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Leviton VRCZ4-MRX (4 button zone controller) or Cooper controller?

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    Leviton VRCZ4-MRX (4 button zone controller) or Cooper controller?

    I plan on using a Leviton VRCZ4-MRX, which is their 4-button zone controller with local load. I plan on using it to control 4 devices:

    1. The Living Room ceiling lights (local load)
    2. Two Living Room plug-in modules (2 Leviton VRP03-1LW)
    3. Leviton VRS15-1L on/off switch for an outdoor door light
    4. Leviton VRS15-1L on/off switch for a front yard light

    I want to be able to independently turn on and off these devices.

    Can I turn on and off each device without affecting the other devices???

    The reason I ask is because of the following text from http://board.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=119759 :


    "6) When you turn off a button, it simply sends an OFF command to HomeSeer and all devices associated with the button. All button devices in HS will go off (since they are all part of the same device). So its not possible to trigger on a button going off with the Leviton controllers. While the Cooper controllers operate the same way and only send an OFF signal, the Cooper controllers also support an ancillary command class that HomeSeer can use to determine which button was turned off. Because of this, HomeSeer can be used to trigger on any of the buttons turning OFF with a Cooper controller."

    I think what above is trying to say is that if I turn one of the four buttons OFF, HomeSeer won't know which button was turned off. However, will the Leviton controller send the off command to the devices associated with the one button that was turned OFF, but it will not send OFF to the devices associated with the other three buttons? For example, if I press button #3 OFF (the Living Room plugins), the devices associated with the other 3 buttons won't turn off right???

    Next question: can I associate more than one node with a button? For example, I want to control 2 Leviton VRP03-1L plugins with button #2.

    Finally, even though most of my devices are Leviton, am I better off with a Cooper controller so that I can trigger events in HomeSeer based on pressing an off button?

    I noticed that HomeSeer only sells the Cooper scene controller ( http://store.homeseer.com/store/Coop...r-P480C70.aspx ). I don't see a Cooper zone controller (unlike Leviton which has a scene and zone controller). Is the Cooper scene controller similar to Leviton's scene controller or is it like a zone controller (but with the ability for HomeSeer to know which button was turned off)?

    Thanks.

    EDIT: correct me if I'm wrong but it looks like the Cooper scene controller (RFWC5) does not support a local load?? If so that's a deal breaker for me. Anyway, I still have the other Leviton controller questions above if anyone can help. Thanks.
    Last edited by randman; September 19, 2011, 09:45 PM.

    #2
    The only time you'll run into the "off" issue with the Leviton and HomeSeer is if you are relying on logic in HomeSeer to trigger the remote lights. If you directly associate the remote switches to the controller, you can control them just fine.

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      #3
      Originally posted by gdrapp View Post
      The only time you'll run into the "off" issue with the Leviton and HomeSeer is if you are relying on logic in HomeSeer to trigger the remote lights. If you directly associate the remote switches to the controller, you can control them just fine.
      Oh good. Thanks. That's what I suspected, but I wanted confirmation (given how much these things cost :-) ).

      When you say "directly associate", do you mean the following (from http://board.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=119759 )?? :


      "Click on the name of the button on the HS status page to open its properties. You will see a new "Config" button. Click this to open the scene config. From here, you can add devices you want the button to control. Note that only devices that support the scene class can be added to the scene with the Leviton controller"

      Thanks.

      Comment


        #4
        For posterity, yes, that is what he means. If you add devices to the scene and save that scene info to the controller by pressing save, the Leviton controller itself will directly communicate with other scene-capable devices to tell them to turn on or off. In this way, even if HomeSeer is not running, the controller can turn devices on and off. If you include HomeSeer in the scene, (and HS is running) HS will also get the notification. The issue that you reference is, as far as I know, that when you press the Leviton's button to turn a scene "on", it contacts each device in the scene and says, "Activate scene X and turn on (to this level with this ramp rate)". The off command also goes to the device but simply says "hey you, turn off", without specifying which scene number is being turned off.

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