Combining zones to groups

Hello,

another question to the integration protocol.
We are using Lutron for controlling DALI fittings. We are not setting up scenes in Lutron. Scenes were setup in a third party device that is sending the light values via the output commands to the zones. The zones are placed in different areas and we have up to 14 zones per area. So if we are calling a scene from the third party device it sends out 14 single output commands to the 14 zones. Now there are some overall scenes that have to set the values to all zones in all areas. For five areas with 14 zones we are talking about 70 output commands. Much traffic...
Using this overall scenes the value for zone 1 in all five areas is the same. Also for zone 2, for zone 3 etc.

If it would be possible to combine all zones 1 to one group and all zones 2 to another etc. we have to send only 14 values instead of 70.
Is this possible? With area scenes for example? Can I send a value to an area scene?

Thank you very much in advance!
Frank

Hello franlog,
Thank you for your post.
It would be preferable to setup phantom buttons on Lutron instead of sending a series of commands. This is how you would combine your zones. This way your 3rd party will only need to send one command to press the button.
You can use the #AREA command to operate areas of lighting. This can be found in the integration protocol found here. http://www.lutron.com/TechnicalDocum...ary/040249.pdf

Hello Blair,
the problem with the areas is, that you cannot send an area command to an area that contains areas. This would be a topic for the Lutron developers to have this possibility.
How do I setup that phantom keypads? In general I know, but as I described in my first post the scene values will not be stored in Lutron. They will be stored in the 3rd party device. So I need to have the possibility to add the Lutron zones to the phantom keypad buttons and then to send a value to that button. But I can only send device comands like pressing a button or setting LED to the phantom keypads. So the phantom keypads doesn't really help. Or is there a way to send values to all zones at a hantom keypad button?

Hello franlog.
I am unsure why you cannot use phantom keypads, but this is going to be the preferred method. Program your phantom keypad buttons to activate a scene. Then have your third party send the command to activate the phantom button preset or raise/lower the programmed zones. Please read the integration protocol that I included in my original post for details.

Hello Blair,
Again: The presets will not be stored at Lutron. The presets, so the values for every single zone, will be stored in the third party device. That is the setup of the system. So the question is still: If we are usung phantom keypads, is it possible to send a preset value to a phantom keypad button to activate all the zones programmed to that button with the value sent.

Hello franlog,
Since the values are to be stored on the 3rd party I am assuming the 3rd party will be sending individual commands to activate each lighting zone. If this is the case then this may cause a delay in the zone operation since each command is being sent individually. If you notice no delay in your current setup then I suppose you can continue to use that method. I recommend phantom buttons as a way to avoid this delay. This will require the scenes to be programmed on the Lutron side and not 3rd party.

It may be best to discuss this over the phone to avoid any confusion. Please give us a call at 1 888 588 7661

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Blair S.

Hello franlog,
Since the values are to be stored on the 3rd party I am assuming the 3rd party will be sending individual commands to activate each lighting zone. If this is the case then this may cause a delay in the zone operation since each command is being sent individually. If you notice no delay in your current setup then I suppose you can continue to use that method. I recommend phantom buttons as a way to avoid this delay. This will require the scenes to be programmed on the Lutron side and not 3rd party.

It may be best to discuss this over the phone to avoid any confusion. Please give us a call at 1 888 588 7661

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Perhaps if we had the ability to save scenes on the fly this would not be such an issue? We wouldn't have to resort to managing our own scene levels in 3rd party controllers (Crestron in my example). Why hasn't the Scene Saver button model been implemented yet in HWQS??? This was a great feature from Illumination, and a feature I've been repeatedly requesting to tech support, the feature request topic here, and numerous Lutron employees at training seminars since version 6. Still not added in. When are you guys gonna realize this is a much needed feature?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by johnmax

Perhaps if we had the ability to save scenes on the fly this would not be such an issue? We wouldn't have to resort to managing our own scene levels in 3rd party controllers (Crestron in my example). Why hasn't the Scene Saver button model been implemented yet in HWQS??? This was a great feature from Illumination, and a feature I've been repeatedly requesting to tech support, the feature request topic here, and numerous Lutron employees at training seminars since version 6. Still not added in. When are you guys gonna realize this is a much needed feature?

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For my issue following feature would help even more:
With the 3rd party integration command AREA you can set the light level of an area. But it is not possible to set the light level of an area that contains other areas. If you could send this AREA command to an area AND to an area that contains other areas it would be simple to group the zones in different areas and just to send out some few AREA commands instead of a lot of ZONE commands.
Is there any way to put this feature on the list?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Blair S.

Hello franlog,
Since the values are to be stored on the 3rd party I am assuming the 3rd party will be sending individual commands to activate each lighting zone. If this is the case then this may cause a delay in the zone operation since each command is being sent individually. If you notice no delay in your current setup then I suppose you can continue to use that method. I recommend phantom buttons as a way to avoid this delay. This will require the scenes to be programmed on the Lutron side and not 3rd party.

It may be best to discuss this over the phone to avoid any confusion. Please give us a call at 1 888 588 7661

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If there would be no delay, I would not ask for a better solution...
The integration protocol says that every 3rd party command pauses the interface for 100ms.
I have to send about 70 Zone commands in worst case. So there is a delay from the first to the last command of about 7s. That is not acceptable. Even that every 3rd party command pauses the interface for 100ms is not acceptable. I usually work with DMX systems. That means that I send about 40 times per second 512 values. That are 2000 values per second. Using Lutron I cannot even send 10 commands / values per second.
We are talking about an Ethernet connection for 3rd party control. Why is this interface that slow?