UPB configuration into OminPro

[pete_c]

The 6-wire flat cable I use today (just looked) for the HAI pim to the Omnipro has the ribbed side of the cable on the same side as the 6 wire RJ clip on both sides.
 
1-6 to 6-1 at the ends (flipped)
 
On the Omnipro serial port panel side....
 

The KB article shows 4 pins. 
 
I made one using an RJ-45 to 9-Pin converter removing the RJ-45 piece and just connecting the wires.
 

 
HAI part number is: 36A05-2.  It's on Amazon for $10.85

 

[DTG173]

Thanks Pete. I have the cable for use with the DB-9 serial connector That is a 4pin/conductor. I need the 6 pin one for the PIM to OPII and will have to make one. I don't think the serial ports on my OPII are RJ45 either. They are smaller like a regular x-10 or phone jack.

 

[pete_c]

The serial ports on the OPII are 6 PIN RJ-12. 
 
Just related to the UPB I am using a flat 6 pin cable.
 
That is what I purchased originally.  The standard RJ-XX to RS-232 to serial to USB should work fine. 
 
In windows you can see what serial port the USB to Serial device is using. 
 
You can also change it to another port in device manager.
 
Rest of the serial ports are using RJ-11 4 pin cables in my panel. (including the X-10 port).
 
When Upstart connects to the PIM you will see the firmware et al of the PIM if the connection is OK.
 
It either works and connects or doesn't and the connection will show up as a pop up window on Upstart.
 

 
Use the RS-232 com port configuration for Upstart and the HAI PIM.  I prefer to configure the serial port manually.
 
USB Upstart port configuration is only for the USB SA PIM.
 
The PCS UPB Pim is converting the USB port to serial in the PIM so that Upstart configuration is serial.
 
Note that the PCS and SA USB UPB Pims are different. 
 
HAI serial UPB PIM is the only one which uses the RJ12 connector; rest of the serial UPB pims use standard 9 pin serial connectors.
 
A quickie RJ syopsis:
 
RJ45: 8P8C = 8 Position 8 Contact – used in Network Wiring
RJ12: 6P6C = 6 Position 6 Conductor – used in System phones
RJ11: 6P4C = 6 Position 4 Conductor – used for ADSL, telephone, and modem cables etc.
RJ10 / RJ22: 4P4C = 4 Position 4 Conductor – used for Telephone Handset cables.
 
The RJ11 and RJ12 are the same size, even though they have a different number of contacts.
 
BTW whatever you purchased (cable and RS-232 connector with HAI part numbers) should work with your PC/HAI PIM.
 
I have a 3rd HAI UPB Pim (another spare) in the home office not used today.  It has a USB to serial connector on it and is using the RJ-12 6 wire flat cable.  Here is a picture of it.  Its a generic USB to Serial adapter depicted in the picture and it works just fine.
 

 

[DTG173]

Thanks Pete. What I needed was the RJ12 6P6C to attach the HAI PIM to the OPII. Just found and attached one and I now have full tracking of status on OPII when load is operated at switch. FINALLY!
Now I can confidently add UPB switches and configure my automation using local switch statuses, and the HLC format.
It's been a long road.... and I've only just started! 

 

[pete_c]

Good news DTZG173.
 
I learned from your experience today.  
 
I thought that a 4 wire connection would work fine although I never tested it.
 
I never really liked the loose fitting of the RJ-10 end into the RJ-12 ports on the Omni Pro II

 

[Desert_AIP]

Outstanding

 

[DTG173]

I installed another new PCS PulseWorks dimmer today. Fired up UpStart and see it was already configured with preset scene links. They were set as scene1-8, but they were there. Programmed the switch with the settings from the HAI matrix, and successly can read status.
 
I am assuming to use the HLC format I need to change these links to correspond to the room correct (IE room 1 link 1-6, room 2 link 7-12, Room 3 13-18, etc. as in the matrix) but the links can be changed to whatever % settings? I haven't gooten a room controller yet, but am thinking one day.

 

[Desert_AIP]

 
I am assuming to use the HLC format I need to change these links to correspond to the room correct (IE room 1 link 1-6, room 2 link 7-12, Room 3 13-18, etc. as in the matrix) but the links can be changed to whatever % settings? I haven't gooten a room controller yet, but am thinking one day.

Exactly. The Omni monitors the link numbers and sends out the status requests when it sees them. It expects the default behaviors but it verifies status.
So you'll see the status change immediately to the expected result, 80,60,40,20, etc., but after the UPB delay it will change to the actual status of each switch in the room.

 

[ano]

So the part I'm still trying to understand is this. First for background I'm setting up my new house for HLC, with Room Controllers in every room and a Home Controller. I do not have my Omni up and running yet, trying to get the outside tasks done before it gets hot.  Omni work will start in a few weeks, but all Leviton switches are in.
 
Anyway, the part about HLC I'm still confused about is can the links on each room controller control lights in other rooms or are they limited to just controlling that room?  Certainly UPB links can control any light, but will the Omni get messed up in tracking status?  In my last house it was all UPB, and all the links I created were typically house-wide, like goodnite, party mode, all off, all on, etc.  With HLC, it seems that all links are roomwise, and that is fine, but does this mean that to have something like "partymode" I have to create a "party" link for every room, then if I want Party Mode, I have to have the Omni send the particular party link for each room in the house, and then wait while it polls every switch in the house for its status? 

 

[JonW]

I have a few rooms where I have more loads than the 7 generally allowed in the HLC allocation. Once such room is the kitchen where I want the dining room lights to work in conjunction with the kitchen lights. In this case, I have the kitchen as a room and the dining room as a room. The dining room is mostly controlled from the kitchen and has additional links (above the standard 6) coded via UPSTART so that the dining room lights go on/off simultaneously with the kitchen. When the HAI panel sees the links being sent for the kitchen it is then set to send a link to the dining room to control those lights. However, since the dining room already responded to the kitchen link, the HAI automation commands end up being redundant. The whole point of them though was to signal the HAI panel of that activity so that it would then sync the dining room status.

Here's an example:
47. WHEN Kitchen Wall Controller ON
THEN Dining Room Overhead ON
THEN Dining Room - O/H Bar Remote ON
48. WHEN Kitchen Wall Controller OFF
THEN Dining Room Overhead OFF
THEN Dining Room - O/H Bar Remote OFF
49. WHEN Kitchen Wall Controller SCENE D [RM2-D (UPB LINK 12 ON)]
THEN Dining Room Overhead ON



Additionally, I have a good night macro that turns off all the downstairs lights at once. I wanted the "look" of them all going off together, so I have a specific link that works across all those rooms. Right after that link is sent, I then send individual OFF commands to each room just so the HAI panel goes through room by room and updates its status. This approach should work for your party mode.

9. WHEN All Off Downstairs
THEN All Downstairs - Off OFF
THEN RUN Button 015 - Lock Front Door
THEN RUN Button 017 - Close Garage Door
THEN RUN Button 021 - Spa/Pool Off
THEN Living Room Wall Controller OFF
THEN Kitchen Wall Controller OFF
THEN Dining Room Lighting OFF
THEN Downstairs General Lighting OFF
THEN Bonus Room Lighting OFF
THEN Outside Rear Lighting OFF
THEN Garage Lighting OFF

 

[ano]

Thanks. I think i understand now. So the OMNI is watching for one of the 6 scene links from a room, and when it sees one of those links, it will check the switches for THAT room. To have the OMNI check the switches in another room, I have to send one of its links. 
 
So each Room Controller has links A, B, C, D and all off or all on.  It looks like when you press one scene button, the room controller deactivates the LEDs on all other scenes.  So how should I best make use of these 4 scenes?  Should I try to make each room scene match some room activity?  I'm just wondering what Leviton had in mind when they created these things?  I haven't seen any Leviton document describe what the thought process was on how to logically set this up.

 

[Desert_AIP]

Leviton's setup appears to be room centric with very basic functions.
That's why you have the room ON, OFF and 80, 60, 40, 20% defaults.
Those are simple to implement.
They can hard code the behavior via the links and unit numbers without having to predict every permutation or user nuance.
Anything more exotic was expected to be done through the spare user defined links and programming lines to track status.
 
Since the units can't be at 60% when they are at 80% they added the LED Indicate logic to keep the room controllers synced.
That's why when you press Room Link A, the other LEDs go out.  They are mutually exclusive in the default scheme.
 
You can make the room links do whatever you want, but it will only update status within that single room.
 
I use single links for things like party, good night, etc. affect multiple rooms.
I pick the room that has the most units affected by the link action (or a room with a free link), let's say Link C of room 1.
So the Omni will automatically update all the units in Room 1.
But I may want units in Rooms, 2, 3 and 4 to respond simultaneously when I activate Party Mode, or Good Night.
So I set up those units in UPStart to respond to the link however I want.
 
And this is where I use the Link D "Room Status" links I described above.
I add a programming line that says
 
WHEN Link C Room 1 ON
    THEN Link D Room 2 ON
    THEN Link D Room 3 ON
    THEN Link D Room 4 ON
 
(None of the switches are programmed to respond to those D links, so nothing appears to occur.  The lights change states because of that C link.
But transmitting the D Links prompts the Omni to update the status of those other 3 rooms automatically.
 
Otherwise I'd have to use Status Requests at the unit level
 
Each room can have 7 units, so that would be up to 21 lines of programming
 
THEN Status Request Unit 10
THEN Status Request Unit 11
...etc.
THEN Status Request Unit 32
 
Also, those status requests are treated as standard UPB commands by the Omni, so they get queued up and transmitted immediately rather than waiting for things to settle down after the UPB delay.

 

[ano]

That seems logical. I shouldn't really get too caught up with making sure the OMNI knows the status of each light anyway, because in 99% of the time, it doesn't matter much.
 
I've always noticed that Leviton does a pretty good job at explaining HOW HLC is set-up, but a pretty poor job of best practices of HOW to set it up.  In other-words, we designed it this was because .....   I guess this information passes from Leviton to installers, but for the DIY crowd, this information is a bit lost. 
 
One part about HLC I liked that I can't forget about is how you can program scenes into each Room Controller buy just setting the correct levels and then letting the OMNI do the programming without UPStart. That can be a nice feature.
 
I guess it was actually my wife who started all this exploration.  The automation in my last house was very involved, with CQC and the works, so when we wanted to sell it, it was a major process to unwind it all.  With our new house we wanted simpler, not so much just for selling the house, but also if anything ever happened to me, my wife could manage it, or at a minimum, she could call a Leviton installer to figure it out. That is why I decided to go with HLC, because it is 95% what I need from the start, but then the challenge switches from what I want to understanding what were they thinking?  There was lots of thought behind HLC, I'm sure, but Leviton could do a better job at explaining this.