Re: all housecode remote

[Just Another Joe <address@xxxxxxx>]

Yes, it's an almost two-year old thread, but interesting!

See reply at bottom.


On 10 Feb 2005 15:29:43 -0500, Philip Lewis
<flip+spiced_ham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
<qvjll9wduq0.fsf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

> Ian Shef <invalid@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
> >First, I have to admit that I don't know the configuration of a Palmpad.
> >Perhaps it is better that I am unbiased.
> Ha, I *will* bias you.
> There is a dial, which indicates house code
>
> There is a switch near the bottom front of the unit to select which
>     group of 8 codes the palmpad controls
>
> There are two columns of 9 buttons
>
> The top 8 pairs of buttons represent on (left) and off (right) for
>     unit codes 1-8 or 9-16 (as determined by a manual switch on the
>     bottom)
>
> The bottom two buttons of each column will send a dim  or brighten
>     command to the house code as determined by the dial
>
>
>
> >I don't want equal and independent access to 256 devices.
> >Who can remember that many codes?
> Well, not to say that i can, but i can remember that the living room
> is "A", bathroom is "B" etc... (not that that's my configuration)
>
> >I want to operate at a higher level of abstraction.
> I've not gone far enough into it to have that sort of thing... Our
> system is really simple. We mostly have lights on X10... with no real
> conditionals. (that might change if i get a "house basestation"
> computer built from the pleathora of carcasses i have laying about)
> We typically use about 4 by switch, the rest are on motion based
> control and come on as needed. (there are also switches for those
> lights... but they are hardly ever used)
>
> >Thus, I would have a remote (for example) with 16 buttons and a 17th (and
> >maybe 18th) shift button.  Any button (or shifted button) can be programmed
> >to send an ON or OFF command to any specific unit on any housecode.
> [...]
> >Perhaps even permit it to send ALL LIGHTS ON or ALL OFF or DIM or BRIGHTEN
> >or any other X10 operations.
> [...Rest of description...]
> >...or I can dream about what could be accomplished with an affordable touch
> >screen display...
>
> Much of your description can be done if you have a computer interface.
> All you do is set up macros. (you do lose the signal space of half the
> units of any given house code for each "uniquely configured" palmpad.)
>
> Programming from the palmpad is not available with the computer
> control program.... only at the computer.  Also, if you want
> conditionals (IF it's dark THEN turn on the light) you'll need
> hardware that X10 doesn't sell directly. (or can the new CM17a (?)
> unit do that?)
>
> Also shift-buttoning is not currently available... but could certainly
> be done.
>
> Your design sounds nifty, but the premise i was going on was a single
> transmitter which could easily send all 256 codes.
> You were going for the "ultimate X10 remote"
>
> Having different goals naturally led us to different designs.
>
> Given the specs to which Dave gave the link, i think my interface
> design would only change slightly:
>
> IF (First press)=(top 16 buttons)
>    THEN
>       Change house code of pad to First_press
>       Get(second_press, (5 second timeout))
>       IF (Second_press = (top 16 buttons) )
>       THEN
>         Change unit code of device to Second_press
>         Get(third_press, (5 second timeout))
>       ELSE
>         IF First_press = DIM
>         THEN
> 	  Send OFF on stored house/unit-code
>         ELSE
> 	  Send ON on stored house/unit-code
>         ENDIF
>       ENDIF
> ELSE
>    IF First_press = DIM
>    THEN
>       Send DIM on stored housecode
>    ELSE
>       Send BRIGHT on stored housecode
>    ENDIF
> ENDIF
>
> (ummm this is a quick runthrough  i think it covers what i have in
>  mind)

I've been doing something very similar to this for over three years,
using standard palmpads and an Ocelot.  The palmpads are on a dedicated
house code, distinct from the house code(s) of the controlled devices.
Every palmpad command goes to the Ocelot, which interprets it and sends
appropriate PLC commands, which may be individual device commands or
entire macros.  For the controlled devices, I use seven distinct house
codes, so that 'All Off' can be used to quickly turn off a specific
group of units. It works like this:

The palmpad's eight on/off pairs, together with the group slider switch
at the bottom, address 16 units, exactly like the usual operation.  The
'bright' button functions as a 'shift up' command, giving access to
another 16 units by first pressing 'bright' and then pressing a
unit-on/off button.  The 'dim' button functions as 'shift down,' giving
access to 16 more units, for a total of 48.  So, 1on/1off addresses the
first unit, shift-up followed by 2on/2off address the 18th unit,
shift-down followed by 3on/3off address the 35th unit, and so on.

With the slider in the '1-8' position, the unshifted eight button pairs
address my most frequently used eight devices.  In the '9-16' position,
the unshifted eight 'on' and eight 'off' buttons each activate a macro,
which are my 16 most frequently used macros.  Less frequently used
devices/macros are addressed with shift-up and shift-down.

In addition, I have three ceiling fans with lights, each with three
speeds plus 'off,' which are operated by RF controlled from the Ocelot.
Each fan's light is controlled in the usual way by one of the 48
available units of the palmpad, while its speed is controlled by four
consecutive palmpad buttons, eg. 1, 2, 3, 4 or 9, 10, 11, 12
representing 'high,' 'medium,' 'low,' and 'off,' when preceded by
'bright,' 'bright,' or as I like to think of it, 'shift-up,' 'shift-up.'
The base digit (the first of the four consecutive) is the same as the
unit number which operates that fan's light, making it easy to remember.
So, for example, if unit 5on/5off controls the lights of the kitchen
fan, then shift-up, shift-up, 5/6/7/8 will control the kitchen fan's
speed.  It doesn't matter whether 5on or 5off is pressed; both are
interpreted as 'high' for convenience, and so on.  Of course, the fan's
lights and speeds can be controlled within macros as well.

Finally, shift-down-shift-down-number (eg. 'dim,' 'dim,' 4[on or off])
will send an 'All Off' command for the house code 1-8 represented by the
number.  The numbers can represent any house codes one likes, and don't
have to represent A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H.  Since I'm using only seven
house codes for devices, the numbers 9-16 are interpreted as 1-8 for
convenience, so it doesn't matter which position the slider switch is
in.  If one's devices are grouped appropriately by house code, then for
example, dim-dim-5[on or off] can be used to quickly turn off all the
master bedroom/ensuite/closet lights, or maybe dim-dim-14(6)[on or off]
turns off all the lights in the basement.

While I've spoken of palmpads throughout, this also works with all my
maxi-controllers and mini-controllers.  With the plug-in controllers,
there is no need to press 'on' or 'off' when doing such actions as fan
speed or group-off.  Simply pressing bright-bright-7 (without pressing
'on' or 'off') will set a fan's speed to low, or dim-dim-11(3) will do
group 3's 'All Off' without having to press 'on' or 'off.'  I don't use
the plug-in controllers' 'All Lights On' and 'All Off' buttons, since
there is nothing equivalent available on the palmpads.

Similar programming services sticky-switches, though they are on
differing house codes, so can be interpreted differently according to
room.

The one thing that this scheme does not afford, is direct manual
dimming, since the bright/dim buttons are used as shift keys.  So, while
one can't hold the bright or dim button to manually adjust a lamp level,
it can still be accomplished by use of scenes, either using scene
enabled switches/modules, or by Ocelot control.

This has served me well for over three years, with the only downside
that I've experienced being the extra delay of the added signal hop.
But, I'm always interested in new and better ways of doing things, and
would like to hear what others are doing.

--
Just Another Joe        Remove .windows to reply.
Why be politically correct, when you can be right?