This may be ridiculous but after messing around for an hour i need to ask. I wanted to have the XP8 turn on some lights during a macro only if it after dark.

I created a macro "Lights"
Time range test: from sunset to sunrise. any day.
RS232 Command for lights.

I tried for a while with no luck. Double and triple checked the RS232 commands. The commands worked. The XP8 wasn't sending the command; and yes it was dark outside...


I tried reversing the timed range event.
"Lights"
Time range test: sunrise to sunset. any day.
-else
rs232 command for lights.

Same command and this time it turned on the lights when the macro executed. Did i miss something, why can the xp8 not detect its dark out, but it can detect if it light outside? Does that make sense? Did my doctor give me cheap drugs this week?

I've got the XP8 running other timed events, and macros that need to execute after 20 mins of another macro. I got it working relays and sense inputs, what gives?

I have my XP8, hooked up to the 'net. (or "Tubes" as "W" calls them), i have the windows time server and my city setup correctly as well. Any thoughts or do i need better drugs?

Just click on the XP8 events tab, then click "new event" and do it that way, this is way easier to manage and works great

I agree the event tabs works well for certain light scenes that need a structured setting.

However i am trying to do something that is a little different. When i want to watch TV, i want the XP8 to check to see if its dark, if it is i want it to turn on some lights in the living room for ambiance lighting. I don't want the xp8 to turn on the living room lights every night once the sun goes down, otherwise i would use the events tab as you mentioned.

My "TV" macro checks flags, turns on equipment based on that etc etc etc... standard stuff, then it calls the light macro i mentioned above. But as i said, it can't see if its dark and run macros based off its outcome... it can only see if its light outside and run macros based off that outcome.

I realize this is trivial as the macro is currently working when it checks if its light outside... i am just curious as to if anyone else has come across that, or if they know why it isnt working the other way.

How are you tying in your sensor to the XP8? contact / voltage ?
I am thinking the sate of your sensor is backwards, not the programing

I'm not following you here, isn't the OP using the built-in astronomical clock to determine if sun is down? I don't think he's using any sort of external sensor.

Dino

I'm completely confused...

I assumed he was using the built-in clock...

The XP8 knows when dawn and dusk is for any given day, assuming you have all the settings correct for your local.

Use the "events tab" like RTI Installer said and it should be really simple.

at first i thought he was using the clock but then i came to the assumption that he was using an optical sensor because of some of the statements that were made like the following

"i want the XP8 to check to see if its dark, if it is i want it to turn on some lights in the living room for ambiance lighting. I don't want the xp8 to turn on the living room lights every night once the sun goes down, otherwise i would use the events tab as you mentioned."

The only way an XP8 would know it is actually dark versus just the sun going down according to the time of day and season, is with a sensor. which is why i said that the state of the sensor was probobly reversed

okies, there seems to be some confusion about my post. I will clarify as best as i can.

I have my city information setup correctly in the XP8 as well as the time zone, and i have the check mark for automatically adjust for DST.

I am not using the events tab to run any timed events. I am not using any photo cells or sensors. I only want the lights to come on when the tv macro is executed and it is after dark.

I have a macro stored on the XP8 that turns on the TV and cable box. Inside the same macro i have "If current time is between sunset and sunrise then turn on the lights" When i had the following timed range event in the macro the light would not turn on.

However when i had "If the current time is between sunrise and sunset else turn on the lights" then the lights would come on. Hence my confusion, i apologize if the other posts were not very clear, staring at the screens all day tends to make me wonky :)

I was baffled why the timed ranged event would not work when the statement was true. The lights would only come on when the statement was false. I hope that clears things up.

I had a similar issue and there is a known bug in XP/ID. For time range tests you need to have check between sunrise and sunset for everything. So if you want the lights to dim, have your macro check if it's between sunrise and sunset.

ahhhh, i knew it!!! Thanks sss.

mmm the latest xp8 firware fixes this ?

That was my next question... What firmware are you running? 2.2 is the latest.

i was running the latest firmware when I talked with Tech support in February (Which I believe was 2.2).

No problem, Glad my 4 hours of frustration can help others. :-)

I tried installing 2.2 when it came out, but ran into problems with win7 not being able to update (the phantom "next" button issue). With all my other quotes and programming it slipped my mind that my xp8 didnt get updated.

edit: Once again, thanks for the info.