Greetings,
I have been struggling to understand an HAI controlled system layout for a family member, the installer for which has gone out of business and left no documentation for the system. I have been getting a handle on the use and maintenance of the system, however the main issue right now is that some light switches in the house that should not be linked have become so (e.g., pressing the light switch in the utility room also turns on the guest bathroom vanity lights). I am at a loss as to how to diagnose and correct this, primarily due to what appears to be a slightly non-standard system setup.
First, a description of the current setup for lighting control:
Controller: HAI OmniPro II
Switches: Insteon 2476S
Interface: X10 Pro PSC05 connected to the X10 port on the OmniPro II board
The system is currently managed using PC Access (dealer)/Snaplink. The OmniPro II Units configuration within PC Access is as follows:
Firmware: 3.12
Units -> Dealer Settings:
- House Code: A
- X-10 3-Phase: No
- (No UPB devices are installed)
Within the Setup -> Units window, the switches appear as such (an example entry):
#021
Annotation: (B5/BR1-21)
Unit Name/Description: KitchenDoorI/Kitchen Inside Door Light
Voices: none
Areas: 12 (Area 2 is unused in the Omni)
House Code Format: Extended
Enable All On: Yes
Enable All Off: Yes
Address/Node ID: n/a
The remaining switches in the house are similar, with different data for the Annotation/Description for each. Each of the switches is configured for the 'Extended' House Code Format, put in groups of 16 by PC Access. Based on the PC Access help file, the annotations match with an 'Extended X-10' setup. There does not appear to be any documentation on what the annotation actually means in terms of the X10 addresses though. My (incomplete and probably incorrect) guess is:
B5: X10 House B, Address 5
BR1-21: I have no idea
It is unclear how the installer initially configured the switches -- I am not familiar with X10 (new to home automation in general), but it's apparent from online research that the protocol is effectively dead. The family member remembers seeing the installer walk around with some sort of hand held device with a screen; this is the best description I can get. After pouring over the internet and various forums for background information and manuals, I spent the better part of two days trying to find some free software that could talk to the switches directly through the PSC05 with no luck. PC Access does not appear to offer any functionality when it comes to X10 other than basic communication.
There are 3 basic questions I'm trying to answer at this point:
1. What does the Annotation decode to in PC Access for various house code formats (specifically X10)?
2. How can I identify the X10 programming information for the switches?
3. How can I diagnose and correct incorrectly linked switches?
I'm fairly certain I will need an Insteon PLM such as the 2413U, since the switches are all Insteon 2476S. Once the 2413U is obtained, I'm still not sure how to go about mapping and correcting the switches -- the HouseLinc software from Insteon has X10 capability, but it's not clear whether or not it can automatically identify or reprogram the switches.
If anyone out there has any experience or suggestions, it would be very much appreciated.
I have been struggling to understand an HAI controlled system layout for a family member, the installer for which has gone out of business and left no documentation for the system. I have been getting a handle on the use and maintenance of the system, however the main issue right now is that some light switches in the house that should not be linked have become so (e.g., pressing the light switch in the utility room also turns on the guest bathroom vanity lights). I am at a loss as to how to diagnose and correct this, primarily due to what appears to be a slightly non-standard system setup.
First, a description of the current setup for lighting control:
Controller: HAI OmniPro II
Switches: Insteon 2476S
Interface: X10 Pro PSC05 connected to the X10 port on the OmniPro II board
The system is currently managed using PC Access (dealer)/Snaplink. The OmniPro II Units configuration within PC Access is as follows:
Firmware: 3.12
Units -> Dealer Settings:
- House Code: A
- X-10 3-Phase: No
- (No UPB devices are installed)
Within the Setup -> Units window, the switches appear as such (an example entry):
#021
Annotation: (B5/BR1-21)
Unit Name/Description: KitchenDoorI/Kitchen Inside Door Light
Voices: none
Areas: 12 (Area 2 is unused in the Omni)
House Code Format: Extended
Enable All On: Yes
Enable All Off: Yes
Address/Node ID: n/a
The remaining switches in the house are similar, with different data for the Annotation/Description for each. Each of the switches is configured for the 'Extended' House Code Format, put in groups of 16 by PC Access. Based on the PC Access help file, the annotations match with an 'Extended X-10' setup. There does not appear to be any documentation on what the annotation actually means in terms of the X10 addresses though. My (incomplete and probably incorrect) guess is:
B5: X10 House B, Address 5
BR1-21: I have no idea
It is unclear how the installer initially configured the switches -- I am not familiar with X10 (new to home automation in general), but it's apparent from online research that the protocol is effectively dead. The family member remembers seeing the installer walk around with some sort of hand held device with a screen; this is the best description I can get. After pouring over the internet and various forums for background information and manuals, I spent the better part of two days trying to find some free software that could talk to the switches directly through the PSC05 with no luck. PC Access does not appear to offer any functionality when it comes to X10 other than basic communication.
There are 3 basic questions I'm trying to answer at this point:
1. What does the Annotation decode to in PC Access for various house code formats (specifically X10)?
2. How can I identify the X10 programming information for the switches?
3. How can I diagnose and correct incorrectly linked switches?
I'm fairly certain I will need an Insteon PLM such as the 2413U, since the switches are all Insteon 2476S. Once the 2413U is obtained, I'm still not sure how to go about mapping and correcting the switches -- the HouseLinc software from Insteon has X10 capability, but it's not clear whether or not it can automatically identify or reprogram the switches.
If anyone out there has any experience or suggestions, it would be very much appreciated.