UPB configuration into OminPro

Hi,
 
I have been changing the names of the lighting units within UpStart (UPB) application but cannot work out how these get uploaded into Omnipro II and subsequently down into my iPhone with updated names.
 
If I go into PC Access application (Ominpro) I can see the lighting unit names but they are the old ones. What action needs to take place to move the updated ones from UpStart into PC Access ? 
 
Thanks in advance.
 
Peter
 
 
 

You need to type the names into PC Access.  The two programs don't talk to each other.  Fortunately, it's not something you have to do often.

Make sure you name the scenes in both the UPB and HLC areas too.
You maintain the Omni data base through PCAccess.
 
Names in UPStart or PCAccess are for convenience in managing the UPB network.
All of the commands among the switches and Omni, or other controllers, are sent to and from unit ID numbers.
(So even if the names are not correct between the two, the switches will respond properly as long as the unit ID numbers are the same.)
 
When making changes I usually have both UPStart and PCAccess running.
I make a change in one, then switch applications and immediately make the same change in the other in order to keep the two databases synced.
 
Once the changes are made in PCAccess, they have to be uploaded to the controller so they can then be updated in mobile devices.

thanks JonW and Desert, appreciate you taking the time to respond with the answer.

Des anyone know of books or youtube videos that explain the process of integrating UPB and the Omni controllers. I am totally lost with the whole UpStart, PCAccess setup. I have looked at the guides on HAI Website for setting up non-HLC hardware with Omni controllers but it is just tables of IDs, numbers and settings with no explanation of how to and where to enter this info. :-(

Please excuse my ignorance.

This forum is the best resource.
Search for HLC in particular.
 
It took a bit of planning and reading to understand, but once the light came on the system is actually pretty simple and flexible.
 
The HAI docs and help file in PCAccess aren't very good.
The HAI knowledge base is pretty good, but the search engine is not very good.  It' hard to find things sometimes.
The knowledge base articles explain what those pdfs mean.
There is a knowledge base article for using non HAI UPB switches in an HLC configuration.
 
Search the forum, this has been discussed, so typing here would just repeat info.
Once you read the relevant threads, there are several, you will have a better basis from which we can answer specific questions.
The best place to start is to play with the switches and UPStart to understand the UPB side of things.
 
You'll need to plan your layout room by room and switch by switch.  Anticipate any future needs or expansion. 
I made a spreadsheet and separated all the unit ids into their appropriate rooms, i.e., Room 1 units 1-8, Room 2 units 9-16, etc.
Then I wrote the six room links in columns across the top, ON, OFF, A, B, C, D.  I included the actual link numbers here because they will be needed to program PCAccess and UPStart, i.e., Room 1 ON is UPB Link 1, OFF is Link 2, A is Link 3, B is Link 4, C is Link 5 and D is Link 6., etc.
Then I added the remaining links, taking note of the pre allocated links in the pdfs.
 
You use UPStart to program the switches, unit id, links, link responses, etc.
You use PCAccess to program the Omni controller.
 
 
Remember rooms don't need to be physical rooms.  They can be logical.
For instance, I have a "room" labeled "Fans" that has all of my bath and laundry room fans in it, even though they are in different rooms or even on different levels, of the house.  I use the room on off links to turn them all on or off and each of the A, B, C and D links to turn on or off one actual room.  That's just an example.

Thanks heaps Desert_AIP! This is really helpful. I already have a better understanding. I will get started with just one room of switches and dimmers and come back with any questions. Thanks again.

Some relevant knowledgebase links

http://kb.homeauto.com/default.asp?id=547&Lang=1
Note the notes, especially in section 4.

http://kb.homeauto.com/default.asp?id=637&Lang=1&SID=

http://kb.homeauto.com/default.asp?id=829&Lang=1&SID=

http://kb.homeauto.com/default.asp?id=546&Lang=1&SID=

I've read through this but I'm still confused.  I've always used UPB mode so this hasn't been an issue, but I'd like to try HLC mode. 
 
I understand how the panel can program the switches, but if I don't use HAI switches, I have to do it myself with upstart. The question is, how do I set it correctly?  When I try to use the panel to configure a switch, it says "Switch Not Recognised"
 
Lets say I want to program the first switch in room 1. This is unit 2, because I think unit 1 is the room controller. So I assume I use UpStart, and program this device as Device #2, and add the links they have, 1,2,3,4,5,6.  O.K.  Is that it?  If I don't have any house controller or room controller, do I still need to program these links?  Is there a benefit to use HLC is I don't use HAI's room and house controllers?

All HLC is is a structured allocation of links and units into groups known as "Rooms".
The big benefit is automatic status tracking (for the majority of the lighting changes)
 
You have to program the non HAI switches in UPStart, the Omni won't do the auto config for SA, PCS, Western Mountain or other brands.
 
Yes the first switch in Room 1 is unit 2.
You still have to name Unit 1 in PCAccess as that is the room identifier.
 
The default behaviors for the six room links are the same for all rooms.
This is the behavior the controller expects. 
When you send one of the links you will see the controller change the status to the expected behavior.
But it follows up after the UPB delay with a status request to all units in the room to determine the actual status.
This is why you can make the links do something other than the default behavior and the status will remain synced correctly.
 
For Room 1
Link 1 = Room ON
Link 2 = Room OFF
Link 3 = Link A = 80%
Link 4 = Link B = 60%
Link 5 = Link C = 40%
Link 6 = Link D = 20%
 
For Room 2 the same behaviors occur for links 7-12, etc.
 
Link 241 is the universal signal for Local Load ON
Link 242 is the universal signal for Local Load OFF
This is how the Omni tells when a particular switch is turned on or off.
When it sees link 241 or 242 it checks to see which unit it came from, and then updates the status of that switch as appropriate.
You have to use these links if you want to do any conditional programming based on a particular switch turning ON or OFF.
 
i.e. 

WHEN Kitchen Lights ON
  THEN (do something)
 

Click to expand...

When you auto program an HAI switch it simply programs all those links into the switch for you.
If you examined an HLC switch in UPStart you would see this.
You just have to do it manually for other brands.
 
So to mirror the exact behavior as HLC you would do the following for ALL switches in the room (detailed in the kb article and pdfs).
Essentially the top most section of this pdf, read across.
http://kb.homeauto.com/redirfile.asp?id=304&SID=
 
Set the Unit ID to 2-8 as appropriate
Program the top rocker to transmit Link 241
Program the bottom rocker to transmit Link 242
Program the rocker switch to transmit status
Program one register to receive Link 1 and Goto 100% at the rate specified
Program another register to receive Link 2 and Goto 0% at the rate specified
Program another register to receive Link 3 and Goto 80%
Program another register to receive Link 4 and Goto 60%
Program another register to receive Link 5 and Goto 40%
Program another register to receive Link 6 and Goto 20%
 
Repeat for each switch
 
In PCAccess name Unit 1 the Room Name, name the remaining units 2-8 as appropriate.
Ensure the UPB network number and passcode is the same in PCAccess and UPStart (and the switches).
 
Since the controller updates the status after it sees those links, you don't have to have them perform the default behavior and all the switches in the room do not have to respond to all of the links.
 
You could have any number of switches turn on or off to any level you desire with each of those links.
And if you have multi-room links like a "Welcome Home" or "Party" scene, you can make the other rooms respond to any link (they're just UPB links after all).
If you do cross-room links, the controller will NOT automatically update the status of the units in rooms the links do not "belong" to.  So you'll have to add some programming to maintain sync.  But in practice I find I only use a few links like that, so the additional programming is minimal.
Whereas in UPB mode you would have to program status updates for ALL links.
 
I recommend to program a room, then bring up the log in UPStart and send some links or turn switches on and off.
You will see the traffic from the switch, and then after the UPB delay the two-way status request and report from the Omni to all the switches.
You will see the Omni send status requests to all the switches in the room, even the empty units (i.e. there is no switch physically installed at Unit 8, it still sends a status request).
 
I made a spread sheet of all my switches and rooms and typed in the unit IDs and Links and then went through methodically to program the switches one room at a time in both UPStart and PCAccess to ensure both databases were identical and correct.
I also named the scenes in PCAccess in both the HLC area and the UPB area. 
The UPB Scene names are more intuitive. 
The controller will translate UPB Link 3 "Kitchen Prep" into "HLC Room 1 SCENE C" in PCAccess which loses a lot of its readability.

Also, the HLC links are all executed with the Activate command.
You can use them to deactivate the same set of lights by using the UPB version of the link with the Deactivate command.
The controller will still update the status since it is only looking for the link number.
This is a great way to control sub-groups of lights within a room.
Or use a "room" as a logical entity to control units together that are not physically located in the same room, such as all the exhast fans in the house.
 
That should get you started.
Good luck, go slow and be methodical.

A note on links 193-224.

These are reserved to use in 8 button House Status Switches for use as Room Controllers
They are essentially toggle links for the rooms.
You could also use them with something like a Simply Automated US2-40 with an 8 button faceplate, or a four button faceplate (using only 4 of the links).
Although the HAI docs group these links into 8 consecutive groups, you could program any combination of these links onto the 8 (or 4 buttons) to control any combination of rooms.

In the standard HLC set up you need two links to turn a room on and off.
For Room 1 these are Links 1 and 2 respectively.
You send the Activate command for both links and configure the switch to respond ON or OFF to the links as appropriate.
Since each button can only be assigned one link, to turn a room on and off would require two separate buttons, one for each link.

The room control links, 193-224, are for use in multi button controllers with the button set up in toggle mode.
This allows a single controller to toggle 8 rooms on and off rather than only 4 if forced to use the separate room ON/OFF links.
You do not configure the switches to respond to these links. They are only for communication to the Omni.
(you could configure the switches to respond to them if desired, but it isn't necessary. And if you make the response to these links different than the ON/OFF links you won't see the result you expect because of what the controller does with these links - see below).

In toggle mode, the switch or controller sends alternate Activate Link or Deactivate Link commands with successive presses of the button.
Note, there is NO SYNCING of toggle buttons among controllers.
If you have several toggle buttons configured with the same link, you may have to press it twice to achieve the desired result.
i.e. you press one room controller to turn the room on with an Activate Link, you walk across the room to another controller.
The first press of the button on the second controller would transmit an Activate command, since the lights were already on, nothing would appear to happen.
Pressing the button a second time would toggle it and transmit a Deactivate Link command. and teh lights would turn off.
If you then walked back to the first controller and pressed the button, it would toggle and transmit the Deactivate Link command, and nothing would appear to happen until you pressed it a second time and it toggled back to Activate Link.

To avoid this, instead of using the "Toggle" button function in UPStart, you could use the "Custom" button function.
You could make the single tap of a button always transmit the Activate command and a double tap always transmit the Deactivate command.
That way if you have multiple transmitters operating the same scene, such as a switch at the top and bottom of stairs, they won't get out of sync.

The room control link for Room 1 is 193.

When the Omni sees "Link 193 Activate" on the UPB network,
It responds by sending out Room 1 ON - "Link 1 Activate" over the UPB network.
Then, after the UPB delay, it sends the status requests and receives the states of each switch.

When the Omni sees "Link 193 Deactivate" on the UPB network,
It responds by sending out Room 1 OFF - "Link 2 Activate" over the UPB network.
Then, after the UPB delay, it sends the status requests and receives the states of each switch.

This is why you can't program different behavior response to Link 193. Because the Omni immediately follows it with a Room ON or OFF as appropriate.

This is the only situation where HLC uses the Deactivate command, all of the room links are setup to respond to Activate commands.

You don't necessarily have to use these links to turn a room on or off with a toggle action.
If you have all of the room switches configured to respond to one or both ON and OFF links, Deactivating either of those links will turn the lights off.

So if you have all of the switches configured to turn ON with Activate Link 1 (in Room 1), you can send a Deactivate Link 1 to turn them all off.

Advanced:
This can give you a fifth room link (the OFF link - Room 1 Link 2) to configure for general use among the room switches.
If you use the ON or OFF links in a manner other than their standard function, you will HAVE TO disable the ALL ON or ALL OFF response as appropriate, ALL OFF in this case.
Otherwise when you send an ALL OFF command the Omni will transmit Link 2 Activate and the action you programmed into Link 2 will occur rather than turning off the lights.

Note on ALL ON ALL OFF

When the Omni is instructed to send ALL ON or ALL OFF it does so room by room.
There is no HLC reserved link to activate all units simultaneously.
Each pair of rooms can be configured to respond to one or both of these commands.
So Room 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6, etc.
If Room 1 is programmed to respond to the command, Room 2 MUST BE (the software changes all 16 units together).
The ALL ON and ALL OFF responses can be configured independently among the pairs.

When the Omni is instructed to send ALL ON, it goes through each room sequentially.
It transmits Room 1 ON - Link 1 Activate, waits the UPB delay, then sends out the status requests and updates status fro Room 1.
It then moves on to Room 2, transmits Room 2 ON - Link 7 Activate, waits the UPB delay, then sends out the status requests and updates status ro Room 2.
And so on.
In a large install this can take several minutes.

You can set it up to have instantaneous simultaneous response and still track status.
Simply set up one of the free form links, 225-240, as an ALL LIGHTS link, and program each switch to respond to it.

Then in PCAccess you tell the controller to send the Link when it sees or sends the ALL ON or ALL OFF commands.
Assuming Link 225 is named All Lights
 

WHEN ALL ON
    THEN All Lights ACTIVATE

WHEN ALL OFF
    THEN All Lights DEACTIVATE
 

Click to expand...

 
The Omni will transmit the Activate/Deactivate links as appropriate and the switches will all respond together.
Then - the Omni will go through the room by room routine (because of the ALL ON or ALL OFF command) and send the Room ON (or OFF) links and update statuses.
Since the lights are already on, you won't see anything happening, but you can hear the commands or see them in the UPStart log.
So this way you get true All Lights behavior with all units responding simultaneously, and you get automatic and accurate status tracking.

Thank you so much Desert_AIP. This is an excellent description. I have read the HAI documentation, but it never explains how it works, only how to set it up, and that is a bit sparse at best.
 
Can you still create "3-way" switches where a remote switch (non-load controlling) that can send a link to another switch to turn on or off? 
 
So lets say the load switch, unit 2, has receive links 1-6, and transmits links 241 and 241 as required.  Can I still use a "remote switch" (without any load) to transmit link 1 on the top paddle, and link 2 on the bottom paddle so it can control the load? Would the panel pick that up correctly? Is there any way to keep the light on the remote switch "in-sync" with the main switch?
 

 

Yes.
The UPB network operates the same.
And (with the exception of Links 241 and 242) the Omni doesn't care where the links come from.
If you use a switch or a multi button unit as a link transmittter or a three-way it will work fine and maintain status tracking.

The link transmitter/3-way switch sends the link.
The switches see the link and respond.
The Omni sees the link and does its status update routine.
 
The trigger programming line in PCAccess is under the UPB Switch area.
"WHEN Unit 2 ON PRESSED".

To keep the remote switch LED synced with the load switch, just set up the receive links in the remote identical to the one controlling the load.
Be sure to include ramp rates and dim percentages and the LEDs will track together as the links are passed.

This is a situation where you will have trouble with programming Links 241/242 into the load switch.
You have to decide whether LED sync is more important to you than the Omni seeing "Unit 2 turn ON/OFF".
To keep the LEDs synced the load switch needs to transmit a link so the remote switch can see it and respond by turning its LED on and off.
Usually this would be the ON and OFF links, Links 1 and 2 in Room 1.

If you program Link 1 into the top rocker of the load switch and Link 2 into the bottom rocker, the LED on the remote will track.
And the Omni will track the status as usual.
But you won't be able to use "WHEN Unit 2 ON PRESSED" as a trigger in programming, because the Omni won't see Link 241 so won't know the unit sent the command.

You can still use the Link itself as a trigger in the Omni programming in PCAccess.
But you won't be able to distinguish between when the switch transimits the link and when it comes from some other source.

You could also use the free form links available and assign them the duty of operating the remote switch.
And also use those links in programming to trigger events. Since those links would only come from one source, it would be the same effect as a Unit On command.
You can't do that too much or you will burn up all of your links really quickly. But it is an option when you need both behaviors.

In general I set mine up so the LEDs track each other as I use very few "WHEN Unit 2 ON PRESSED" type triggers.
 

Very helpful. Thanks. I never realized that HLC could do all this. I'm definitly going to set it up this way in my new house.