A few beginners questions

[WillyW3]

I recently purchased the IBM home director starter kit. It was too my understanding that the computer interface module provided was functionally identical to the CM11A unit. (On/Off functionality works wonderfully but..)



I am having a problem with the ability to dim the lamp modules that came included with the kit. I found a script on the forums here which I believe Scott had provided and modified it for lights up and lights down. I seem to have it setup correctly with the name of my device replacing his but it only seems to quickly brighten the lamp 2 or 3 times with no signifacant change. This occurs with the lights up and lights down task I am using.



My second problem is with the WinDVD device. Was this device written to support a particular version of WinDVD. I am using version 6 and can't for the life of me get housebot to recognize any change in the WinDVD status. I am trying to have the lights dim when play is pressed and then lights to come back up to 100% when stop is pressed. Any help would be greatly appreciated.



One other thing I thought of, I had an appliance module hooked up to a lamp (under the specified wattage) and I get a click everytime a command (on/off) is given, any ideas?



Willy

[ScottBot]

I am having a problem with the ability to dim the lamp modules that came included with the kit. ... only seems to quickly brighten the lamp 2 or 3 times with no signifacant change. This occurs with the lights up and lights down task I am using.

Try this. Create an 'X10 Lamp Module' Device and assign it the HouseCode and UnitCode of an X10 switch (if you haven't already done this.). Then from the HouseBot UI, change the Direct X10 Command Property to Bright (you may have to press ENTER to send the command). Do this repeatedly and let me know if the light begins to brighten. If the Lamp is already full bright, try sending Dim instead.

My second problem is with the WinDVD device. Was this device written to support a particular version of WinDVD. I am using version 6 and can't for the life of me get housebot to recognize any change in the WinDVD status. I am trying to have the lights dim when play is pressed and then lights to come back up to 100% when stop is pressed. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The WinDVD Device in HouseBot is a Windows Message Device. It can only be used to send commands to WinDVD. It won't receive any status back from WinDVD. Changing the AV Status Property should allow you to control WinDVD, although I'm not sure if this has been tested with version 6 or not. If you can't control it from HouseBot, make sure the Window Class Name property is setup correctly (see online help).

One other thing I thought of, I had an appliance module hooked up to a lamp (under the specified wattage) and I get a click everytime a command (on/off) is given, any ideas?

Appliance modules are designed to handle more current so they use a physical relay to actually complete the circuit. The relays typically do click loudly when opened and closed.

[WillyW3]

Thanks for the reply Scott,



1) Setting the X10 command to the Dim/Bright and selecting it multiple times did dim/brighten the lights, so I'd assume that the script below would not be controlling that.

Code: Select all

For nLevel = 100 To 1
	if (SetPropertyValue("Small Lamps.Leviton Dim Level", nLevel) = False) then
		TraceMessage("Unable to set Dim level for Lamp Description")
	End If 
		
    Sleep( 1000 ) 

Next 

3) Great, as long as the click isn't frying something or a fire hazard I can live with the 'click'



Thanks again,
Willy [/code]

[ScottBot]

...Setting the X10 command to the Dim/Bright and selecting it multiple times did dim/brighten the lights, so I'd assume that the script below would not be controlling that.

That script will gradually dim an X10 lamp that supports Leviton Dimming. If you don't have a Leviton X10 switch, that won't work.



If you want to slowly dim the lights you can use something more like this:

Code: Select all

For nLevel = 32 To 1 
   SetPropertyValue "Small Lamps.Direct X10 Command", "Dim"       
   Sleep( 1000 ) 
Next 

[WillyW3]

Alright I have just got another question, did some searching through the forums but could not find some specifics.



Is there any way to use Remote Wonder 1 to control HouseBot, more specifically, I want to have a Movie Task. It currently consists of Starting WinDVD, Turning off my floor lamp, dimming my 2 table lamps. I just need some way to trigger this task and that is where I was hoping the RW could come into effect or does anyone else have any specific ideas as to triggering the task without have to manually do it each time?



Thanks again,

Willy

[ScottBot]

Willy,



To use an IR remote to control HouseBot, you will need an IR receiver attached to the HouseBot computer. HouseBot supports several (USB-UIRT, Ocelot, etc.). You may already be using one.



Learn the IR codes for the Remote Wonder that you wish to use to control HB. Then create an IR Device and make sure it has an IR Code Number Received Property. Then use a Task to test this value for the right IR code and execute your Movie Task.



There's more info on the specifics in setting this up in the online help.