Controlling two lamps with two separate wireless PIR's

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  • jwball
    Automated Home Jr Member
    • Apr 2006
    • 13

    Controlling two lamps with two separate wireless PIR's

    Could someone please confirm if my theory is correct.

    I wish to install two PIR's, one at the front of the house and one at the back to switch inside lamps on as someone approaches. However I'd like both lights to operate independently of each other. I.E. front PIR switches on lamp at front of house, rear PIR does same at rear.

    Is this possible using just two lamp modules a transceiver and two PIR's?

    P.S. I'd also like both sensors to trigger an internal chime, can this be done too?
  • toscal
    Moderator
    • Oct 2005
    • 2061

    #2
    Re: Controlling two lamps with two separate wireless PIR's

    Simple answer yes.
    Just set the the PIR to the relevant house codes on the modules. Remember to set the PIRīs to trigger only at night. IF thats the way you want it. If you don't want a controller then you would need two chime modules. Its probably cheaper to go for a CM11 or 12 and program a few macrosthen download them into the controller.
    For example set up a macro called B4 and another called B10. Front lamp module is A1 and rear one is A2 and chime is A3. Set front PIR to send a B4 when it triggers and rear PIR to send a B10 when it triggers. Now program B4 to switch on A1 and A3. You can either let the PIR send the B4 off or do it within the macro. And do B10 the same way.
    IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
    Renovation Spain Blog

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    • jwball
      Automated Home Jr Member
      • Apr 2006
      • 13

      #3
      Re: Controlling two lamps with two separate wireless PIR's

      Thanks for that, I now understand how to do it.

      In order for the controller to switch the lights on at dusk and turn them off at say 12:00 do I need to leave the computer on or will the controller adjust dusk times itself?

      Comment

      • toscal
        Moderator
        • Oct 2005
        • 2061

        #4
        Re: Controlling two lamps with two separate wireless PIR's

        Once everything is downloaded you can switch off the computer. Make sure the macros are of the fast type. The fast type are if you like stand alone macros. The standard macros require the PC to be running.
        IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
        Renovation Spain Blog

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        • jwball
          Automated Home Jr Member
          • Apr 2006
          • 13

          #5
          Re: Controlling two lamps with two separate wireless PIR's

          Thanks, that's probably saved me a lot of troubleshooting time!!

          Comment

          • AndyW
            Automated Home Jr Member
            • Jun 2004
            • 10

            #6
            Re: Controlling two lamps with two separate wireless PIR's

            If you use the nighthawk type pirs then you will need to take into account the two x10 transmissions from each. Front could be A1 then Rear would need to be A3 to allow for the dusk dawn transmissions on A2 and A4.

            Andyw
            Dazed but not defeated

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            • toscal
              Moderator
              • Oct 2005
              • 2061

              #7
              Re: Controlling two lamps with two separate wireless PIR's

              Thats why I suggested B4 and B10 for the macros.
              IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
              Renovation Spain Blog

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              • jwball
                Automated Home Jr Member
                • Apr 2006
                • 13

                #8
                Re: Controlling two lamps with two separate wireless PIR's

                I have set the PIR to send B4 which works fine when the lamp and chime are set to B4 but I don't seem to be able to get the controller to work properly. I can get the macro downloaded to the CM11 but when I trigger the PIR it doesn't switch either the chime or lamp module on.

                The macro I have done is called B4 should this be set to off in the macro screen or on? How I understand it is that when the controller receives a B4 ON it should turn the lamp on chime on. I'd be grateful for the advice.

                Do I need two macros recording for ON and OFF properties?

                Comment

                • toscal
                  Moderator
                  • Oct 2005
                  • 2061

                  #9
                  Re: Controlling two lamps with two separate wireless PIR's

                  IF your macro is B4 then you will need to set your light and chime to different adresses say B1 and B2. Yes you will need to set up the off properties as well. The off signal time for the PIR is configurable from I think 1 minute up to about 255 minutes.
                  IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
                  Renovation Spain Blog

                  Comment

                  • jwball
                    Automated Home Jr Member
                    • Apr 2006
                    • 13

                    #10
                    Re: Controlling two lamps with two separate wireless PIR's

                    Originally posted by toscal
                    IF your macro is B4 then you will need to set your light and chime to different adresses say B1 and B2. Yes you will need to set up the off properties as well. The off signal time for the PIR is configurable from I think 1 minute up to about 255 minutes.
                    I've set everything as per your example above. In the macro screen I have just one macro called B4 set to on linked to a lamp unit (A1) and an appliance module (A3). I assume using an appliance module is the way to do the chime as I can't see any other way of doing it.

                    Comment

                    • toscal
                      Moderator
                      • Oct 2005
                      • 2061

                      #11
                      Re: Controlling two lamps with two separate wireless PIR's

                      Yes set the chime to an appliance module.
                      Let me know if it works. If you have any problems I could always send you a file that I did for a friend of mine, which is similar to what you want to do.
                      IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
                      Renovation Spain Blog

                      Comment

                      • jwball
                        Automated Home Jr Member
                        • Apr 2006
                        • 13

                        #12
                        Re: Controlling two lamps with two separate wireless PIR's

                        Originally posted by toscal
                        Yes set the chime to an appliance module.
                        Let me know if it works. If you have any problems I could always send you a file that I did for a friend of mine, which is similar to what you want to do.
                        I've finally got it to work, it seems that the controller didn't want to work via USB even though it was downloading macros OK. Changed to serial port and it worked. Just trying to figure out how to get the macro to turn itself off after ten minutes which I've figured is done by adding another instance of the module to the same macro and setting it to off and adding the delay of ten minutes to the off instruction.

                        Comment

                        • jwball
                          Automated Home Jr Member
                          • Apr 2006
                          • 13

                          #13
                          Re: Controlling two lamps with two separate wireless PIR's

                          Originally posted by toscal
                          Yes set the chime to an appliance module.
                          Let me know if it works. If you have any problems I could always send you a file that I did for a friend of mine, which is similar to what you want to do.
                          I seem to have a problem with the chime now, after the motion detector is triggered the chime keeps sounding. Ideally I'd like it to sound once, twice at the most. I can't quite work out how to achieve this with the activehome software. Maybe it's time to upgrade to something better!

                          Comment

                          • toscal
                            Moderator
                            • Oct 2005
                            • 2061

                            #14
                            Re: Controlling two lamps with two separate wireless PIR's

                            Try adding an off delay for the chime.
                            IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
                            Renovation Spain Blog

                            Comment

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