Integrating UPB with HAI OmniPro II

I have an OmniPro II and my light switches and dimmer modules are UPB. The OmniPro II can switch the lights ON and OFF no problem through a serial interface to the mains power but is there anyway for the OmniPro II to be able to receive the UPB messages from the light switches? Flicking a switch turns the linked light OFF and ON but the OmniPRo II does not register the change in state of the Unit.  

Search this site for HLC.
The HLC system tracks status, key presses, etc. you can use any brand UPB. With HLC as long as you follow a few rules.

For the switch press on or off the Omni is looking for a specific link number, and then determines which switch unit sent it to detect on or off actions.

Innervations said:

I have an OmniPro II and my light switches and dimmer modules are UPB. The OmniPro II can switch the lights ON and OFF no problem through a serial interface to the mains power but is there anyway for the OmniPro II to be able to receive the UPB messages from the light switches? Flicking a switch turns the linked light OFF and ON but the OmniPRo II does not register the change in state of the Unit.  

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Yes you can do that indirectly.  Under "Trigger" look toward the bottom and you will see "UPB Link."  If you have your link numbers defined you will be able to select a named link, so you can check for any link and trigger on that link occuring. Also if you have your UPB switch reporting its status changes, you can trigger on that as well.

If you stay with UPB mode you will need to do a lot of additional programming.

I don't really want to stay with UPB but was an early adopter and now there are so many better technologies. I can't really afford to swap out all the UPB light switches in the house but was thinking of getting rid of the UPB units (dimmers) and use the OmniPro II to register the light switch changes and then drive the units using say ethernet or even serial port to a bank of relays switching the 240V relays to the lights.  

To clarify.
I meant UPB vs. HLC mode in the Omni.

HLC is just a structured allocation of UPB unit IDs and Links.

Much of the status tracking load is hardcoded in the firmware, so little additional programming is needed to operate in HLC mode.

UPB technology is excellent, reliable, simple and robust.
The fact that it operates as a stand alone system has important advantages.
Once the switches are programmed, it does not requrire a controller running to implement the lighting schemes, nor a LAN/Internet connection.
Loss of a single switch does not take down the entire system.
No additional wiring is required.

I second that. UPB is fantastic.  Can you name another technology where any switch can control an other switch (or a group of switches) without any type of master controller whatsoever?  There is none.  I'm selling a house with lots of UPB switches that I'm leaving.  I'm installing an Omni LTe controller for some control, but even without that, I'll install a keypad in the kitchen, so with one button click I can turn all lights on, all lights off, party mode, all ceiling fans on, etc.  Its very impressive to show, and no controller is required.

Innervations said:

I don't really want to stay with UPB but was an early adopter and now there are so many better technologies. I can't really afford to swap out all the UPB light switches in the house but was thinking of getting rid of the UPB units (dimmers) and use the OmniPro II to register the light switch changes and then drive the units using say ethernet or even serial port to a bank of relays switching the 240V relays to the lights.  

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I'd really be interested in hearing what you think are better (in the same price range) technologies than UPB.  It's definitely not Zwave, Zigbee or Insteon.
 
As others have stated, HLC is just HAI's method of pre-allocating UPB unit and link ID's.  Group your switches by rooms and follow their allocation scheme and you will have 100% status tracking with no coding.  There are some posts here somewhere that link to HAI technical docs on the allocation.

Thanks everyone. Great advice. I will try HLC through the OmniPro II. My current switches and units are UPB Generation I and there has always been problems with reliability. Perhaps 1-2 in 10 switch changes do not get recognized correctly by the linked unit. Some of the units have failed altogether and I need to replace.

1) Is generation III much better than generation I UPB?
2) can different generations of UPB be mixed in the one system?

Thanks for all the help.

Yes different generations can be mixed.

What country (electrical system) are you in?
Do you have a phase coupler installed?

Most of my switches are Simply Automated which have Gen I electronics with Gen II software.

I am in Australia with 240v and 50hz AC. I have PLLC http://powerlinecontrol.com switches and dimmers. I have a three phase coupler installed but having problems with it. UpStart cannot communicate with it and I can only "see" the switches and dimmers on the phase that I connect the computer with PIM and Upstart into. I think this is my major problem at the moment.

ano said:

 Can you name another technology where any switch can control an other switch (or a group of switches) without any type of master controller whatsoever?  There is none. 

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Centralite Jetstream

Sounds like my system was not setup properly in the first place as there has never been integration between the OPII and the UPB switches. The OPII can control the units but does not register switch changes. Switches changes are linked to the units and can turn lights off and on but OPII does not register this.
 
I have looked through the HAI documentation but am struggling to understand how to "HLC is just HAI's method of pre-allocating UPB unit and link ID's". I have used UpStart to configure all the switches and units. They all have ID's. Do I use HAI PCAccess to implement HLC with links between the switches, units and the OPII? Is there some user guide on this?
 
Thanks in advance.  

What brand are the UPB switches? If they are HAI have a read through the link below. You can use PC Access or the OmniPro console to reprogram the switch with the UPB links required for HLC mode. From there you can change things as needed with Upstart.
Otherwise at the bottom of the page click "Can I configure non-HLC products to work like the HAI Lighting Scheme", which has a PDF showing the UPB links to manually program in Upstart.
 
http://kb.homeauto.com/default.asp?id=547&Lang=1

The UPB switches are from Powerline Lighting Control manufactured in Australia to suit our 240V 50Hz electricity. http://powerlinecontrol.com/
 
I selected "Can I configure non-HLC products to work like the HAI Lighting Scheme" but this gives me a series of PDF's with tables in them. I am very sorry for my ignorance but where and how do I enter these values? UPStart? PC-Access?