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Using X10 device as a channel in the sequence question


Cdshakes

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I think i'm going to use x10 for my static stuff this year (not display lights, but the fm transmitter, and lights for the display sign..etc). If i assign an X10 channel to the sequence, and just have it on for the whole sequence, and the same for another sequence, will it end up flashing in between sequences, or would it only turn off if it gets an "off" command?



Colin

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Just think of X10 as a channel of LOR. If you have it "on" it will be on. If there is nothing going on in the channel, then nothing will happen.

I use mine by creating 2 shows, if you will. My computerized show has all my 48 channels. that runs for 20 minutes. Then I create an animation that is 20 minutes long, with only 1 channel and that channel is X10. I just turn that channel on for the whole 20 minutes. When I create my show I just switch back and forth between the computerized show and the X10 show.

Greg

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Jeff Millard wrote:

At the end of a sequence, LOR send an off command to X-10. So if you place a unit in the sequence, it will turn off at the end, and within 2 seconds or so it will come back on. Not a good thing for the transmitter as the sequence might be playing for up to 2 seconds before the X-10 unit turns on again.

You can assign the X-10 module to the background sequence and it will stay on for the entire show.

Jeff


Ahhh... where does one do stuff with background sequence?
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  • 4 weeks later...

How do you control an X10 device that you want to have off for the entire show? (I want to turn our outdoor motion sensor lights off when the show starts and back on when the show ends.)

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Here's another idea: I have a spotlight on my "Tune radio to..." sign that I would like to have on for most of the show. However, there is one particular song in which I want to turn all lights off, including this spotlight.

If I have a background sequence that turns the spotlight on, and I have one song that includes the spotlight channel, what will happen when that song ends?

I'm guessing that the spotlight will turn off, but the next time the background animation sequence cycles, it will turn on again. Is this a reasonable assumption?

By the way, the spotlight is on an LOR controller, not an X10.

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Steven wrote:

How do you control an X10 device that you want to have off for the entire show? (I want to turn our outdoor motion sensor lights off when the show starts and back on when the show ends.)


You could use a 120 volt DPDT relay and utilize the Normally Closed contact(s) to supply the motion sensor. So when the power is applied to the relay coil via an X10 module, the sensor lights go off. When the X10 module is turned off and the power removed from the relay coil, the sensor lights turn on. You can pick up a relay like this from Radio Shack: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2049721&cp=&sr=1&origkw=relay&kw=relay&parentPage=search

You'll also need a socket for the relay - http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062476

The only problem with this tye of socket is it requires soldering and can be cumbersome to mount. I did see one on Ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/Idec-RH2B-ULC-120-Volt-Relay-With-Base_W0QQitemZ7562490705QQihZ019QQcategoryZ78205QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
which has screw terminals and should be easier to work with. You'll want to put this in some type of small enclosure which you could pick up at Lowes or Home Depot.
You can send me a PM if you have any questions.

Mark
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Mark Steele wrote:

You could use a 120 volt DPDT relay and utilize the Normally Closed contact(s) to supply the motion sensor.

I just thought of a better solution that doesn't involve any more hardware. Since the interface from the LOR software to X-10 is a CM11A, and macros can be stored on the CM11A, I'll just store a macro that turns the motion sensor lights on when an off command is received on some unused unit number, say D-11. Then, my background sequence will include a channel set to X10 unit D-11 that is on the entire show. When the show ends, LOR will send an off command to D-11, and that should invoke the macro that turns the motion sensor lights back on.

The only thing I'm unsure about is if the macro will work when the command is sent from the computer to the CM11A, rather than the CM11A "hearing" the command on the power line.
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