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Thread: Program a switch or dimmer button to operate a scene?

  1. #1
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    Program a switch or dimmer button to operate a scene?

    I am pretty sure that this isn't possible but I thought I'd ask here and perhaps it could be filed under "feature request" if it's not currently doable.

    I have a customer who regularly gets up to walk the dog in the middle of the night. The request was if they could just hit the switch (6NA dimmer) and have it toggle a scene (path of light) which includes the bedroom light, the family stairwell light (6NA) and two lights in the backyard (two 8ANS). The idea was to have it time bound so that behavior only happened between 11pm at night and 5am in the morning. Other than those times the button on the bedroom dimmer would behave normally.

    The fundamental pieces exist for this but so far there doesn't seem to be anyway to tell a dimmer or switch to have it's button be anything other than simply operating the individual load attached to it. Am I missing something? This seems like a potentially quite useful feature.

  2. #2
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    Basically that is one of the differences between RRA2 and QS . Conditional programing is not available on RRA2 where in Homework's QS it is.

  3. #3
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    Hmm, is it possible to make a dimmer/switch button always drive a scene instead of just driving the local load? If so I could potentially use a switch for their backyard spot lights since I don't believe they generally use those lights other than when they are taking the dog out.

  4. #4
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    I know you can do that with QS. the dimmer button will now toggle the whole scene, not just the dimmer zone. RA2 it doesn't look like you can program dimmer buttons. How about a Pico wall mounted with the dimmer you're talking about reprogramming?

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by digit1 View Post
    I know you can do that with QS. the dimmer button will now toggle the whole scene, not just the dimmer zone. RA2 it doesn't look like you can program dimmer buttons. How about a Pico wall mounted with the dimmer you're talking about reprogramming?
    Yep, looks like a pico may be my only option here. From an asthetic perspective it would be nice if there was a pico that looked exactly like a dimmer or switch once wall mounted.

  6. #6
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    Thinking a bit further on this... This is actually a missed sales opportunity. One of the big selling points of RA2 is as a retro-fit. I find it shockingly common with both houses I've personally owned and those of my clients that switches are just poorly planned. Being able to assign the action of any dimmer/switch button through RA2 would be a huge selling point. Being able to control a load but operate something different when pressed would be massively beneficial in situations where poor wiring planning had happened. It's not always in places people want keypads...

    HWQS is more pointed at build outs it seems where this would be less of an issue.

    Obviously fail over if the Main Repeater went offline would be to just control the local load. Again, seems like a real strong sales tool I could use.

    "Hate your houses wiring? I can help you make any switch control any light.... and so much more."

    Just my $0.02

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  8. #7
    A solution could be control via a smart phone with geo positioning. As an example, an iPhone knows the time and its location. In addition, such devices are considered (by many) indispensable and must be carried everywhere.

    Yet another solution could be a system that watches and learns the routine of the occupants...

  9. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by jives View Post
    Thinking a bit further on this... This is actually a missed sales opportunity. One of the big selling points of RA2 is as a retro-fit. I find it shockingly common with both houses I've personally owned and those of my clients that switches are just poorly planned. Being able to assign the action of any dimmer/switch button through RA2 would be a huge selling point. Being able to control a load but operate something different when pressed would be massively beneficial in situations where poor wiring planning had happened. It's not always in places people want keypads...
    Third Party Integration would be able to accomplish the task if this is the only time that this particular customer wants this to happen. Not the easiest code to write, but do-able for certain instances such as this. Would be more cost effective than HWQS if the application is limited instead of whole home functionality.
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  10. #9
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    I agree, third party systems could do this but that raises the complexity of the install and limits the ability to "sell" the solution to customers that are also planning to implement more elaborate media controls in their homes. I have several customers who are content with sonos for whole home and a more straight forward simplified control scheme for their media room or theater control. I've been using iRule with these customers to great success, iRule can control Lutron but it doesn't address the simple desire to have a switch press control more than one light source.

    This is a definite scenario where a solution in the RadioRa system itself is more desirable, in more comprehensive installs this question wouldn't arise for exactly the reasons stated above. I think this all boils down to a feature request at this point.

    The smart phone solution is easy enough, but still doesn't address the client desire to push a switch for one light and have it control other lights as well, basically what I'm doing right now is putting a wall mounted pico next to the switch they want to do this with. It's cost effective but unfortunately isn't as clean as it would be to be able to assign the actions that happen based on a particular switch/dimmer button being pushed.

    A great product request comes up here as well. A single or 3 button Pico that when wall mounted looked exactly like a switch or dimmer aesthetically would be fantastic. It would basically be typically locked to "path of light" as the option but would provide a ton of great options for adding switches while keeping a clean aesthetic.

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  12. #10
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    A 1 button Pico would be great, but unless it could be a toggle Pico (all pico buttons go straight to a scene or R/L), it would be confusing. Certainly Lutron could make a toggling pico since the master controller knows what's set, but otherwise, the convention of a standard Maestro-style switch that toggles would be broken.

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