IWitness and Motion Sensors

[RVerkoey]

I installed the IWitness plugin and was
very impressed with it initially...  I have
noticed that most of my motion sensors stop
working when the the IWitness plugin is
running.  When I turn off the plugin, the
motion sensors work again.  Anyone have any
suggestions?  I have 4 cams on Housecodes
B1 - B4 as well as all the motion sensors
Remainder of light/appliance modules are
House Codes A1 to A16.  AHPro is set
monitor Housecode B and transieves
Housecodes A and B.  Using Win XP Home.

[JimC]

RVerkoey

I am not sure what you mean by “most of my
motion sensors stop working” If  you look
at the activity monitor do they show when
there is motion ? If it were me I would put
all of the cameras on a house code of their
own. AHP sends off commands to the unused
cameras when one is selected. Not sure what
this might do to other devices set to the
same house code. I use house code B only
for cameras. I have not had any problems
with my motion sensors when the camera
software is running.

You may want to avoid house code A1’s use
altogether as it is the code the motion
sensors default to when the batteries start
to get week. I have had some strange things
happen, like the light that was set to A1
turn on and off for no apparent reason. It
ended up being the batteries starting to
fail in one of the motion sensors.

[X10 Pro]

RVerkoey: Can you explain what you mean when
you say your motion sensors stop working?
There's no way that the software could make
your hardware motion sensors stop
transmitting. Do you mean that your sensors
stop triggering your macros? Are you not
seeing the motion sensors activated in AHP?

[RVerkoey]

X10 Pro:
When the IWitness software is running,
Motion sensors that turn on lights (A5, A6
etc.) do not trigger the macro.  The little
LED still blinks.  They do not register in
the Activity monitor either.  As soon as I
turn off the camera plug-in, the motion
sensors (A5, A6 etc) begin to turn lights on
again when motion it detected.  I have AHPro
set to transcieve House Codes A, B, C.
A1 to A16 are my lights/appliances and some
motion sensors (set to the corresponding
light - A5 or A6 etc)
B1 - B10 are macros
C1 to C4 are my 4 cameras.
AHPro is set to monitor Housecode B.
I am using Win XP Home.

[X10 Pro]

How are you turning off the camera plug-in?
When it's not turned off, do you have the
automatic camera switching on? What version
of AHP/iWitness is this?

[RVerkoey]

X10 Pro:
I click the "x" to close the plugin while
still running AH PRo.  The problems occurs
when the Auto Switching is running as well
as when it is not, just viewing the live
feed.  Using Version V3.185
Also, I set up a macro to "Select Front
Cam", "Start Video Recording", "Delay 1
minute", "Stop Video Recording".  This does
not work either.  No response from the
IWitness plugin software when motion is
detected.

[julian]

RVerkoey,

I noticed problems with RF range for the
motion sensors too, and I think that's what
you are seeing. I was able to fix the problem
by unplugging the USB cable from the CM15A
interface, however now I can't use the video
plugin. So, in my case at least, it's either
live video or motion sensor lights.
X10 Pro, why does my CM15A behave this way?
Is there anything I can do to have the same
RF range when the cable is connected or
disconnected? I tried resetting it, different
plugs, etc - same result: as long as the USB
cable is connected the RF range drops
significantly. I was able to test this with a
remote control - I disconnected the USB cable
and went outside, turned the porch lights on
and off (using the remote) from where the
motion sensor is located, then I unplugged
the USB cable and did the same thing, but
this time the lights did not turn on or off.
Activity Monitor also confirms that RF
signals are not being sent / received when
the USB cable is plugged in. If I move the
motion sensors closer to the CM15A, then they
work.

[X10 Pro]

Julian: I posted on another thread where you
mentioned this that the most likely cause of
the problem with range when connected to the
PC is that the PC is putting out RF noise
that is being coupled down to the CM15A on
the USB cable. Short of replacing the PC or
the noisy components in it, the only thing
you can do is unplug the USB cable. A few
other users on these forums had the problem
and were experimenting with chokes, but I
don't know if that ended up working.

RVerkoey: Can you try flipping a light on and
off from the screen, then open the Video
Window and see if your motion sensors work?

[julian]

X10 Pro - while your explanation of the PC
putting RF noise is plausible, I can't
understand why my setup used to work fine and
all of a sudden it stopped(after the iWitness
plugin). Nothing has change in my computer -
it's still the same one with the same
components.
I even have noise filters on my computers and
entertainment unit, to minimize RF noise.

[X10 Pro]

I didn't realize that the problem just
started. I'll see if we changed anything that
might account for it.

[julian]

X10 Pro - thanks for looking into it.

[RVerkoey]

X10 Pro:
I have reinstalled AH Pro and the iWitness
Plug-in.  I am still getting the same
problem.  When iWitness is running, my
furthest motion sensors (approx 25 feet) in
the basement stop turning on lights.  When
I turn off the iWitness plugin, everything
returns to normal.  The iWitness plugin is
the culpret for sure. A motion sensor
within approx 5 feet will trigger a macro
no problem with the plugin running and I
can turn on lights/appliances within AH Pro
as well.  It is just the reduced range on
the RF that needs a fixin.  Looking forward
to your next patch.

[RVerkoey]

X10 Pro:
Since plugging my RR501 (Housecode A) and
TM751 (Housecode B) back in, all of my
motion sensors are responding normally. No
more reduced range.  So, now that my
cameras (Housecode C) are switching on
motion, the Snapshot and video will not
start.  Cameras switch to the activity but
the "start recording" portion of the macro
does not initiate.  Any suggestions !
V3.184

[X10 Pro]

RVerkoey: Can you send me
(ahpsupport@x10.com) your AHP data file? It
should be a .AHX file in Program
Files\ActiveHome Pro\.

[donald mcmow]

I noticed a problem as well - With a video
window on screen, events don't seem to
occur. I had the video window open and my
timed events didn't happen. With the window
closed the events happened as they should.