CM11 Fast Macros

[kevinwilson]

Hello,

Does anybody know of any Windows software which will allow me to download a fast macro which contains extended codes to a CM11 controller?

In other words, I just want to do the simple macros that you can create in the free ActiveHome software and download them to the CM11, but instead of only being able to send simple commands, I want to be able to send extended dimming commands to an LD11 dimmer.

I found Heyu (http://heyu.tanj.com) which seems to be able to do this (among other things), but it is only for Unix/Linux.

I hope that makes sense, and if anybody could help, that would be great.

Thanks in advance,
Kevin

[toscal]

If all you want to do is say tell the module to brighten to 20%, this can be done in the active home software. Enter the edit macro window. Drag the module from the right hand side to the left, select fast macro when it asks you. The right click on the module and you will see several options to do with dimming and brightening.
Hope this helps.

[kevinwilson]

If all you want to do is say tell the module to brighten to 20%, this can be done in the active home software. Enter the edit macro window. Drag the module from the right hand side to the left, select fast macro when it asks you. The right click on the module and you will see several options to do with dimming and brightening.
Hope this helps.

Thanks for your help Toscal. When I try that, I can only set the dim level in 10% increments (e.g. 10% or 20%, not 12%). I really want to be able to set the brightness to one of the LD11's 63 levels. Can this be done in Active Home?

Thanks again.

[toscal]

Do you really need that level of control. moving from say from level 10 to 11 will be hardly noticeable. A level of 10 is equal to about 16% and 11 is 17.5%. If you start playing with the percentage levels I think you will get what you are after. Also do not switch off the lighting modules using the off command just make sure that you send the module to 0% or level 0. Also there are two types of dimming relative or absolute.
Lets explain.
Relative dimming. let's say you have gone from 0 to 20%. Now if you have set the relative dimming button, when you increase to 30% what you are actually doing is increasing the light by 30% from the previous level. If you want to increase the level of brightness to 30% you would use absolute levels. The best way to sort this out is to play around with the commands.
If you want to spend some money then have a look at Homeseer. If you want a non pc route then Homevision is very good or the Ocelot. The Ocelot is a bit of a what not to program.
Also its virtually impossible for a human to actually discern lighting steps any smaller than about 6%. Which is possibly why you only get 10% increments.

Homeseer at www.homeseer.com
Homevision at www.csi3.com
Ocelot at www.appdig.com/adicon_new/index.htm

As a bit of trivia:
There are actually 2 types of extended codes for dimming one that gives 32 levels (0 to 31) and one that gives 64 levels (0 to 63). The 64 being the newer variant.
A bit of a long answer but I hope this helps.

[kevinwilson]

Thanks again for your help, Toscal.

I suppose the main reason that I need a bit more control over brightness levels than multiples of 10%, is that I want to have my ceiling lights at a very low background level in an otherwise dark room while watching films. Experimenting with different levels, I've found about level 1 or 2 (so, about 2% to 3%) to be just right. The difference between this and 10% seems huge.

Looks like I might have to try to get Linux running on an old computer, or see if I can afford a Homevision!

[toscal]

What you can do is say go to 10% absolute bright then do a 10% relative dim. This will dim the lights by 10% of their current level. This may give you control you require.
For cheap software via the PC have a look at www.myion.co.uk It used to be called X10n, but they have recently changed the name. So it may not be that cheap anymore.