Appendix Lightolier Compose System

Appendix Lightolier Compose System The Lightolier Compose system has been designated a legacy feature and support is normally unavailable. Open the HCA Properties dialog and choose the legacy tab to enable support. This appendix describes HCA s support for the Compose series switches and dimmers from Lightolier Controls, and the Compose PLC Firewall also from Lightolier Controls. These topics are covered in this appendix: Creating HCA devices and controllers for CP series dimmers and keypads Creating HCA devices for CI series dimmers Creating scenes in CI dimmers and CP keypads Using Lightolier scenes Support for the Firewall - Firewall control panel - Visual Programmer Firewall element - Firewall download More information on the Lightolier product line can be found at www.lolcontrols.com CP Series dimmers and keypads Support for CP dimmers and keypads in HCA are similar to how they are used in your home. In your home your focus is on the keypad and not the individual dimmer switches. To add a CP keypad to your design, start the New Controller Wizard and select that type in step 3 of the Wizard. The dimmers that the CP keypad controls are not added to your design as the commands to control them are directed to the keypad. Hint: If you want to be able to control this room using a schedule downloaded to the Compose PLC Firewall, you should use an address of C1 to C15, or D1 to D15. If you use another X10 address the Firewall schedule can t control it. CI Series dimmers CI series individual dimmers are added to your design in the same way as any other device using the New Device Wizard Hint: If you want to be able to control this room using a schedule downloaded to the Compose PLC Firewall, you should use an address of C1 to C15, or D1 to D15. If you use another X10 address the Firewall schedule can t control it. 1

Creating scenes The Compose CI Series Individual Dimmers can store up to 12 user-defined scenes. The Compose CP Series Keypad and its associated switches can also store up to 12 user-defined scenes. In addition, there are built-in ON and OFF scenes for a total of 14 scenes. The illumination level for the built-in ON scene and the 12 user-defined scenes may be preset individually on each switch. Most programming is done at the switch, and HCA provides only limited assistance with the programming. Once programmed, HCA can use these scenes in your schedules and programs as described later. Creation and modification of scenes in the keypad and individual dimmers is started in one of two ways: Select Lightolier Scene Setup from the X10 menu. Right click on the icon for a CP keypad or CI dimmer and select Create/Modify scenes. When you do that, this dialog appears: This dialog shows each individual dimmer or room keypad in your home. To create a scene, select the dimmer or keypad in the left list and the scene in the right list, then press Modify. To remove a scene, press delete. 2

Pressing Modify shows this dialog: As described in this dialog, you have to do the actual programming of the switch manually. What HCA does is to set the switch into a mode to be receptive to your programming and to save the name of the scene as part of your design file. When done, press Close. When working with Lightolier switches and keypads remember that: Individual dimmers can store up to 12 user-defined scenes, in addition to the built-in ON and OFF scenes. There is no way at the switch to activate all of these scenes. Only HCA has the ability to directly activate all 14 scenes. CP keypads can only activate up to 4 scenes (plus ON and OFF), and CM6 or CM8 keypads can only activate up to 6 or 8 scenes respectively. Room dimmers (CP) and the CP keypad works as a unit and all share the same X10 address. Using the keypad you can activate 4 of these user-defined scenes plus the built-in ON and OFF scenes. The other 8 scenes can only be activated from HCA. Using Lightolier Scenes Using scenes defined in Lightolier switches is simple. You can use them in these ways: Right click on the icon and select the scene name from the list. Create a schedule entry that changes to a scene at a given time. When you schedule a switch with a scene, in the step of the wizard where you select illumination level, you can select a scene name. If using the Visual Scheduler, drag and drop a Dim marker, and in the popup dialog you can select a scene name. Create programs that change the scene for a device (CI) or controller (CP). In the Visual Programmer you can set a device to a given scene by using the Dim element and selecting a scene name Test to see if a device or controller to see which scene is currently set at the device. This uses the Test element with the Is Dim condition and selecting a scene name. 3

When using Lightolier switches in groups, the scene names appear in the group popup menu or Visual Programmer group elements. For all switches in a group, it is recommended that you define the exact same scene names for scenes A to L so there is a single set of consistent scene names for the group. Otherwise, the group scene operations only apply to a subset of the switches in the group. If you have switches in multiple groups, you may also wish to define consistent scenes across all the multi-group switches. Getting the most from your Lightolier switches Lightolier switches have a lot of subtle features that you should be aware of if you wish to get all possible function out of them. It is suggested that you review the documentation that came switch the switches and available on the Lightolier web site. In this section, we give you some specific hints and tricks. On and Off Light and Dark and X10 commands One problem that often arises is that the switch may appear to be OFF (that is, the light is dark) but when asked it may report that it is not off but rather set to a specific scene. This is because the Lightolier switch reports the last scene that was activated, whereas the actual switch illumination level may have been subsequently changed by manually dimming the light up, down, or off at the switch paddle. This is why HCA uses a X10 status request rather than a Compose poll when checking to see if the switch is ON or OFF. Another problem is that to meet the Lightolier Compose protocol it is necessary for HCA to confirm the commands that it sends have reached the device and been acted upon. HCA does this, but as outlined above, knowing when the switch illumination level is ON or OFF (versus the scene mode) is sometimes harder than it should be. The chart below shows that the type of status check used depends upon the command sent. Finally, Lightolier switches support the Compose protocol, but also support some of the standard X10 protocol. The standard X10 commands of ON, OFF, and Get Status are supported. In Compose commands, in addition to the commands that change scenes, Fade Up and Fade Down are supported, as well as changing to the ON scene and OFF scene (these have subtle differences than simple ON and OFF). Taking all these things into account, HCA uses various mechanisms depending upon what sort of operation you initiate. This chart summarizes this: HCA Action What's sent Confirm? On X10 On By X10 status Off X10 Off By X10 Status Scene On Preset Dim 2 By Compose Poll Scene Off Preset Dim 1 By Compose Poll Fade Up Preset Dim 15 Does not confirm Fade Down Preset Dim 16 Does not confirm Change scene Preset Dim 3 14 By Compose Poll Test for ON/OFF Test for current scene X10 Status request Compose Poll Note: Fade Up and Fade Down are not technically Scenes but the HCA scene mechanism is a convenient spot to place them. 4

Hint: Lightolier switches also support standard X10 DIM and BRIGHT commands, but behave in unexpected ways due to arcane Lightolier compatibility reasons. You should not enable HCA DIM capabilities in the device properties X10 advanced configuration tab with Lightolier switches. So what's the difference between using the X10 on and off commands and the Compose Scene ON and Scene Off commands? Very little. Using the X10 ON or Compose Scene ON command will both put the switch into the illumination level set for the ON scene. X10 OFF and Compose Scene Off will turn the switch off. The only difference is that Scene ON uses the programmed ramp rate and X10 ON uses the standard 1.5 second ramp rate. Using Fade Up and Fade Down Fade Down can be used from HCA to turn off the switches but leave them in the last scene mode. If the switch paddle top is activated once, the switches will return to the last scene preset level. This might be used with HCA schedules that put switches into a night scene so they don t turn on fully when you are making a night-time trip to the bathroom or kitchen. Fade rates It is also possible to set the scene activation fade rates on the Lightolier switches for all 14 scenes. This makes them fade up or down from their current illumination level toward the level of the new scene at a different rate than the factory default 3-second rate for scene changes. Use HCA to activate the desired scene, and then follow the Lightolier manual to set the activation fade rate for that scene. Fade rates are relative to full scale (0% to 100% illumination transition). For example, if a switch is currently at 50% illumination and you activate a scene with a 30-minute fade rate to 100% illumination, it takes 15 minutes to change from 50% to 100% illumination. The switches ramp illumination up/down smoothly in ~1/200 th microsteps. Hint: If you set scene fade rates, set the Scene Off fade rate first. This has a side effect in firstgeneration Lightolier switches of resetting all the other 13 scene fade rates (referred to in the Lightolier manual as the global fade rate). The fade rate for HCA On and Off (X10 On and Off), and manual switch paddle top activation, is always the built-in 1.5 second rate. That is, the switch is being told to turn on or off right now and ignores the programmed Scene On fade rate. The switch paddle bottom activation always uses a built-in 3-second fade rate to give you some time to leave a room and get to the next room before the lights fade completely off. The HCA Visual Programmer ON element or group ON operation can be used for a panic program/trigger that should turn switches on to 100% illumination immediately, even when some switches have been programmed with slow Scene On fade rates. Similarly, the HCA Visual Programmer OFF element or group OFF operation can be used for a I m-leaving-the-house program/trigger to turn all switches off immediately, even when some switches have been programmed with slow Scene Off fade rates. Firewall Control Panel The Lightolier Compose PLC Firewall may contain an optional communications interface card. If your Firewall contains this card, you may translate and download from one to four schedules into its memory. You may also select which schedule is the current schedule and have some control over individual schedule entries. This is done using the Firewall Control Panel. HCA can control the Firewall using these methods: 5

A serial cable can be connected from the Firewall communication port to an unused serial port on your computer. Some features of the Firewall can be controlled by sending Compose commands on the powerline. This is the same method used by the Compose Time Clock Remote. Which option you use depends upon your individual circumstances. Not everything can be done using Compose commands. Using Compose commands on the powerline you can: Select the Firewall current schedule Select the Firewall next day schedule Suspend the Firewall schedule Tell the Firewall to switch to the next day schedule at midnight Have control over the next schedule entry Using the Direct connection with a serial link, you can: Do everything listed above you can do with powerline commands Set the Firewall time and location Enable or disable use of a Time Clock Remote Enable or disable automatic changes for Daylight Saving Time. Download schedules To open the Firewall Control Panel, select Firewall Control Panel from the Lightolier menu. 6

This dialog has four tabs. The first one is used if you do have a direct serial connection to the Firewall. Select the serial port used and the baud rate. The baud rate selected here must match that selected by switches on the communications card in the Firewall. Refer to the documentation that came with the communications card on how to do this. If you are not using a direct serial connection, select Unused as the communications port. Hint: The only communications ports listed in this dialog are the ones not being used by other interfaces selected in the HCA Properties Hardware tab. The next tab of this dialog is for options that can only be modified if there is a direct connection. The options in this tab are described in the text in the dialog. 7

The third tab of the dialog is for those options that can either be modified using a direct connection to the Firewall, or by using Compose commands on the powerline. If you have a direct connection, use the Read button to read the current settings from the Firewall. To modify an option, select it using the checkbox then make any modifications using the option buttons. If you had previously downloaded any schedules to the Firewall, the schedule names appear as the option button text in the options that switch schedules. In the picture above, the schedules named At Home and Dusk Schedule have been downloaded into the Firewall. When you have selected the options to modify and what those modifications are, press the Update Firewall button to pass these changes to the Firewall. This is done using either a direct connection, or Compose commands on the powerline. The last tab of the dialog is for setting the Firewall clock and location. These options can only be modified if you have a direct connection to the Firewall. 8

The dialog contains explanations of what the buttons do. Controlling the Firewall using the Visual Programmer The Visual Programmer contains a special element for controlling the Firewall. This element, called LOL PLC Firewall, offers you the ability to change any of the options listed on the third tab of the Control Panel. This element can be very useful. A program using this element can be scheduled. So it will be possible to switch which schedule is current in the Firewall according to some schedule you create. For example, suppose you downloaded two schedules to the Firewall, one called Regular and the other Special. Every Friday at midnight the Special schedule should be the current one and at midnight Sunday the Regular one should become the current schedule. This is simple to do. The program makes the change using the PLC Firewall element and a schedule starts the program at the correct times each week. Firewall Download Download to the Firewall uses the Download Wizard and that is a big topic. It is fully described in the appendix on Downloading Schedules and Programs. 9