Elk M1 and Lutron Radio RA2

[dw886]

Hi-
 
I've been working on integrating Radio RA2 and my Elk M1.  I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with integrating these two systems.
 
I already have a number of Radio RA2 devices deployed, and the Radio RA2 Main Repeater hooked up to my Elk.  I can control lights via M1ToGo, and everything works great.
 
Ultimately, I'd like to have a couple of different things happen depending on the Alarm state, for instance, I'd like the Radio RA2 system to randomly turn lights on/off when the Elk M1 system is armed to "Vacation" to simulate someone being at home.
 
I found some decent (but generic) documentation on how Radio RA2 integrates to alarm panels on the Lutron website.  I have the link, but for some reason I can't get it to paste into this window (but I can share via email or some other means if someone wants it).
 
The documentation states that you can set "Phantom button" 92 to On, and that will put set the Radio RA2 system timeclock to "Away mode".  In the Radio RA2 software, you can have scheduled events that only fire when the Radio RA2 system is in "Away mode", so everything seems very straightforward.
 
Basically, I have two questions that I'm trying to figure out:
1.) I can't tell if I'm successfully getting the Radio RA2 system into "Away Mode" by turning on this phantom button via an Elk M1 rule.  I need to figure out if this is being activated or not on the Radio RA2 side of things...does anyone know how you can see the status on the Lutron system?
2.) From the Elk training rules on Radio RA2 integration (also in the documentation on the M1XSLU), they cover how to activate a "Phantom button", but it doesn't tell if you it operates as a toggle.  In the rules, you set the dim level on the main repeater to the button number that you're trying to press, so to activate phantom button 92, you set the dim level on the main repeater to 92.  That being said, I have no idea on how to turn it off.  If I set the dim level to 92 twice, does the first one turn on the phantom button, and the second time that I do it, does it turn it off?  Or, do I set the dim level to 92 to activate the button for "Vacation", and then set the dim level to something else (like 95) when I return?
 
if anyone has any experience with this, please share, and thanks for any info that you can provide.
 
Thanks!

 

[dgage]

dw886,
 
One way to know if RadioRa2 received a command is to login with Telnet (I use the Putty application).  This assumes you have your RadioRa2 connected to your network via the Ethernet, although I'm sure you could do it via serial but I think your serial connection is already in use by the Elk connection. 
 
Step 1. Go into the RadioRa2 Essentials Software and setup a username and password.  Settings menu --> Integration.
Step 2. Find out the IP address of your Main Repeater.  Under the Design tab, select the room where your Main Repeater is installed and you will see the IP address under the repeater on right.
Step 3. Login to the Main Repeater with the Telnet software.  Enter the username and password you setup in Step 1.
 
Now you should be able to monitor button presses and even send manual commands.  So when you send the Phantom button, it should show up in your Telnet window.  Take a look at the Lutron Integration Protocol document for more info on manually sending commands or what the command structure means.
 
Let us know if you have any issues.
 
David

 

[dw886]

Hey David-
 
Thanks for the advice.  I was able to follow your advice, and see that the commands were indeed making it from the Elk to the Radio RA2 Main Repeater. 
 
I then went into the Essentials software, found the Main Repeater, and looked at the "Phantom Button" 92.  I was under the impression that the alarm Phantom Buttons that Lutron documents are already programmed the way that they're listed in their generic guide, but they are listed as a multi-room scene rather than a timeclock mode, and therefore weren't adjusting the timeclock mode.  I changed Phantom buttom 92 to an "Away" timeclock mode button, and changed Phantom button 94 to a "Normal" timeclock mode button.
 
Also, there's a note on the screen that only one timeclock mode is allowed at a time.  So basically, I set it to 92 when away, and 94 when I return (I don't have to worry about turning 92 back off, because turning 94 on will subsequently turn off 92 anyway).
 
Thanks for the help David - I'm testing with the buttons setup as timeclock mode, but at the moment, I'm assuming that's what I missed.
 
Thanks!

 

[dgage]

You're very welcome. And thanks for circling back and sharing what you found. Good stuff and I'm sure I and others will benefit from what you learned and shared.