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[SeanDelere]

Hi All,

I have set up scene lighting for my kitchen using mainly DIN mounted dimmers and Appliance switches. They are controlled using the computer interface (not left plugged into the computer) and a 16key remote control pad.

My problem is that although if I press say A2 On to run a macro that switches 3 zones to 60%, 1 to 40% and another to 100%  they all come on sequentially. All the dimmers are on the absolute setting so I know they should go to 100% before dimming down.

Is it possible to have the macro do all these things at once rather than waiting for each zone to complete?

Many thanks for any pointers,
Sean

[steven r]

I don't know if this will address your problem or not but it is a good idea to separate dimming commands by at least a 1 second delay.
The current version of AHP will sometimes skip a command immediately after a dim command.

[TakeTheActive]

...My problem is that although if I press say A2 On to run a macro that switches 3 zones to 60%, 1 to 40% and another to 100%  they all come on sequentially. All the dimmers are on the absolute setting so I know they should go to 100% before dimming down.

Is it possible to have the macro do all these things at once rather than waiting for each zone to complete?

I would say no.

If you had 3 modules set to A1, A2, A3 and you wanted to dim *ALL* three to 60%, that would work (provided that AH agreed that they were of the same 'type'; you can check this by viewing your .MAC file with Notepad - just be sure not to accidentally EDIT it!). But to dim A1 to 60%, A2 to 40% and A3 to 100% simultaneously instead of sequentially - I don't see it.

Keep in mind this whole PLC 'thingie' is SERIAL - that's why multiple MS12/13/14/15/16s triggering at or close to the same time, or multiple TM751s on different housecodes cause collisions - they're trying to communicate to different modules SIMULTANEOUSLY. The RR-501 attempted to correct for this with 'collision detection' - IIRC, it waits for silence before it forwards it's RF-received command via PLC.

[TakeTheActive]

I don't know if this will address your problem or not but it is a good idea to separate dimming commands by at least a 1 second delay.
The current version of AHP will sometimes skip a command immediately after a dim command.

I thought this was an ActiveHome [Original] forum (and question). 

IIRC, the smallest time increment available is 1 minute.

[SeanDelere]

Thanks for the replies.

If it not possible to do this with ActiveHome Pro then I may as well stick with my original version.

I was under the impression that the computer interface only issued the brighten to 100% then dim to the desired value and 'hoped' it would work rather than getting feedback from the dimmer unit to say it had completed.

Maybe I will look at a more complex macro that dims all the lights to the same value first then dims them individually to the correct brightness.

Is there any documentation available for the .MAC file format I could read through?

Sean

[TakeTheActive]

...If it not possible to do this with ActiveHome Pro then I may as well stick with my original version.

It has nothing to do with the software: ActiveHome [Original] vs ActiveHome Pro. It's the underlying hardware that controls it.

...I was under the impression that the computer interface only issued the brighten to 100% then dim to the desired value and 'hoped' it would work rather than getting feedback from the dimmer unit to say it had completed.

Except for the *THREE* two-way modules, there is no *FEEDBACK* in the X-10 world.

...Maybe I will look at a more complex macro that dims all the lights to the same value first then dims them individually to the correct brightness.

Aesthetically, that sounds like it would support your goal - but, why do you feel that it would be a "more complex macro"? It will still be 3 steps:

• A1, A2, A3: DIM 60% (absolute)
• A2: DIM 20% (relative)
• A3: BRIGHTEN 40% (relative)

Is there any documentation available for the .MAC file format I could read through?

None that I've come across so far. But, just open one up and you'll see how easy it is to understand what's going on.

[_m_k]

Why don't you put A1, A2, A3 on first, then 60% A3 and 40% A1. This is still sequential, but all three will be on much quicker than three separate dimming.

M.K.