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[lviper]

So I made my first attempt at a macro. I thought maybe I could turn on a light when the door sensor was triggered. So I setup the macro to listen for the front door sensor to be triggered. Set the conditions if it's dark and sunday through saturday (since I need 2 conditions), turn on I1 with is the security light on my ds7000 which is also I1.

The light does not turn on. However, in AHP it shows the light on and the log shows the macro ran and I see the transmit I1 On in the log.

So I thought about the PLC not reaching the I1 light, which is a wall switch, but I can control the light from AHP manually as well as using a palm pad set to HC I.

Not sure what's wrong. When I manually control the I1 light from AHP, I see the same transmit codes being sent in the logs as I do when the macro runs. If I can turn the light on and off through AHP, shouldn't the macro also do the same?

[troll334]

hmmm,
get rid of the conditions and retry the trigger (via sensor).
make certain the signal from the sensor is reliably making it to the CM15.
If that works, add a basic condition, e.g., If time is between X and Y.
Recheck...

[lviper]

hmmm,
get rid of the conditions and retry the trigger (via sensor).
make certain the signal from the sensor is reliably making it to the CM15.
If that works, add a basic condition, e.g., If time is between X and Y.
Recheck...

Thanks, I will try that when I get home tonight.

[Noam]

... and sunday through saturday (since I need 2 conditions)...

I'm not sure what you mean by this.
If you are referring to the note on the "Day/night" condition that says "requires two conditions," that refers to the day/night condition using up two of the three slots available for conditions in each macro (because of the way AHP calculates day/night).
I would suggest the following:
1. Remove the "sunday through saturday" condition, since you shouldn't need to have it in there.
2. Try adding a delay (even 0 seconds) as the first step of the macro.
3. Trigger the macro from within AHP (by clicking on it). That should ignore the conditions, and run the commands no matter what.

[thejackal]

I actually just did this same macro this morning for a closet light in our family room

Try and set the macro to send an RF signal instead of a regular ON signal. I use a couple TM751A transceivers in my setup and have to use RF signals in some rooms instead of just PLC.
 
what kind of switch is it also? if it's dimmable try chaning it to a nondimming switch in AHP. Might also want to check and see if you have send ON instead of Bright 100%.

just my  $0.02 

[lviper]

Ok, I set the macro without any conditions and opened the front door. The light turned on. So I set the condition to if it is nighttime then turn the light on. That did not work. So I changed the condition to between times and set it from dusk to dawn and that worked.

So I added a delay of a few minutes to turn it back off. That leads me to a question. I assume if the light is on and the front door is opend, the macro will still send the on command. So I assume it will also turn it off in a few minutes. So I guess I need to figure out how to tell the macro to only run if the light is off. Problem is the monitored house code is F and the front room light is tied to the security console on I, so I can't select the module state for the lights on hc I.

[troll334]

I neglected to ask you what kind of sensor you're using...
If it's something like an EagleEye, then it's got the dusk/dawn sensor. Perhaps the light going on is enough
to trigger that. If so, then the sensor would transmit an N+1 signal, e.g., F2. @$$uming that's the case, you could
create a macro to trigger on 'F2 Off' (the light at I1 turned on) and set a flag in the macro.
Then you would simply include the flag test in your primary macro.  Might be a bit clugy but...
Now, if you're using a mag security door switch, all bets are off....well, almost. You could still place an EagleEye
near the light and use it's dusk/dawn feature to detect whether the light is on/off.

[lviper]

Sorry, guess I should have mentioned what I was using. It's the door/window sensor.

After I got it working with the between times condition I came to the conclusion that the nighttime condition must be for use with something like the eagle eye motion sensor.

On another thought. I have the front room lights on hc I to match the security console. Since I can turn a light on with a door sensor being triggered, can't I move the light to the monitored HC of F and make a macro on HC I UC 1 to flash the lights when the system is armed? The macro would flash the front room light. Can I do that?

If that would work, then I would have the front room light on hc F where I can monitor the status and make my condition be if light is off and time between dusk and dawn.

[lviper]

I think I have answered my own question. The answer/solution is a phantom module to trigger the macro.

Yes, I've been searching and reading old posts all morning long. Slow here at work with the snow keeping most people inside.

So here is my thoughts, mostly so I can think out loud.
I will move my front room lights, in fact, all first floor lights to HC F.
I'll make a phantom module assigned to I1 to match the security console and be the macro trigger.
I'll make a macro to turn on lights I want the security console to flash as well as the off macro.
Then I can make a macro for when the front door sensor is triggered and my front room light is off and it's between dusk and dawn, turn the front room light on, wait 1 minute and turn it back off. This way, if the front room light is on the macro will not run and leave the light on till someone turns it off.

How are my thoughts? Just wish I was at home so I could test it.

[troll334]

Oh man,
you've gotta get some of what I've got goin' on.
First, our neighborhood has been getting hit over the past year, so:
I poked a hole in my router at home (a bit dangerous but...)
From work, I use Microsoft's Remote Desktop Connection client and
connect to the PC at home via the web. Set up the DynDNS client on
the home PC last year for the kid's web project so I was already set
even when the IP address changes on my DSL circuit. Hope this isn't
too much tech-speak.
Now, I can 'watch' three outside cams and three inside cams in realtime.
Had a couple performance hurdles to jump but it's working great. I have
full control of the PC at home just as if I were sitting right there. And yes,
I can even play with AHP. I just saw my lawn man driving up so I disabled
the perimeter warning system (all X10) so he wouldn't get 100dB of screaming
siren in his ear
Anyway, maybe you could get something similar hooked up for these snowy
days (in my case, foggy S. Fla. days).

[HA Dave]

..... I disabled the perimeter warning system (all X10) ..
...Anyway, maybe you could get something similar hooked up for these snowy
days

YES!!!

Perimeter detection and intrusion deterrence is IMHO the first steps in security. Of course... you want and need an alarm once the homes security has already been violated. But detecting and warning away potential intruders is the first step.

I've read that simple alarm signs reduce break ins by 400% (we CAN do better than a yard sign). I've also read that security cameras can have an even greater effect. However... there are no stats I am aware of that reflect what a solid HA detection and warning system can do to deter an intruder. I wish we had some stats. I think they would reflect well on Home Automation (and X10).

I often remind people that home protection isn't a competition between the home owner and the criminal. (Any and every home can be broken into) It's most often a competition between the home owner... and his neighbors. Making your home the scariest (and hardest) home in the neighborhood to break into... will likely make it the last one broke into as well.

[lviper]

Oh man,
you've gotta get some of what I've got goin' on....
I poked a hole in my router at home (a bit dangerous but...)
From work, I use Microsoft's Remote Desktop Connection client and
connect to the PC at home via the web. Set up the DynDNS client on
the home PC last year for the kid's web project so I was already set
even when the IP address changes on my DSL circuit. Hope this isn't
too much tech-speak....

Oh, I can access any computer at home from work. I leave my access closed and only remotely access the router to turn on my holes as needed. I use VNC instead of Remote Desktop. VNC is much faster then Remote Desktop. And I can play with AHP from work but I don't have any cameras yet to see things in action if they work or not. My wife works from home but I can't bother her to be opening and closing doors all day long as I test things.

I was setting up and configuring my MythTV (opensource linux dvr) system and did most of it from work using VNC. I also support my wife's computer she uses for work from my work as well as clean up all the junkware my kids put on their computers from work. Actually I do more personal work on my home stuff then I do while at work. That's the benefits of being the IT manager. Delegate all the crap to others while I play with my own stuff.

[troll334]

Hey Dave,
Agreed...on all points.
Being the son of a LEO, I've been conditioned to think like a criminal. Not only has X10 given me some deterrence
tools,  but I actually hacked into my FBII alarm system and added my cell phone number to the dial list. If anyone
happens to get in, my cell phone rings and I'll get the AHP notifications from the perimeter defense system.
I'm havin' too much fun with this stuff. Before you know it, I'll be linking X10 with my alarm system
c ya

[troll334]

viper,
While reading your post, I thought I respond with 'Geek'...having read the entire post, looks like you're the
head 'Geek'
I thought about VNC. Actually use it to connect to the kid's crapple. I might have to light up the vnc server
on the HA box and try it out. I would be nice to have better throughput than RD offers. We also have vnc setup
on our SAP servers @ work in the event RD flakes out...which, being MS, it does on occasion
thanks for enlightening me.

[lviper]

viper,
While reading your post, I thought I respond with 'Geek'...having read the entire post, looks like you're the
head 'Geek'
I thought about VNC. Actually use it to connect to the kid's crapple. I might have to light up the vnc server
on the HA box and try it out. I would be nice to have better throughput than RD offers. We also have vnc setup
on our SAP servers @ work in the event RD flakes out...which, being MS, it does on occasion
thanks for enlightening me.

The one nice thing about VNC is the ability to lower the colors from Full to 256 which really saves bandwidth and speeds up the connection. Not the best for video quality but it does smooth it out.

We use VNC to monitor and support all the computers at work. I have a program called Smartcode VNC Manager that allows me to view multiple computers at on one screen in view mode. So when a department manager wants me to monitor the people in their department, I can watch all of them at once on one screen. Then I can connect and kill any processes on their computer without them even knowing I was there. It's like playing GOD...