Z-Wave Scene Activation from Event

[david.delano]

The Z-Wave functions from the Event editor seem to check some system properties and only display what it thinks are logical functions. I am missing the capability to Activate a scene, and I can't do anything that will get it to appear. Is there some trick to this????

I have/had this problem on two devices. At home, I had this issue, but then migrated to a Z-Net and HS3 PC set up. At first it didn't work there, but I did something that suddenly made it work, and once it's working it seems to work consistently.

At church, I've migrated to a Z-Net, but still running on a Zee. I cannot for the life of me to get the Activate scene to appear. I think it has to do with having a "valid" scene defined, but I can't seem to get to that state. I have scenes that I have saved and tested and all looks good, but I still can't activate them with an event. Thinking this might be a Zee issue, I installed HS3 PC, swapped the Z-Net to work with HS3, but still can't get it to work. I've restarted, etc., everything I can think of.

So......what is the trigger/state that causes the Z-Wave drop down to display the scene functions???????

Now, once I'm there, I'm still not sure I can do what I want. I think that none of my devices are scene capable, and therefore HS3 controls them. But, I think this also means that the interval gets ignored, and all the devices essentially behave with the device default. I really want/need to control the dim rate programmatically, and I need to ramp UP as well as down.

David

[Eman]

Hi david.delano

Have you tried the Key-Fob? I don't really get what you want to do but I have done a few tricks with it and I must tell you that it's fun. You can setup all types of stuff regardless z-wave or not. If interested, then I will let you know what I have done.

Regards.

Eman.

[david.delano]

I don't know what the Key-Fob is.......so yes, I'm interested.

What I need to do.....I have a Zee/Z-Net that controls lighting at our church. There are 9+ light switches involved. I want to be able to set up scenes with the lights at various levels (yes, I can, and am currently using events). But...I want to be able to go between the various scenes with nice, smooth dimming, UP and down. I have tried many solutions, but they are all complicated and not re-useable. The last time I did this, I changed the dim rates on all the switches to get the dimming effect I wanted, but that meant setting each switch, often with a different rate depending on where the light was starting from (that also makes re-use difficult). I have also tried events with multiple levels in a row, but each command runs the risk of a brief flicker. One flicker at the start is tolerable, but let's say I drop by 10% each time.....I get 10 flickers from 100% to 0% or vice versa. I also want the lights to appear to be in harmony.

Scenes just seem perfect for this set up. Unfortunately, I installed switches that don't support scenes directly. HS3 is suppose to take care of those switches, but without being able to enable the scene from an event, I'm stuck. I also have a button controller that I can tie to the scenes, but it, too, needs to trigger an event.

From my experience at home, the Scene Enable isn't there at the beginning. My best guess is that there has to be a scene before the menu items become available. I was able to do something at home that got it to work. I need to know what those conditions are, because I can't replicate them at church. I'd even edit a config file to fix it, if that's possible.

Scenes also have rates, but I think in this case, where HS3 is doing the scene, the rate is ignored. But, I may at least be able to set up several scenes, say at 90%, 80%, etc. (though it's more likely 50%, 25%, 12%.....the dimming isn't linear), and call successive scenes to do what I need (though I still wouldn't get a smooth effect when turning the lights up).

I could replace all the switches, but even disregarding the cost, I picked these switches because this is old building wiring and I don't have a common wire in most of the boxes.

Any other suggestions for making this work, without using scenes, would be considered, but the question of this post is to how to get the Z-Wave drop down to have the scene activation functionality.

[I should also mention that I trigger the events from PowerPoint using JSON commands, so some external device is likely not a solution......]

David

[Eman]

Ok David,
From what I have seen here you are relying on z-wave alone to get total control of your "scenes". But consider this, if you have other brands or protocals like RF(like seen here: http://lightwaverf.com/product/scree...control-lw101/) you can preset your scenes and have them triggered when say a z-wave motion detector. Or even using a key-fob as seen here:
http://store.homeseer.com/store/Aeon...Fob-P1682.aspx It could be even be X10. The way I think of a scene is or could be a set of actions (Lighting,Video,Audio and even speech) which would happen if a sensor triggered, if a switch pressed or an event happened in HomeSeer and thus trigger the predifined scene. But the way I see you are doing here is having z-wave do everything.

A z-wave key-fob and or door and window sensor are if I'm half right scene activators in that you create events according to their feedback and much more. I know you can create scenes by directly linking these devices inside z-wave but why would you do that the hard way when you can do more inside the HomeSeer event engine?

I can now use the key-fob to do many things which would save me time from having to turn on the iPad and wait for it to connect to HomeSeer then press the button to trigger the event I want. With the key-fob the action is instant!

Below are the events I use to turn ON/OFF my rack light with one of the four buttons. You can also check this video out, about the key-fob here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX5BWRnsFWE . I hope I have been of some help.

Eman.

[david.delano]

Thanks for this info.....but.....I can and currently do things like this, but I have to do 10-20 actions in response to the trigger to get things done, PLUS I have to program the switch dimming rates to do what I want. If I can preset all that with a scene, I only have to do ONE thing in response to the event......but HS3 won't let me do that ONE thing.

[Eman]

Hi David,

I found this :http://www.vesternet.com/resources/t...s-associations

I don't know if it can help in some way or another.

Eman.

[david.delano]

I've already read all that. That is what prompted me to try scenes.

The problem is, I want to activate a scene from an event. When I set up the event, and choose Z-Wave actions, only a limited amount of choices come up. Activating a scene isn't one of them. I did finally get this to work from home, but don't know what I did to do it. It appears to be related to having a scene defined. I've tried everything I can think of to get it to work at church, but no go. I need to know what causes the menu to get extended functionality.

[Eman]

Ok David,
I tried to set things up your way but using a Fibaro strip controller ( Not scene capable!) and my finding show that in order to define scenes in z-wave you need to have scene capable devices like this one: http://www.shop.haworldonline.com/En...-SC7-11266.htm or this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Z-Wave-Me-Z-.../dp/B00QJEY7ZA

So when associations are done with the devices you want to control and paired with HomeSeer then they appear in the menus.

This is also a good read: https://community.smartthings.com/t/...e-support/4510

I'm sorry I have not been of much help.

Eman.

[david.delano]

I'm very much suspecting that I need a scene capable device present. BUT, once one is there, then I think I can set up and use events to activate, the scenes with non-scene capable devices.

I might have to find an uninstalled device around home to add to the church network and check that out.

One of the switches I have at church SAYS it is scene capable, but I don't see that capability when I query the device......

[Eman]

Ok David,

If push come to shove, then take a look at this plugin here: http://www.mikemackonline.com/homese...ster_info.html

That might take a little pressure off you for a while until you find a solution.

Eman.

[david.delano]

Eman -

Actually, this looks like it is exactly what I need!!!! I had asked and searched before for such a thing, and had not found anything.

There is one major issue......I'm currently running a Zee, and I don't think I can run this plugin. I've considered swiching to HS3 on a PC (which I'm now running at home), but was holding off due to the cost. But, if I can get this plugin to work, I think I'll be a LOT happier.

I can test this at home. I also have installed an HS3 eval copy at church that I can try it on, before it expires.

My backup plan - I have a couple of switches that I need to install, and I have Evolve switches that might work (this is newer wiring, so I think I have a common wire). That would give me one scene capable device. However, I still think there will be a ramping issue to resolve, which it looks like the plugin takes care of.

David

[david.delano]

Eman -

I did some testing tonight with the church setup. I switched to controlling with HS3/PC with the SceneMaster plugin installed.

SceneMaster almost does what I need (so close). It dims down fine, but I couldn't get it to ramp up. Also, the in switch programming I did to get my Christmas Eve events to work is getting in the way. Once the lights start to dim, the switches take over and SceneMaster loses control of them. So, I couldn't vary the dim rate to see how it works (and to make sure it doesn't flicker). Reprogramming the switch takes a while, so I'll do that later (I think I can actually do that with an event, so set an event that will set all the switches back to default - will take some time to do the event, but probably faster than programming the switches and reuseable.)

If this all pans out, my question is moot.

Oh, I also verified that I DO have the Enable Scene option in the Zee I have at home, where I have one scene capable device, so it's not a Zee incapability.

David

[david.delano]

I installed a scene capable switch at church this week, and NOW I have the Enable Scene function in the Z-Wave menu. Too bad there isn't a way to get around this.

But....

Controlling the scene capable switch worked as expected: I can control the ramp rate both up and down. I added a none scene capable device to the scene. HS3 controls it, but the ramp rate is ignored. The light goes on/off almost instantly.

SceneMaster is looking like the only viable solution, so I'm looking into getting HS3 for PC installed to take over from the Zee.