Turning off multiple lights using M1XSP and Vizia+ VRCOP

[ddennerline]

I have a problem consistently turning off multiple lights using ElkM1XSP and Vizia+ VRCOP modules. The documentation seems to indicate the ‘opt’ field is not required if M1XSP is used. The only way that I can consistently get all the lights to turn off is:

• Use a Z-Wave group command
• Set ‘opt’ field for all the lights.

I have a small number of lights, and it’s not really worth trouble now to create static/fixed set of groups (downstairs, upstairs, all, etc...). My lighting configuration is changing.

Is anybody else experiencing the same problem?

 

[electron]

Another member in the chat room last night mentioned how he had trouble sending simultaneous commands to different UPB modules using the Elk M1. Hopefully he will see this thread. I would guess that it is difficult to do because of the low speed communications these protocols support. The OPT field does change the XSP behavior, I have verified that myself (I don't remember the details tho).

 

[George M]

I found the exact same thing with my M1 and Vizia VRCOP. I am using a macro with CQC, but am not really happy with that solution either.

 

[Deephaven]

Perhaps this is an ignorant answer, but couldn't you use a link for that purpose? I think this would mean that you would then have to poll the devices afterwards to figure out what state they are in, but it should allow you to manipulate multiple devices.

Currently this is what I am doing in CQC as I have yet to purchase a security panel.

 

[ddennerline]

In Z-Wave terminology, a group is equivalent to a UPD “link†command. The VRCOP supports creating up to 64 groups, and each group can have a variable number of dimmers/loads. I only have 6-8 devices right now and the configuration is changing. In order to setup up Z-Wave groups for VRCOP, LumenLink is the recommended solution. The process goes something like this:

• Unhook the VRCOP from Elk
• Transport VRCOP back to PC
• Plugin a USB RS-232 converter
• Startup LumenLink and define group
• Reverse the process

This is rather expensive IMHO for just 2-3 lights. I set the “Opt†flag based on instructions from LumenLink. Elk Vizia+ RF firmware readme does not provide any guidance.

I purchased a copy of ControlThink Pro, and the process is much easier to create Z-Wave groups. Unfortunately, the ControlThink does not provide a “Properties†dialog for a group. This deficiency makes it difficult to determine the Z-Wave group identifier. The Z-Wave group identifier is required for ElkRP configuration. Elk maps Z-Wave groups starting at Elk lighting device identifier 128.

ControlThink does provide the Z-Wave dimmer/load device identifier, so I manually write this number down and use it to configure ElkRP.

 

[tmbrown97]

Another member in the chat room last night mentioned how he had trouble sending simultaneous commands to different UPB modules using the Elk M1. Hopefully he will see this thread. I would guess that it is difficult to do because of the low speed communications these protocols support. The OPT field does change the XSP behavior, I have verified that myself (I don't remember the details tho).

That sounds like me... I did notice that if I created more than one rule to fire at the same time to send different upb light commands it was unpredictable which ones would fire. In my case I had two rules fire at 11:00pm - one to turn off exterior Christmas lights, one to turn off tree.

Basically there were three options to remedy: combine the rules so it's just one rule turning off both (I have read that sending multiple light commands without a delay in between would sometimes cause issues), create a link for Christmas Off and set all associated appliance modules to listen for it, or just space the rules out by 1 minute.

I'm lazy... I chose opt 3 as a 8 second fix and moved on... Not a glitch since.