5 Minute oscillation on pull cord.

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  • Andrew Millne
    Automated Home Ninja
    • Nov 2007
    • 269

    5 Minute oscillation on pull cord.

    Thought I had this sussed but apparantly not.

    I have a two-way pull cord switch connected to both switch inputs on a module. The behaviour for both of these inputs is to toggle a light so it can work in unison with other buttons. This works brilliantly apart from the fact that cortex seems to be checking the status of the digital inputs every five minutes and because one of the inputs is always on (two-way switch) the light gets toggled again. What can I do?
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  • chris_j_hunter
    Automated Home Legend
    • Dec 2007
    • 1713

    #2
    difficult to work this out, without trying, but ... how about connecting both switches to one / the same digital input & reprogram Cortex accordingly (assumes the pull-cord switch is break before make & that Idratek Reflex / Cortex would notice the brief disconnect) ... or, maybe swap the pull-cord switch for a momentary-on single pole one ... or, program a time-out in Cortex (assumes something less than five-minutes would be enough for a WIW)
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    Comment

    • Karam
      Automated Home Legend
      • Mar 2005
      • 863

      #3
      Andrew,

      Hmm, I'm not sure this is the reason. Sounds like a configuration issue. Cortex generally acts on change of state of a digital input rather than on state. Are you sure this is related to the polling period? If you change the polling period (see digital input parent object properties menu) does the rate of oscillation change?

      In case you were not already aware, Cortex only uses polling as a means of double checking it is in synchronisation with signal states since signal states are normally reported by the module to Cortex via Reflex settings eg. on state change. If the issue is polling period related then sounds like there is a fight somewhere.

      Incidentally do you need to use two digital inputs? If you connect a digital input object to one of the Digital input connections then you will find this single object has two event trigger connections - one for signal going high and the other for signal going low. So if just one of the 'ways' of the pull cord (ie. acting just like a simple one pole switch) is connected to this digital input then you can action a toggle when the switch goes to on and another toggle for when the switch goes to off.

      You're welcome to send us your database for a look if you still have difficuties. If so please explain which objects and which lights.

      Comment

      • Andrew Millne
        Automated Home Ninja
        • Nov 2007
        • 269

        #4
        Thanks for the advice guys, I'll look into these things tomorrow and report back (got to get the decorating finished in time for putting the carpet down tomorrow) so the configuration has taken a back seat temporarily.
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        Comment

        • Andrew Millne
          Automated Home Ninja
          • Nov 2007
          • 269

          #5
          OK a little more digging, Karam you are right changing the polling period has no effect whatsoever. Incidently I am using a "button" object not a "digital input". When using the digital input object and setting the event trigger connections they have no effect. Using the button object stil turns the light back on every five minutes and then back off after the presence removal timeout.
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          Comment

          • Karam
            Automated Home Legend
            • Mar 2005
            • 863

            #6
            Something sounds a bit odd here. The digital input object should work and is in fact the more appropriate object to use. The button object expects a momentary switch type of signal and its connection is triggered upon button release rather than button press. I think the reason the digital input object may not be working for you is that it is being 'time gated' (see below).


            So, though you may have already done some of this I suggest:

            1. Replace the button objects with digital input objects
            2. Only make connections to one of these digital input objects eg. action on going high: toggle light, action on going low: toggle light
            3. In the behaviour window for the digital input object, Operating times property should be set to 'All the time' otherwise gated by the time window settings.
            4. For the moment set your light object mode of operation to manual control only
            5. Test the operation either by physically pulling the switch or by using the simulate button in the behaviour menu for the digital input.

            If you change the light operation mode to one of the automated modes then there are some subtleties to consider regarding what 'toggle' might mean in the context of automation. Eg. should toggle mean switch light on if presently off and don't act on any further automation inputs (ie. switch light on forever and effectively switch off automation), or should it mean temporarily do this and then go back to automation at some point? One may be more logical but the other is more practical ...

            Comment

            • Andrew Millne
              Automated Home Ninja
              • Nov 2007
              • 269

              #7
              Brilliant thanks Karam. The 'All the time' checkbox had not been checked and I was outside the time window whilst testing. Regarding the subtleties with toggling, I have already posted a similar thread along these lines. Ideally I would like the DRB LED's to flash when the automation is being overriden and only revert back to being fully automated once presence has been removed for x minutes. Is this currently possible? I presume you are well ahead on this one and a solution already exists within cortex.
              Last edited by Andrew Millne; 25 June 2008, 12:07 AM.
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