Ceiling Light Control

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  • rarem
    Automated Home Jr Member
    • Sep 2009
    • 23

    Ceiling Light Control

    I have a number of old-fashioned spotlights on rails that I wish to replace with Home Automation system controlled recessed downlighters.

    I am using Indigo on a Mac. My questions are

    - Is X10 my only/best option? I was thinking about the X10 inline dimmer modules that are normally used behind the switch panel.

    - Can X10 modules be easily controlled on the dedicated lighting circuit (i.e. these are ceiling lights which have their own dedicated circuit from the consumer panel not switched on from the main ring circuit)?
  • toscal
    Moderator
    • Oct 2005
    • 2061

    #2
    X10 is certainly the cheapest option. But do fit a whole house filter as this will block potential stray X10 signals leaving or entering the house and also help cut down on noise on the power lines.
    X10 will work on your set up. There are special considerations if you have 3 phase power coming into the house, but these are easily solvable.
    The only thing to watch out for is to make sure that the X10 module has a sufficient load rating for the number of spots you wish to control.
    IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
    Renovation Spain Blog

    Comment

    • rarem
      Automated Home Jr Member
      • Sep 2009
      • 23

      #3
      Thanks Toscal.

      The thing that I'm not so sure about is - if I fit the X10 inline dimmers onto the ceiling light circuit will the CM12U (I presume this is what I need for Mac/Indigo X10 control?) be able to control them if it is plugged into the separate mains socket circuit?

      Comment

      • Quinten
        Automated Home Sr Member
        • May 2004
        • 85

        #4
        Have you considered/seen Bye Bye Standby? http://www.byebyestandby.com/products.php

        I've upgraded all my lights with ceiling dimmers and all the switches with their wall switches and it works very well without any computers messing things up. However, if you do decide to add a computer to the mixture, they have something called the Online Controller which is able to send commands to the receivers and is able to listen for commands send by the transmitters.

        A lot more reliable than the X10 stuff it replaced
        Awooga!!!

        Comment

        • rarem
          Automated Home Jr Member
          • Sep 2009
          • 23

          #5
          Thanks Quinten - that stuff looks surprisingly good. I hadn't considered it before. I must say I am not really super fired up about X10 - it seems like it was all designed sometime in the '80s by a blind american! It also doesn't seem to be that reliable.

          If the ByeBye Standby stuff is reliable it also looks to be better priced. My only remaining inclination to persuade me to go X10 is that is seems very easy to control with Indigo. Do you know if it is possible to software control the ByeBye Standby dimmers via software?

          Comment

          • Quinten
            Automated Home Sr Member
            • May 2004
            • 85

            #6
            When you buy the Online Controller, you get free access to the Bye Bye Standby website, which allows you to control any receivers (ie, ceiling dimmers, etc), like switching on and off. You can also get a subscription which allows you to schedule events, but I've got no experience of that (hate paying subs ). Finally, you can get a piece of Windows software called Harmony (http://www.domialifestyle.com/Harmony2.asp). Again, I have no experience of this, I run Linux for my server, and OS X for my desktop.

            Personally I use small perl scripts to send commands to the Online Controller to do what I want it to do.

            Oh, and I almost forgot, there is an app in the Apple Appstore for controlling the Online Controller which works fantastically well (http://www.northwestcode.com/iphone/...ye-bye-standby)

            I feel a bit like a salesperson, but I assure you, I have no interest in BBSB, other than that I am convinced they are a better investment than X10.
            Awooga!!!

            Comment

            • rarem
              Automated Home Jr Member
              • Sep 2009
              • 23

              #7
              Quinten - this looks like the way to go. I hate paying subs also! I like the look of the iPhone app but would prefer to use Indigo as my HA program.

              I believe that I can run Perl scripts from OS X so I can most probably have Indigo run that Perl script when the appropriate trigger event happens.

              Can you tell me what the complete Perl script would be e.g to dim a light?

              Is this the same as the UDP control I've come across in my research?

              Comment

              • toscal
                Moderator
                • Oct 2005
                • 2061

                #8
                The X10 controller can be plugged in anywhere. As long as the circuit has its own breaker in the same consumer unit as the lighting, then it shouldn't be a problem. The nearer you can plug the controller to the consumer unit the better. So a socket near to the consumer unit is the best place, but it can be plugged in to any socket you like.
                IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
                Renovation Spain Blog

                Comment

                • rarem
                  Automated Home Jr Member
                  • Sep 2009
                  • 23

                  #9
                  Thanks Toscal - that's good to know.

                  I'm considering going the BBSB/Domia route rather than X10 as the prices for the dimmers look to be about a third of the X10 equivalents...

                  Comment

                  • Quinten
                    Automated Home Sr Member
                    • May 2004
                    • 85

                    #10
                    Originally posted by rarem View Post
                    Quinten - this looks like the way to go. I hate paying subs also! I like the look of the iPhone app but would prefer to use Indigo as my HA program.

                    I believe that I can run Perl scripts from OS X so I can most probably have Indigo run that Perl script when the appropriate trigger event happens.

                    Can you tell me what the complete Perl script would be e.g to dim a light?

                    Is this the same as the UDP control I've come across in my research?
                    I've posted a copy here: http://www.byebyestandby.com/forum/v....php?f=6&t=383

                    They are indeed just UDP commands that can be send to the controller. The thread contains both the listener (to find out when a transmitter has send a command) and a sender (to tell the online controller to transmit a command for you).

                    This thread: http://www.byebyestandby.com/forum/v...c.php?f=6&t=57 contains the UDP command syntax
                    Awooga!!!

                    Comment

                    • rarem
                      Automated Home Jr Member
                      • Sep 2009
                      • 23

                      #11
                      Quinten - this really looks good - I am very pleased that you pointed these products and methodologies out to me.

                      Can I just take this in some baby steps as I've never used Perl before.

                      1. Do I set the code that you posted in the first URL running in the background via the terminal in OS X? This then listens for appropriately structured UDP commands - is this correct?

                      2. Would you mind showing me, as an example, exactly what I would type into the terminal in OS X to switch on say a lamp with an address code of C 12?

                      Comment

                      • Quinten
                        Automated Home Sr Member
                        • May 2004
                        • 85

                        #12
                        Ok, this is without knowing what is installed on OS X by default, although I do believe Perl is.

                        The 2nd script (lovingly called "noddy perl script to send an UDP message"), is like a normal command, you would invoke it in Terminal like:

                        $ ./client.pl [ip address of controller] <message>

                        The script contains a default ip address of 192.168.0.99, which will be used if you do not specify it on the command line.

                        A proper example would be:

                        $ ./client.pl 192.168.1.12 "D:1A01:E"

                        This would send the command "D:1A01:E" to the online controller on ip address 192.168.1.12. The command "D:1A01:E" can be broken down as follows:

                        D:<on or off><device id>:E

                        "D:" and ":E" are begin and end message identifiers
                        1 = switch on, 0 = switch off
                        A01 = device id

                        So to switch device C 12 on, you'd send:

                        $ ./client.pl 192.168.1.12 "D:1C12:E"

                        Hope that helps... somewhat
                        Awooga!!!

                        Comment

                        • rarem
                          Automated Home Jr Member
                          • Sep 2009
                          • 23

                          #13
                          Got it - thanks for taking the time to take me through it.

                          I've just checked in the Terminal from OS X and Perl is indeed installed.

                          So I fire up the listener app you mentioned first of all. Then in the terminal send the UDP command you outline. Sweet!


                          I've just tried running the listener app and it fails on syntax but that's probably because I just cut and paste the app in - I need to research how to run it properly from within the terminal.

                          Am I correct in believing that the listener app is started initially and then runs permanently in the background listening for the appropriate UDP commands?

                          Comment

                          • Quinten
                            Automated Home Sr Member
                            • May 2004
                            • 85

                            #14
                            Correct, the listener app, runs in the background. You don't need it to send commands to, btw, it is just there to show you what the online controller receives. For each command the online controller receives, it will broadcast an UDP message on your network detailing what it received. You can then do what you want with the information (I store the status of each device in a mysql database for instance).
                            Awooga!!!

                            Comment

                            • rarem
                              Automated Home Jr Member
                              • Sep 2009
                              • 23

                              #15
                              Quentin - I've been trying to run your listener app on my Mac prior to purchasing all the hardware etc. but I can't seem to get it working.

                              Do you mind if I outline what I've done and see if there's anything glaringly wrong?

                              Any other Perl/OS X experts out there please feel free to chime in also.


                              Process
                              1. Cut and pasted your listener app script into Text Wrangler (a text editing program)
                              2. Saved the file with .pl extension to my desktop. My filename is listener.pl
                              3. Launch the Unix terminal in OS X
                              4. Typed cd ~/Desktop
                              5. Typed perl -e listener.pl


                              But nothing happens! I just get the normal Terminal prompt. I realise that I should not be expecting any feedback from the controller since I don't have one yet but should I not at least see the line "Awaiting UDP messages on port 53007" in the terminal. I checked the Console application also for output but there was nothing there either.

                              Any ideas as to what I might be doing wrong?

                              Comment

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