Here is the PLCBUS plugin for HS3
**** INFO for v3.0.1.0 ****
-If you are upgrading from v0.1, you have to delete all PlcBus HomeSeer devices, and create them again to get correct status.
-If you are upgrading from v0.2 or v0.3, you have to delete all PlcBus HomeSeer devices, and create them again to get lamp module ramp rate, new scene status and programming options.
-If you are upgrading from any beta version and you want on/off/dim compatibility with the RFXCOM plugin, you need to recreate lamp devices. The label has changed from dim xx % to brightness xx% to be compatible with the RFXCOM plugin.
**** END INFO ****
The Plugin supports Multiple Instances, and can control multiple interfaces at the same time.
For example:
- PLCBUS 1141 Serial on COM1
- PLCBUS 1141 USB on virtual COM3
- PLCBUS 1141 TCP/IP on 192.168.3.5
Each plugin instance supports a PlcBus interface on one PlcBus UserCode.
You can also run multiple instances with the same UserCode.
The plugin supports 3-phase mode (I have not tested, but it should work the same as with the HS2 PlcBus Connector)
The plugin supports a WaitForAck mode. If the module doesn't respond to a PlcBus command, the HomeSeer device status will be set to UNKNOWN.
If you have a problem with some of your PlcBus modules not acknowledging commands, please double-check the wiring. It's very important that the LIVE and NEUTRAL wires are not reversed across all modules in your house for correct PlcBus communication.
The plugin fully supports PlcBus scene programming and PlcBus scene status report.
How to add a PlcBus device to HomeSeer 3:
Example to create a lamp device D2:
- Go to the HomeSeer "Device Management" View.
- Click the green "+" sign on the upper right corner
- Type the device name, select floor and room if you want
- Choose D2 as the device code
- Click the PLCBUS tab
- Choose "PlcBus Lamp" as the device type
- Click "DONE"
The plugin lets you create and manage the following HomeSeer device types:
PlcBus User-Code Device
This device type allows you to send User-Code wide PlcBus commands such as:
- All User Lights Off
- All User Lights On
- All User Units Off (All Units = All Lamps AND Appliances)
The PlcBus User-Code device also has a toggle button to Show Scene Programming options:
- Show Scene Prog (This adds more scene control buttons to Scene, Appliance and Lamp devices)
- Hide Scene Prog (This hides the scene programming controls)
PlcBus House Devices
Device parameters:
- House Code
- Automatic polling enabled (on/off)
This device type allows you to send House-Code wide PlcBus commands such as:
- All Lights Off - If house code is A, will switch off all lamp modules in the A1 to A16 range
- All Lights On - If house code is A, will switch on all lamp modules in the A1 to A16 range
- All Units Off - If house code is A, will switch off all modules in the A1 to A16 range
- Manually Poll a house code (16 modules) with a single PlcBus command
- Automatically Poll a house code every minute
HouseCode polling only reports the On/Off status. It doesn't report the dim level for lamp devices.
If HouseCode polling reports Lamp A1 as ON, and A1 status is dim 50%, the plugin will not update 50% to On.
PlcBus Lamp Modules
Device parameters:
- HouseCode
- DeviceCode
- Ramp Rate (0= instant, 1= 1 second, 3= 3 seconds... etc)
Support the following commands:
- ON
- OFF
- DIM 1 to 100%
- POLL (Polling a single PlcBus Lamp module will report the status OFF, dim level 1 to 99, ON for dim level 100, or UNKNOWN if the module doesn't reply)
- PlcBus Appliance Modules
Device parameters:
- HouseCode
- DeviceCode
Support the following commands
- ON
- OFF
- POLL (Polling a single PlcBus appliance will report ON or OFF status, or UNKNOWN if the module doesn't reply)
PlcBus Lamp Status
Device parameters:
- HouseCode
- DeviceCode
Will report the status of a lamp module. This is the same as a Lamp module, but the only control available is:
-POLL
PlcBus Appliance Status
Device parameters:
- HouseCode
- DeviceCode
Will report the status of an Appliance module. This is the same as an Appliance module, but the only control available is:
-POLL
Why is it important to choose Appliance Status for an Appliance module, and Lamp Status for a Lamp module ?
Because if you send (or receive from another transmitter) a User Code wide command, or a House Code wide command such as All Lights On, the plugin will automatically update the status of the correct devices.
PlcBus Scenes
With PlcBus scenes, you can have several PlcBus modules simultaneously perform recorded actions.
For example you can program PlcBus Scene D1 ON to simultaneously
- set PlcBus Lamp A1 to 50% in 2 seconds,
- set PlcBus Lamp A2 to 30% in 1 second,
- set PlcBus Appliance C2 to On
- set PlcBus lamp D3 to Off in 5 seconds.
If you program such a scene, the PlcBus Scene OFF command (D1 OFF) will always switch A1, A2, C2 and D3 OFF.
Scene Device parameters:
- HouseCode
- DeviceCode
Scene device commands:
- ON
- OFF
- Add currently 'On' devices as On
- Add currently 'On' devices as Off
- Remove currently 'On' devices
How to program PlcBus Scenes
Info: You may want to create at least one User-Code PlcBus HomeSeer device to get the "Show Scene Prog" toggle button.
1) Create a PlcBus Scene device
2) Switch off all modules (For example using "All User Units Off" command on a PlcBus User device)
3) Switch on only the modules you want to be "On" in the scene.
- For PlcBus Lamp devices, select the ramp rate you want in the scene, and use the Dim level Slider to set them at the desired dim level.
4) On the PlcBus scene device, choose "Add currently 'On' devices as On"
5) If you want some devices to be switched off when the scene is activated
- Again switch off all modules except the modules you want to be Off in the scene
- On the PlcBus scene device, choose "Add currently 'On' devices as Off"
That's it ! Then you can choose the PlcBus Scene "On" and "Off" commands to see your scene in action.
More information about scene support:
- When scenes are programmed, the plugin records which devices are ON/OFF for each scene, and records the DIM level for lamp devices.
- When scenes are programmed, the PlcBus modules record their current Dim Level, and the last Ramp Rate that was used.
- When you click the PlcBus Scene "On" button, the plugin uses the recorded information to set all the scene devices to the recorded status (on/off and dim level).
- When you click the PlcBus Scene "Off" button, the plugin uses the recorded information to set all the scene devices to the "Off" status.
- If the plugin sees the Scene "On" or "Off" commands sent from another PlcBus transmitter, it will also use the recorded information to set the correct status of scene devices.
- If you use the "Erase all scene addresses from module" feature, the plugin will update recorded information to remove this module from scenes.
- If a scene is On, and any module is set to something other than the recorded value, the scene status is switched Off.
- If you program scene D8 as D1 40% and D2 40%, then you cannot reprogram the scene D8 to D1 40% and D2 80% without first removing D2 from the scene. This is a limitation of the PlcBus protocol. In such a case, the plugin would show an error status on the scene device.
There is also a PlcBus Tools section with:
- Report In Use Addresses for a PlcBus House Code
- Report On Addresses for a PlcBus House Code
- Report Module signal strength
- Report Module noise level
- Change Module Address
- Erase All Scene Addresses from a PlcBus module
The beta plugin has been tested with:
PLCBUS-1141 USB Computer Interface
PLCBUS-1141-COM RS232 Computer Interface
PLCBUS-1141NDR DIN-Rail Network Gateway
The plugin should also be compatible with the
PLCBUS-1141-NET Network Gateway
Please tell me what you think about this plugin.
Regards,
stipus
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