Wow!
Lots to reply to... So, rather than trying to quote everyone, I'll just list my replies here that refer back to others' comments:
"Collisions": I'm using this term rather loosely to describe any
potential command collisions, whether they be hardware collisions in the PLC, or virtual command collisions somehow caused when multiple macros run at the same time - as seems to be implied by the logging that I've tried to decipher. The possibility that stands out to me from these observations is because it sometimes
looks like parts of a command from one macro are mingled with part or all of a command from another macro, it may be that conncurrent macros are somehow overlapping the discrete portions of their PLC commands. This is the "gibberish" that I am referring to: Not only are commands not occuring in the expected sequence, there are places where it looks like only half of a command pair is in the log, or it may be "split", with other commands being logged between the first and second part of a command. (I'll emphasize that this is only speculation, since the stuff I saw is
really hard to follow). There is no "garbage characters" in the log, as far as I can tell - only "garbage commands". My best guess may be that
something is getting corrupted
somehow, and the logging facility is mis-interpreting it as some other command... otherwise, it's just utter nonsense or literally random commands flying around. And, yes, I will try to capture some examples to pass along, when time permits.
I make no claims about
why this stuff occurs;
but it is obviously associated only with more than one macro running at a time... and I'm trying to figure out why. Maybe my macros are bogus; maybe my CM15A is fouling up; maybe AHP is fouling up; maybe there are PLC collisions that the log file (and the X10 devices) mis-interpret as something other than what they are...
I really don't know.... it is all guesses at what may be going on here.
(By the way, would AHP or SmartMacros foul up if AHP logical devices have not been defined for each and every House/Unit Code used in the macros, or if more than one logical device exists for the same House/Unit Code, or if the logical device is not exactly the same device as the corresponding physical device? (Due to revisions in my AHX, it is possible that some or all of these conditions exist, although I'm not specifically aware of any).)Generally, I have not tried running everything from the PC; that is mainly because the ultimate intention is to run everything stand-alone in the CM15A, so doing it on the PC may allow subtle differences to creep in - such as PC-only commands, or memory issues, or flag issues, or timing issues, or other unexpected glitches/nuances. For a general troubleshooting effort, it would be worth a try - but I haven't done that as a matter of course because I figured it might introduce needless time-wasting execution-time problems. (Of course, there are time-wasting development-time problems doing it the other way, so who knows which is better).
I have about a dozen PR511 Motion Sensors in use; they are configured for 24/7 operation, and do not have the dusk/dawn output codes enabled at all. After going to AHP/SmartMacros, each PR511 is set to issue only one (unique) output code - although I suppose it is possible that there might be a problem with the device(s), or an overlooked setting switch, where some other code could be issued, too - but I have not seen any evidence of that during individual testing. One thing that
is a nagging question is whether having one PR511 issuing the base code of another PR511 would cause one of them to foul up somehow - but again, I have not seen any indication of that while testing "individually".
Actually, I was thinking myself of that deal to strip out everything from AHP and from the CM15A, and just run tests with the Monitor enabled, and see what goes on. I was wondering whether the Log would work right if there were no logical modules defined, though. Anyway, I have not done that, and I'm becoming less convinced that it is worth the effort the more I think about it... but it may still come to pass.
When I have logged the results of the single macros, they generally show as running exactly as prescribed in the macro definitions. When two macros run at once, all bets are off: The log shows commands that seem to be properly formed, but tend to be out of sequence in various ways - like delays that don't work, commands that seem to be bogus (based on the text placed in the log), macros that stop in the middle and never finish, and "split pairs" of commands. It all becomes untracable, as far as I can see.
As for a neighbor having conflicting X10 commands, I tend to doubt that for several reasons: There are no nearby neighbors; we have our own line transformer (nobody else feeds from it), there is some isolation filtering on the incoming line, I have never detected spurious commands when I am not using the macros, and the
Find Other Computers has never reported any "foreign" stuff.
As for TM751's, I have confirmed that there is only one now in the system - and it is used only to control lights in a barn via macro action, and thus uses a House Code that is not being used by anything else in the system. (Specifically, macros set to its House Code simply "transceive" commands from a hand-held and re-issue the correct actual House/Unit codes for the lights. Thus, the TM751 should never issue any PLC except if I explicitly issue RF commands for its House Code - which has never happened since I tested the original installation because I have no longer use the old hand-held remotes.
One thing that worries me in regards to spurrious commands is the presence of an Active Phase-Coupler/Repeater in the system, but I don't see anything screwy when executing macros individually, nor when issuing PLC directly, so...
Regarding a simple problem that I'm not recognizing, I'm all ears: please explain! If there is a simple solution to this mess, then I'd love to know what it is. If these issues actually do not afflict anyone elses' system, then it implies there is some problem specific to my system - but what? I have tested everything to death, and nothing conclusive comes of it. There is some slight suspicion that some of the X10 devices were "flakey", but testing - even replacing - them hasn't materially changed the situation, so I'm baffled.