help with event

[dentbla]

I am trying to use an Aeotec Multisensor to set off a SE812 indoor siren within a specific time frame, between 7 pm and 7 am. I set up the event below but it will not work. When I remove the time parameters the alarm works on motion but with the parameters in place it will not work. What am I doing wrong?

[nsisman]

Try changing your last "and if " to an "or if ".

Can't have time being before 7am and after 7pm both.

[dentbla]

Thanks, I will give this a try. I want the alarm to sound on motion between 7 pm and 7 am. If I use "or if" I can put in an exact time or sunrise, sunset...etc.

[randy]

An OR IF will work, but not the way it is described above. It is important to remember that an OR IF represents essentially a second trigger with an accompanying set of conditions. Think of your first IF and its conditions as a the first event, then the OR IF and its conditions as a second event, and so on. At the end you place the shared actions. Also remember that the day begins and ends at midnight so a condition of "after 7:00 PM' really means between 7:00 PM and Midnight, just as "before 7:00 AM" really means between midnight and 7:00 AM. So your event would be constructed as follows:

IF the device changes and becomes motion
AND IF the time is after 7:00 PM

OR IF the device changes and becomes motion
AND IF the time is before 7:00 AM

Then set device to ON

You will note the gap I placed between the IF plus its conditions and the OR IF plus its conditions. Consider each of those groups as separate events sharing a common set of actions. HomeSeer will also create that gap as you build the event.

You can also use any of the other time options as the conditions, such as this before sunrise, sunrise, etc. You cannot use an exact time, because an exact time is a trigger, not a condition. If you used an exact time the motion would have to happen at an exact time in order for the event to run.

[Rotech]

Also remember that the day begins and ends at midnight so a condition of "after 7:00 PM' really means between 7:00 PM and Midnight, just as "before 7:00 AM" really means between midnight and 7:00 AM. So your event would be constructed as follows:

IF the device changes and becomes motion
AND IF the time is after 7:00 PM

OR IF the device changes and becomes motion
AND IF the time is before 7:00 AM

Then set device to ON

You will note the gap I placed between the IF plus its conditions and the OR IF plus its conditions. Consider each of those groups as separate events sharing a common set of actions. HomeSeer will also create that gap as you build the event.

So Randy you don't have to tell HS when its midnight when stating "before and after"? The way I was told it was done was:

IF MS on
Time is after 7pm
Time is before 12pm

OR IF MS on
Time is after 12am
Time is before 7am

Is this not correct?

[S-F]

Yeah, you don't need to do that. Simply:

IF MS on
AND IF Time is after 7pm

OR IF MS on
AND IF Time is before 7am

This event will be true all night between 7 at night until 7 the next morning. And if MS is on. Whatever that means.

HomeSeer distinguishes the day change for you.

The time can never be after 7 PM and before 12 PM. It can be after 12 AM and before 7 AM though. But you don't need to specify the after 12 AM because for HS3 every time is after 12 AM.

[randy]

At the risk of redundancy, what S-F said. Midnight is always the start and end of a a day just as midnight on December 31 is the start and end of a year.

When a condition is "after 7:00 PM it means between 7:00 PM and Midnight.
When a condition is "before 7:00 AM it means between midnight and 7:00 AM.
When a condition is "after August 31" it means between 12:00 AM September 1st and Midnight December 31.
When a condition is "before April 1st" it means between 12:00 AM January 1st and Midnight March 31st.

12:00 PM is noon and 12:00 AM is midnight.

You do not need to include the beginning or end of a day or the beginning or end of a year because they are always automatically assumed. It hurts nothing for you to include them, but it is unnecessary.

[S-F]

Just to add a little to this. I have a bunch of events which are dependent on similar time conditions which span midnight so I created virtual devices which turn on at night and off in the morning. I just make that switch being on a condition instead of having to muck around with OR's and the like which can be a real PITA if there are a lot of other conditions.

[randy]

Same here. For all of my interior motion control events I use a "Dusk-Dawn" virtual device as a condition. This device is turned on 30 minutes before sundown and turned off 30 minutes after sunrise. We found that to be the time frame when diffused sunlight is low enough for us to appreciate additional lighting in interior rooms.

[S-F]

Yeah. It's real hard to do that kind of thing with conditions because there is no condition "IF the time is AFTER X minutes after / before sunrise / sunset" only the trigger "IF the time is X minutes before / after sunset / sunrise".

[Rotech]

Thanks Guys, for your valueble feed back, I am going to apply your information to my events.

[dentbla]

Thanks to everyone. This does explain a lot. I was thinking as I was setting it up that the time realistically is always after 7 pm and always before 7 am. The midnight start point clears that up. Here is how I now have this set up. Will test it tonight.

[S-F]

That event will work from 7 pm until 7 am the next morning every day of the week. Including when the sun sets later and rises earlier.