.
I created two macros, "C4 On" for Dawn-to-Dusk (daytime), and "C4 Off" for Dusk-to-Dawn (nighttime).
Firing manually from within AHP ran the command in both cases (C16 on, pause 1 sec, C16 off).
Sending a "C4 On" from the command line (using ahcmd from the SDK) caused the "daytime" macro to fire, and run the commands. Sending the "C4 Off" caused the macro to fire (I saw it in the Activity Monitor), but the commands didn't run (this is a GOOD thing).
Next, I changed the time on the PC to 10:00 PM, and tried again.
Sure enough, the "daytime" macro fired, but didn't execute the commands. The "nighttime" one worked.
I guess they fixed the logic, so that using "dusk-to-dawn" in a condition loops past midnight, and works.

For some reason, your macro logic is working BACKWARD, with time-related conditions.

Are you leaving the CM15A connected to the PC, with the PC running (AHP can be closed, but the PC must be on) when you are testing?

Do you have timers on any modules?
If so, do they fire correctly?

As a test, can you set a timer for Dusk, to set a flag, and another timer for Dawn, to clear that flag (don't use flags 1, 15, or 16)? Do the flags get set correctly at the right times (you can check flag status by pressing "F3" in AHP).
If that works, try setting the flag status as the condition, and see if the macro works the way it is supposed to.

Not that this is a permanent fix, but it would be a valid test, at least.

[Frank3d]

Well, I did a little experiment at about 10:00 AM, after I sent my earlier post.
I created two macros, "C4 On" for Dawn-to-Dusk (daytime), and "C4 Off" for Dusk-to-Dawn (nighttime).
Firing manually from within AHP ran the command in both cases (C16 on, pause 1 sec, C16 off).
Sending a "C4 On" from the command line (using ahcmd from the SDK) caused the "daytime" macro to fire, and run the commands. Sending the "C4 Off" caused the macro to fire (I saw it in the Activity Monitor), but the commands didn't run (this is a GOOD thing).
Next, I changed the time on the PC to 10:00 PM, and tried again.
Sure enough, the "daytime" macro fired, but didn't execute the commands. The "nighttime" one worked.
I guess they fixed the logic, so that using "dusk-to-dawn" in a condition loops past midnight, and works.

For some reason, your macro logic is working BACKWARD, with time-related conditions.

Are you leaving the CM15A connected to the PC, with the PC running (AHP can be closed, but the PC must be on) when you are testing?

Do you have timers on any modules?
If so, do they fire correctly?

As a test, can you set a timer for Dusk, to set a flag, and another timer for Dawn, to clear that flag (don't use flags 1, 15, or 16)? Do the flags get set correctly at the right times (you can check flag status by pressing "F3" in AHP).
If that works, try setting the flag status as the condition, and see if the macro works the way it is supposed to.

Not that this is a permanent fix, but it would be a valid test, at least.

OK here's a screen shot of the timed macros setting and clearing flags. I thought I would test two sets of flags 8 & 9, one for Dusk to Dawn and another for Dawn to Dusk. The F3 html function is cool. I like it. How would I have found that out without you telling me? See what I mean by Why is there no detailed instruction manual for AHP? Let me know ASAP if these macros look ok. Thanks.

1/24/11 Noam, CONFIRMED!.. The flag state does change for both macros at dawn and dusk. Weird... I wonder why AHP changes the flag status but not the dawn dusk macro conditions. Buy the way I upgraded to V3.305 before these tests just so there was no doubt about AHP not being the latest versions.

[Noam]

OK here's a screen shot of the timed macros setting and clearing flags. I thought I would test two sets of flags 8 & 9, one for Dusk to Dawn and another for Dawn to Dusk. The F3 html function is cool. I like it. How would I have found that out without you telling me? See what I mean by Why is there no detailed instruction manual for AHP? Let me know ASAP if these macros look ok. Thanks.

1/24/11 Noam, CONFIRMED!.. The flag state does change for both macros at dawn and dusk. Weird... I wonder why AHP changes the flag status but not the dawn dusk macro conditions. Buy the way I upgraded to V3.305 before these tests just so there was no doubt about AHP not being the latest versions.

For some reason, the images didn't come through properly on my screen. When  tried to blow them up, they were too blurry to read.
I'm glad that the macros you are setting with the flags are working.
Next, you can try to use the flag status instead of your day/night condition, and see if the macros work that way.

[JMac]

For what it's worth - I use version 3.228 and I had the same problem with "dawn-dusk", and ended up with a flag setting macro as you did.  I use flag 15 with no problem.