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    How to program 6-button controller

    Scenario: 2 6-button controllers, and a load to control (US2-40)

    In order to use the ON and OFF buttons on the controller to contol the load, and to show the status of the load via lighting only the ON or OFF button in response to the load changing (via the US2-40 or transmissions to it, including from the 6-button controllers) I have concluded that I cannot use a single link (ie, LoadDevice) but must use separate links (ie LoadDeviceON and LoadDeviceOFF) in order to get the ON and OFF lights to track the changing status of the US2-40. I have the US2-40 rockers use LoadDeviceON and LoadDeviceOFF to transmit and control the load. Is this necessary?

    If so, now I have the following problem: I want to also control and show status of the same load via the "A" pushbutton on another 6-button controller. I believe I can get it to transmit LoadDeviceON and LoadDeviceOFF alternately, but how do I get the light to track the status of the Load (ON when LoadDeviceON received and OFF when LoadDeviceOFF received).

    Any suggestions on how to make this work, ie:
    First 6-button controller: ON and OFF control and show status of US2-40
    Second 6-button controller: "A" control and show status of US2-40
    US2-40 control load and show status of load

    Thanks in advance,
    Ed
    tenholde

    #2
    Ed,

    Make sure to set the transmit characteristics on the link for the button/paddle you want to use. Make sure that they both reflect the same link and that you are activating the link.
    Martin Custer

    Comment


      #3
      I'm setting all receive and transmit links in all three devices. Here's the dilemna: If I use just one link for the controlled device, for both ON and OFF paddles, then the toggle pushbuttons work fine. But how do I get this to happen:

      The ON and OFF buttons on the controller (2 different buttons) will both work fine by having them send Activate and Deactivate respectively. The ON LED will track the activate and deactivate fine (going ON for activate and OFF for deactivate). How do I get the OFF button to go ON for deactivate and OFF on activate.

      Perhaps I'm trying to do something really stupid. I'd like the ON and OFF buttons to control a single device (seems like that is what they are for) and the ON button to be lit when the device is on, and the OFF button to be lit when the device is off.

      I can do this by using two separate links (one for ON and one for OFF), but then how do I get one of the toggle buttons on a different 6-button controller to track the status of the device when it is sending separate links for ON and OFF?

      Ed
      tenholde

      Comment


        #4
        I have done this before but I don't remember the exact programming I used (I ended up using all buttons as toggles since it gave me more buttons - you never have enough buttons!)

        There are a few ways to do this but the annoying part is that Keypads can only receive and transmit one link per button. This makes it hard to do with UPB only, but of course we have HomeSeer to help.

        You can have the On/Off buttons on the keypad control the light with a single link. Lets call a link "Control Light" for this example:

        Program the light to receive "Control Light"

        Program the On button to receive nothing, then "When this indicator comes on turn off group 1" and set button On to be part of group 2.

        Program the Off button to receive nothing, then "When this indicator comes on turn off group 2" and set button Off to be part of group 1.

        Set the Transmit options for the On button to transmit "Control Light" to "Top Rocker" and Off button to transmit "Control Light" as "Bottom Rocker"

        That should get your light working with the On / Off buttons and the indicators on those buttons should operate properly.

        Now for the other keypad with just one button to toggle between on and off. Make a new link called "Toggle Light". Program it into the light as a receive link.

        Program the button to transmit "Toggle Light" as a "Toggle Button".

        Now for the secrect sauce:

        Add a HomeSeer event that triggers off the light itself "Changing to off". Add a condition for "Keypad 1 Button 1 (the on button) is off". Add a device command to change the keypad 1 button 1 to on.

        Add another event that triggers off the light itself "Changing to off". Add a condition for "Keypad 1 Button 6 (the off button) is off". Add a device command to change the keypad 1 button 6 to on.


        Whenever you want HomeSeer to change the light state use the "Toggle Light" link. It will cause any toggle buttons you have attached to the link to have the correct indicator state, and your On/Off buttons on the other keypad will also be correct. You only need the two events with a single device control in each because we programmed the buttons themselves to cancel the opposite out. HomeSeer knows this.


        Come to think of it we might be able to do all this with a single link, but unless I program it into UPStart and give it a try I won't know for sure...


        Jon


        Originally posted by tenholde
        I'm setting all receive and transmit links in all three devices. Here's the dilemna: If I use just one link for the controlled device, for both ON and OFF paddles, then the toggle pushbuttons work fine. But how do I get this to happen:

        The ON and OFF buttons on the controller (2 different buttons) will both work fine by having them send Activate and Deactivate respectively. The ON LED will track the activate and deactivate fine (going ON for activate and OFF for deactivate). How do I get the OFF button to go ON for deactivate and OFF on activate.

        Perhaps I'm trying to do something really stupid. I'd like the ON and OFF buttons to control a single device (seems like that is what they are for) and the ON button to be lit when the device is on, and the OFF button to be lit when the device is off.

        I can do this by using two separate links (one for ON and one for OFF), but then how do I get one of the toggle buttons on a different 6-button controller to track the status of the device when it is sending separate links for ON and OFF?

        Ed
        Jon Ort
        JonOrt@The--Orts.com
        (Remove the dashes in the address, spam is getting out of hand)

        Comment


          #5
          Thanks for your thoughtful reply. If I understand your suggestion, I do not think the LEDs on controller 1 will track the ON/OFF state of the light (they have no receive link).

          I think I'm going to end up doing the following (not totally what I wanted, but close):

          Instead of the OFF LED going on when the light is OFF, I will just use the ON LED as the only indicator of the light's status (ie, the ON LED is on when the light is on, and the ON LED is off when the light is off. The OFF LED will always be off, but is used to turn the light off). With this compromise, I think I can do it all with only a single link and no HS involvement:

          I'll let you know how it works.

          Ed
          tenholde

          Comment


            #6
            Yes, they will. If you use the buttons themselves to control the light then they will go on and off appropriately. If you use any other method to turn them on or off HomeSeer will know and turn the indicators on and off as needed. Remember that HomeSeer can control the button indicators as well as the keypad itself.

            The reason you want the HomeSeer involvement is that you can have multiple receive links on the light (say Light, Room, Floor, House) and using any of these keep the On/Off indicator lights in sync.

            I use the keypads for indicating all sorts of stuff like Alarm system status (light off means alarm off, press button and alarm arms and light goes on), audio system state (light on means audio in room on, etc)

            The power of the keypad comes with HomeSeer control (I'm happy UPB decided to put that in their firmware, Insteon did not). The firmware just gives real basic abilities, automation controllers let them do more.

            Jon



            Originally posted by tenholde
            Thanks for your thoughtful reply. If I understand your suggestion, I do not think the LEDs on controller 1 will track the ON/OFF state of the light (they have no receive link).

            I think I'm going to end up doing the following (not totally what I wanted, but close):

            Instead of the OFF LED going on when the light is OFF, I will just use the ON LED as the only indicator of the light's status (ie, the ON LED is on when the light is on, and the ON LED is off when the light is off. The OFF LED will always be off, but is used to turn the light off). With this compromise, I think I can do it all with only a single link and no HS involvement:

            I'll let you know how it works.

            Ed
            Jon Ort
            JonOrt@The--Orts.com
            (Remove the dashes in the address, spam is getting out of hand)

            Comment


              #7
              Is there anywhere a clear description of how the 6-button controller, specifically the LEDs work? How they respond to both link activate/deactivate and how they respond to the transmit links of the same button?

              Ed
              tenholde

              Comment


                #8
                There is one somewhere, maybe in the UPStart help.

                It isn't too complicated (at least for someone who has been doing UPB for years now) :> ...

                Each button is by nature a toggle switch. LED On = Transmit option A, LED Off = Transmit option B. That's why there are two trasmit characteristics just like for a paddle switch.

                A link Activate on the receive link for a switch will turn it "On"
                A link deactivate on the receive link for a switch will turn it "Off"

                Any time a button is pressed it will transmit the transmit link command (option A or B depending on if the LED is on or off) and it will reverse states.

                Any time a button goes on for any reason it can turn any buttons ON or OFF. You can use this to force a non-toggle behavior.

                HomeSeer can turn any button on or off.


                Make sense?

                Jon




                Originally posted by tenholde
                Is there anywhere a clear description of how the 6-button controller, specifically the LEDs work? How they respond to both link activate/deactivate and how they respond to the transmit links of the same button?

                Ed
                Jon Ort
                JonOrt@The--Orts.com
                (Remove the dashes in the address, spam is getting out of hand)

                Comment


                  #9
                  Thanks for the information. I'm going to spend some time experimenting with various combinations. My current thought is to use the ON button as a toggle to turn the controlled light on/off, and just use the OFF button to send a 'Master' off that turns multiple devices off. I can easily do that with a single link added to the multiple devices, but once again, I will not be able to reflect the changes in the controller push buttons for each of these devices without HS.

                  Ed

                  Originally posted by Oman
                  There is one somewhere, maybe in the UPStart help.

                  It isn't too complicated (at least for someone who has been doing UPB for years now) :> ...

                  Each button is by nature a toggle switch. LED On = Transmit option A, LED Off = Transmit option B. That's why there are two trasmit characteristics just like for a paddle switch.

                  A link Activate on the receive link for a switch will turn it "On"
                  A link deactivate on the receive link for a switch will turn it "Off"

                  Any time a button is pressed it will transmit the transmit link command (option A or B depending on if the LED is on or off) and it will reverse states.

                  Any time a button goes on for any reason it can turn any buttons ON or OFF. You can use this to force a non-toggle behavior.

                  HomeSeer can turn any button on or off.


                  Make sense?

                  Jon
                  tenholde

                  Comment

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