Some OmniPro II new user questions

[fcwilt]

Hi,

New OmniPro II user here with some entry level questions.

1. Certain items like UNITS have NAME and DESCRIPTION properties. Yet when displayed on the console the NAME is used, though there appears to be room to display more characters then allowed for the NAME. Sometimes it's tough to come up with a meaningful name in the 12 characters allowed for the name. Could not the DESCRIPTION have been displayed instead? Perhaps as an option?

2. Certain items like LINKS have fixed names. When accessing them from the console they cannot be scrolled through but must (it seems) be selected by entering the number. Why do these certain items NOT have user assignable names? Why is scrolling not allowed?

3. To my way of thinking UPB Links are the way UPB implements scenes yet SCENES and LINKS are separate items. Why is that?

4. UNITS are accessed through the CONTROL menu item (via the console), yet UPB LINKS are accessed through the ALL menu item. Since the same devices (say UPB dimmers) are being controlled, why the different menu items (CONTROL and ALL)? Clearly SCENES and LINKS are not going to always control all devices. It would seem to me that SCENES and LINKS could be just as at home under the CONTROL menu item.

Just curious as to the why of things.

Thanks much.

 

[cornutt]

I'll take a crack at it...

1. Certain items like UNITS have NAME and DESCRIPTION properties. Yet when displayed on the console the NAME is used, though there appears to be room to display more characters then allowed for the NAME. Sometimes it's tough to come up with a meaningful name in the 12 characters allowed for the name. Could not the DESCRIPTION have been displayed instead? Perhaps as an option?

The DESCRIPTIONs are not stored in the controller; they are only known to PC Access. It's probably a memory issue. The controller only has so much memory for storing character strings, and there are a gazillion possible things that can be named when you take into consideration, say, all of the possible units and all of the possible zones. Especially on an OPII.

2. Certain items like LINKS have fixed names. When accessing them from the console they cannot be scrolled through but must (it seems) be selected by entering the number. Why do these certain items NOT have user assignable names? Why is scrolling not allowed?

How about that. I never tried to send a link from the console before. You're absolutely right; you can't use the arrows to scroll through the link names. I don't know if this is a controller issue or a console issue.

You can name UPB links in PC Access. In the Setup tab, it's one of the choices under Scenes; you have to click on the little + box to expand the outline. But the names don't appear on the console. I wonder if they would appear on a touchscreen. After I get my 5.7e hooked up, I'll try that.

3. To my way of thinking UPB Links are the way UPB implements scenes yet SCENES and LINKS are separate items. Why is that?

The general category of "scenes" includes provisions for how six different systems implement them. For example, Z-Wave scenes work a lot differently from UPB links. Scene setup and control is one of those things, like programming, that's just not very practical to do from the console.

4. UNITS are accessed through the CONTROL menu item (via the console), yet UPB LINKS are accessed through the ALL menu item. Since the same devices (say UPB dimmers) are being controlled, why the different menu items (CONTROL and ALL)? Clearly SCENES and LINKS are not going to always control all devices. It would seem to me that SCENES and LINKS could be just as at home under the CONTROL menu item.

I guess the idea was to limit the CONTROL menu to single-unit control. I can understand that; it keeps the nested menus under control. The ALL menu is where scene control for the different systems live. If you go to it and scroll past the first page, you'll notice choices for different systems.

There have been a couple of things that I had a hard time finding on the console when I was first learning my system (in particular, the firmware revision, which isn't where the manual says it is). But there's only so many buttons to work with, so I understand. They didn't want the console to come out looking like Mission Control because it would intimidate most users. There are some things where it's always going to be a heck of a lot easier to use PC Access.

 

[fcwilt]

Thanks very much for the effort. What you say makes sense. I realize the controlling the whole setup from a console is not the best approach, but since it was there I thought I would explore how it worked.

One thing I did find surprising was the console displayed options for things not configured, such as (under the ALL item) PHANTOM and CENLIT. You might think they would hide things you couldn't actually do.

I would hope the touchscreens can be made more user friendly. Perhaps you will post your findings? I don't think that, when it comes to the automation parts of the system, the console would have a very high WAF. I don't think I would even TRY to get my wife to use it, she is sort of a techno-phobe.

Thanks again!

 

[PaulD]

You can name UPB links in PC Access. In the Setup tab, it's one of the choices under Scenes; you have to click on the little + box to expand the outline. But the names don't appear on the console. I wonder if they would appear on a touchscreen. After I get my 5.7e hooked up, I'll try that.

Unless I have missed something, UPB links will not show up on your 5.7e in its factory settings. I have Automation Studio and I have not seen any obvious way to show links. However, AS has many "not very obvious" ways to do creative things. On the 5.7e, there are ways to display various items such as Units, buttons, thermostats, etc but I cannot find any way to display links. In general, if you want to trigger a link, you need to create a button and then have your PCAccess program set up to trigger the link when the button is pressed.

 

[cornutt]

I would hope the touchscreens can be made more user friendly. Perhaps you will post your findings? I don't think that, when it comes to the automation parts of the system, the console would have a very high WAF. I don't think I would even TRY to get my wife to use it, she is sort of a techno-phobe.

I just received my touchscreen this week, and I haven't installed it yet. There are threads here from people who have done a lot of stuff with Automation Studio. That's something you want to look at. As for the console, yeah, just train the family to use it for arming and disarming.