HAI OmniPro II with Insteon 2476S Switches, X10 PSC05 Interface

0ptimist

New Member
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.
 
With HouseLinc, I believe you will need to tell HouseLinc about each device. There are several ways to do so, e.g. entering the Insteon address for each one (with switches, take off the switchplate and the address should be visible) or by going to each device and pressing the Set button. You can tell HouseLinc you are adding multiple devices so you don't have to keep going back to the computer while doing the latter.

Once HouseLinc knows about the switches, you can check and change the assigned X10 address for each switch as well as any Insteon links (if any are present, sounds like they may not be).

The HouseLinc manual is available on the HouseLinc download page, http://www.smarthome.com/houselinc.html See page 7 for Adding Insteon Devices. (You would use this procedure rather than the one for adding X10 devices, even if there are no Insteon links in the system. Use the procedure for adding X10 devices only if you have X10-only devices AND you want HouseLinc to take over running your system.)

If you need a PLM, they are 20% off today on Smarthome, plus free shipping.
 
Your HAI OPII panel will only talk X10 to the Insteon switches. 
 
I ran this way with my Insteon switches for a while using Homeseer software to talk Insteon and the panel talking X10.
 
How can I identify the X10 programming information for the switches?
 
I really don't know of a way to see the X-10 programming other than what PCA shows you. 
 
The Insteon PLM software I used only showed the Insteon stuff.
 
You can walk around with an old Radio Shack controller and use what you see on PCA to validate the switches X10 addresses.
 
If it not working accordingly you can reprogram the X10 part by putting the Insteon switch into programming mode (blinking light) and use an old Radio Shack X10 controller to program the switch.  IE: thinking its like hitting the "A1" on three times for A1.
 
You can relink the switches in a similiar methodology; IE: getting it to programming mode and going to the switch you want to link to the one that is blinking.
 
BTW I used the Insteon switches back then mosly in X10 mode with the HAI panel.  Worked fine for me.
 
There is no Insteon controller for the HAI OPII panel as far as I know.  I have migrated my mostly Insteon wall switches to UPB and have kept the TW-523 (well now its an XTB) in place and added a Z-Wave PIM.
 
In a quickie recap I used the HAI OPII panel in X10 mode to the Insteon switches and linking between the switches was done in Insteon mode.  Worked fine for a few years like this.
 
The 2476S SwitchLincs probably have an optional X10 Primary Address programmed into them. So a 2413 PLM is not needed to control them if they have an X10 Primary Address in them.
 
Since the 2476S is a two way device. If you turn them On and Off with the local paddles. They send an X10 On and Off using the House Code and Unit Code programmed into them. I am not familiar with that controller but if it can show received X10 messages. You can see what they are programmed to by the signals they send on the power lines when locally toggled..
 
If you can see a white sticker on it metal frame piece. It may give you a hardware revision.
We maybe able to find you the manual for the 2476S but early and late ones where different. Like the early ones used a completely different way to Factory Reset them and had no Air Gap Power removing switch tied into the Set Button.
 
BLH said:
The 2476S SwitchLincs probably have an optional X10 Primary Address programmed into them. So a 2413 PLM is not needed to control them if they have an X10 Primary Address in them.
 
Since the 2476S is a two way device. If you turn them On and Off with the local paddles. They send an X10 On and Off using the House Code and Unit Code programmed into them. I am not familiar with that controller but if it can show received X10 messages. You can see what they are programmed to by the signals they send on the power lines when locally toggled..
 
If you can see a white sticker on it metal frame piece. It may give you a hardware revision.
We maybe able to find you the manual for the 2476S but early and late ones where different. Like the early ones used a completely different way to Factory Reset them and had no Air Gap Power removing switch tied into the Set Button.
 
I have found a manual at SmartHome (www.smarthome.com/manuals/2476s.pdf) with a revision date of 4/25/12.  It appears to pertain to a later revision of the switches, since the only mention of X10 is that it's no longer supported.  The switches in the house were installed in either 2008 or 2009; I'll have to confirm.
 
As best I can tell there's no way with HAI's PC Access software to see the received messages, other than a basic On/Off status.  Just to clarify, the 2413U PLM wouldn't necessarily be to control the switches -- the OmniPro and PC Access/Snaplink are working fine for that.  The 2413 (or some other kind of PLM that can speak X10) is necessary so I can do two things:
 
1. Determine the current programmed X10 address (unless this is already part of the PC Access Unit Annotation that I don't understand).
2. Re-program the swtiches to unlink switches that have become spontaneously linked.
 
I'm not sure what the hardware revision on the switches is, and unfortunately I won't be able to get an answer for awhile, as it's a vacation home and it will be some time before someone will be there to get a look.  I'll add it to the to-do list.

 
jdale said:
With HouseLinc, I believe you will need to tell HouseLinc about each device. There are several ways to do so, e.g. entering the Insteon address for each one (with switches, take off the switchplate and the address should be visible) or by going to each device and pressing the Set button. You can tell HouseLinc you are adding multiple devices so you don't have to keep going back to the computer while doing the latter.

Once HouseLinc knows about the switches, you can check and change the assigned X10 address for each switch as well as any Insteon links (if any are present, sounds like they may not be).

The HouseLinc manual is available on the HouseLinc download page, http://www.smarthome.com/houselinc.html See page 7 for Adding Insteon Devices. (You would use this procedure rather than the one for adding X10 devices, even if there are no Insteon links in the system. Use the procedure for adding X10 devices only if you have X10-only devices AND you want HouseLinc to take over running your system.)

If you need a PLM, they are 20% off today on Smarthome, plus free shipping.
 
This is good, thanks.  I probably would have tried the X10 procedure and made an even bigger mess of things.  I've picked up a PLM (thanks for the deal pointer) and the next time someone can get to the house we'll try this procedure and gather the revision information from the switches.
 
The Annotation: (B5/BR1-21) means that the X10 unit is programmed to house code B and unit code 5; you can ignore BR1-21, in HAI context it denotes extended X10 unit type.
 
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