I just wanted to know if the ActiveHome software is capable of doing the following:

I have set some lights to come on at 6:30pm through an "AWAY" macro, however, is there any way to enable it "ONLY" by a X10 command (i.e. A10 ON)? We sometimes go out and it could be 5:00pm or 7:00pm so I wanted to be able to click on a button and then enable the macro. The family doesn't want the light to come on/off all of a sudden if they are home.

If I get the X10 Security Kit, will it incorporate the above feature once I arm the system?

Thanks

Simon

I have too been thinking about this in the past. Just to repeat what you said, basically to be able to activate a macro at any time of the day, but for the lights to begin turning on at 7 pm. This would be an "Out on the town" macro, and not activated daily, but only on occasion.

The first thing I can think of (the second idea is similar) is to use the photocell part of the Hawkeye II to activate the "Out on the town" macro when it gets dark, insead of a set time. You would just need to set the Hawkeye in a window sill before you go out.

The inconvenience part would be that you would either have to remove the batteries or change the house code when you're not using it, or it may still activate it daily. You can't just throw it in a closet because the darkness would activate it.

The second idea is to attach a photocell to the contacts on the PowerFlash unit (approx $39). When it gets dark, the contacts are closed and the Powerflash unit sends a command to activate a macro (i.e. "Out on the town").

Of course, just like the first idea, this macro would not be activated at a set time, but only when it gets dark (which should be fine).

And since the powerflash is a plug in unit, you would just have to remember to plug it in before you go out. And obviously, it would have to be plugged in an outlet near a window (for the photocell to differentiate night from day).

I have not tried it myself. If i decide to pursue this idea, it may be weeks since I don't have a powerflash unit.

But, Simon, if you try it, let me know.

And anyone else, if you have any other ideas, please let us know.

Roland S

X10 has a device called SUNDOWNER or something like that that has a photocell built-in. I think it'll work what you have described above. However, the only problem is I don't want to run it everyday, I want to have the ability to run it by pressing A10 for example. So the logic will be like:

if A10 IS PRESSED then
if TIME = DUSK then
execute "OUT OF TOWN" macro
end if
end if

I just downloaded Commander X, if anyone would like to share your configurations with me, please let me know. I have some programming background, but...

Thanks

Simon

Yes, the Sundowner does the same thing, as would the Dual floodlight outdoor monitor.

Another option could be the mini timer ([Link: x10.com]) which maybe you could place in the garage. You can flip it on when you leave, and turn it off when you get home.

I just built a workbench in the garage, and will need a clock in there anyways.

I understood what you meant by a conditional macro, but I don't have much experience with a variety of X-10 compatible software. Let me know how Commander X works.

Thanks,
Roland

Roland,

Commander X seems to be able to what I wanted to. However, the interface is not very user-friendly so it may take a lot of time to master it.

The other software (HCA) I tried earlier is good but IMHO, I don't think it's as good as this Commander X. However, HCA is extremely easy to run.

I'm going to start a new thread and ask for help on programming Commander X.

Simon

I downloaded Commander X and looked at the command set... Here is a script to try. I'm at work and not using the program to test it, so I don't know if this will work or not...

filename: AWAY.SCH (load this into memory)
-------------------------------------------
0000 A1 OFF ; an arbitrary unit code turned off when schedule loads
0000 SETWATCH A1=100 AWAY.SCR ; if A1-ON is pressed, run script AWAY.SCR


filename: AWAY.SCR (will run when A1-ON is pressed)
------------------------------------------
WHEN YYYYMMdd1900 B1,B2,B3 ON ; when time is 7pm, turn on A2,A3,A4 (e.g. lamps)
PAUSE 7200 ; wait for 7200 seconds (2 hours)
A2,A3,A4 OFF ; turn off the 3 lamps
A1 OFF ; reset A1 so it won't activate the script next day at 7pm



...that's it, I think...

The thing I don't know (since i haven't used the program yet) is if once the schedule is loaded, it unloads itself at 23:59 or it monitors continuously day after day.


Roland