HAI Lighting...UPB Feedback from links

[RHT]

I have an Omni Pro II (with UPB Lights) and have reprogrammed the lighting to trigger UPB links instead of directly turning on and off the UPB switches. I have done this because I like how the UPB system ramps/dims all lights over various time frames which gives the lighting a much more elegant feel.

The problem is that the omni does not know what state the switches are in after a link has been activated, so when I check into the panel remotely...it looks as if I have a bunch of lights on when they are not.

Am I missing something, or do the switches not allways report their on/off state back to the Omni? When I manually turn on or off the switches, the omni does see the change

So why is using the link any different?..the switch still turns on or off etc.....

 

[bfisher]

The issue is that links behave differently. What you are seeing is normal (I have the same problem with my HVPro). My understanding is that link commands are broadcast and switches that "hear" their link respond. Link commands are not sending out individual switch data.

To work around this:
a) program your Omni so when it sees a link command, it updates the switch status. Easy and fast - but can be a pain to manage if you are changing your link programming regularly.

b ) program your Omni to query your switches a few seconds after it hears a link command issued. You can query them all, or just the switches you know are in the link.

I do some of both... usually b initially, and once I have the link set with no changes planned, then I do a.

 

[RHT]

The issue is that links behave differently. What you are seeing is normal (I have the same problem with my HVPro). My understanding is that link commands are broadcast and switches that "hear" their link respond. Link commands are not sending out individual switch data.

To work around this:
a) program your Omni so when it sees a link command, it updates the switch status. Easy and fast - but can be a pain to manage if you are changing your link programming regularly.

b ) program your Omni to query your switches a few seconds after it hears a link command issued. You can query them all, or just the switches you know are in the link.

I do some of both... usually b initially, and once I have the link set with no changes planned, then I do a.

Very Cool..

I am not familiar with how to query for status

How do you do this?

RHT

 

[electron]

I have the same issue with my Elk M1, so it isn't just you for sure.

 

[bfisher]

I'm not sure how you would do it in the omni or elk. In HVPro, I added a short macro that advances from switch to switch and asks for it's current status.

I have two types of update routines:
1) queries all switches - does this at infrequent periods (overnight, after leaving house, etc). This takes a while (about 1 second per switch/device... it adds up quickly)

2) Queries just the switches in the link. I have a look up table that holds a listing of each switch number that's in each link... and the macro just queries the switches that are listed as being in the link. This is very fast since it's only checking a few switches at a time.

In my HVPro, it was pretty easy... but I don't know how to do it in other controllers.

 

[RHT]

I'm not sure how you would do it in the omni or elk. In HVPro, I added a short macro that advances from switch to switch and asks for it's current status.

I have two types of update routines:
1) queries all switches - does this at infrequent periods (overnight, after leaving house, etc). This takes a while (about 1 second per switch/device... it adds up quickly)

2) Queries just the switches in the link. I have a look up table that holds a listing of each switch number that's in each link... and the macro just queries the switches that are listed as being in the link. This is very fast since it's only checking a few switches at a time.

In my HVPro, it was pretty easy... but I don't know how to do it in other controllers.

Hi,

Thanks again for the info, I did find where the omni can query, but it is by switch only, not globally...

I made a macro that queries each switch every 5 minutes which is fine for me as I only really look at the status remotely using snap-link

This is a small price to pay (I think) to have the uniform dimming and fade rates that UPB links offer.

RHT

 

[bfisher]

Glad it's working. But do you really need to query every 5 minutes? Doesn't your Omni recognize when a link command is issued? Just set up a macro so whenever a link command is issued, it then checks all your switches.

Otherwise seems like a lot of overhead checking every 5 minutes, plus if you issue a command :01 after the last check, it'll be wrong for 4:59..

 

[RHT]

Glad it's working. But do you really need to query every 5 minutes? Doesn't your Omni recognize when a link command is issued? Just set up a macro so whenever a link command is issued, it then checks all your switches.

Otherwise seems like a lot of overhead checking every 5 minutes, plus if you issue a command :01 after the last check, it'll be wrong for 4:59..

\
Good point, I will change this

RHT