Isy994i pro/wave and somfy ZRTSI

[Birdman11]

Hi guys, I have the Z-wave module on my ISY994i and a somfy ZRTSI 16 channel bridge that can control the up/down motion to my blind via my programs. I would like to send a stop command from ISY to the somfy ZRTSI as there is no current button in the menu in ISY. I have the RT28 RTS motor in a Hunter Douglas silhouette blind.

So is there a way to send a raw command to the ZRTSI to execute the stop (My button on my Telis remote) from UI program system.

 

Appreciate some feed back as I've been looking for several hrs and can't seem to find any answers.

 

Thanks

[Birdman11]

Hi guys, did not get any feedback on this. Am I posting in the right location in forum?

[ggdowski]

I asked for this function about 1.5 years ago. You essentially cannot stop the shades somewhere in between. It is either up, down, or in the middle.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi ggdowski,

 

What firmware version are you on?

 

With kind regard,

Michel

[Birdman11]

Hi guys, thanks for the reply to my original post. I'm using what I think is the latest firmware 4.5.4. I hear talk about version 5 but don't think it's released yet.

[MikeD]

I just installed the ZRTSI and two blinds in a group configuration. To get what I wanted I had to set the down (closed) limit with the Telis remote. Set it to where I wanted the blinds to stop in the open position, half way between fully open and fully closed. I see no other way to accomplish sending a 'My Button' command similar to the button on the Telis remote.

~Mike

[Birdman11]

Hi Mike, I'm in the similar situation. I have HD silhouette blinds and the vanes only open once the shade is fully closed. I have the Somfy telis remote with the UP,Down and My botton position. I programed the blinds in isy99 as follows.

 

Up arrow on the telis =     The blind is fully open (upper limit set)

Down Arrow on the telis =The blind goes all the way down and the vanes open up (blind all the way down but vanes not closed)

 

I can't close the blinds fully (blind all the way down and vanes closed) using the program and have to hit the "My" button on the remote to get that setting. It would be awesome if the programing had one more option allowing the "My" button command to be executed.

 

Michel, will the new firmware version (not certain what that should be) have this option included.

 

Dan

[stusviews]

Use a program to set the motorized window covering to an intermediate position. Issue an up (or down), add a wait, then issue a stop. The duration of the wait relies on the time it takes to move from fully up (or down) to the position you want.

[MikeD]

Hi Stu,

There is no way that i can see to issue a Stop. It shows up as a Binary Switch. The only commands available are On, Off, and Query. (In v4.5.x)

~Mike

[stusviews]

Hi Mike,

 

What does each of On, Off and Query do? How do you use the ISY to open and/or close the window covering?

[MikeD]

I set the open/closed limits of the Somfy blinds. In my case sending an On closes the blinds, while an Off opens them. There are two nodes with the Somfy ZRTSI.

 

- 'Binary Switch' that is either On or Off

- 'Class A Motor Ctl' that shows 100% when the Binary Switch is On and 0% when the Binary Switch is Off

 

The blinds close (in the fully up position) when my program sends an On

The blinds open (half way between fully up and fully down) when I send an Off

 

In my case I set the fully down limit to where I wanted the blinds to be when open. This is how I set it up and works well.

[stusviews]

The Telis remote is Somfy RTS, not Z-Wave. That suggests that you can send the appropriate signals using the network module plus two interfaces, the Somfy Universal RTS Interface and one that interfaces between the Somfy device with the ISY. I use an Autelis interface.

 

Is is somewhat costly, but that allows us to have three intermediate positions plus the My position for each window. We do have 14 motorized window coverings. The Somfy interface has 16 available channels, any number of shades/blinds can be assigned to a channel. I actually have two Somfy interfaces so I can have bunches of window coverings operate concurrently instead of sequentially, for example, all four in the bedroom or all three (one vertical blinds for the slider, two Romans for the windows)  in the living room.

[Birdman11]

So Stu, it sounds like your setup is more accommodating. I'm using the somfy ZRTSI which is z-wave Controler that handles 16 Chanels and it comunicates to my ISY994i which has the z-card in it. It looks like the firmware version in my ISY z-wave module is not yet where it needs to be and only offers fully open or fully closed action, nothing in between. I'm hoping in the new version they will include a option to send out a stop command.

[stusviews]

The Somfy ZRTSI has been around for at least five years.

[MikeD]

Hi Stu,

 

Yes, I am aware Somfy uses RTS for remote communications and the ZRTSI is the Z-Wave bridge. Presently the ZRTSI accomplishes what I need for now. The info you provided will come in handy if I need more granular control than a simple binary close/open position in the future.

 

I have downloaded and read the Somfy documents available on their web site. My understanding of the Somfy RTS language is a little cryptic, maybe you can clear some things up. The way I perceive the Somfy instructions the ZRTSI has 16 virtual nodes that relate to 16 channels.

- Can I think of the 16 nodes/channels like Insteon Scenes where more than one blind can be assigned to a group (or Scene) and be controlled together on the same channel?

- If 16 blinds were assigned to their own node/channel each would be controlled separately?

 

Presently I have two blinds that operate together as a group on RTS channel 1. They were configured this way when purchased.

- When I add more blind(s) should they be on their own RTS channel(s) if I want them to be controlled separate from the two I have in a group on channel 1. Is this correct?

- Also on the ISY I believe a Node has to be included for each RTS node/channel. Is this right?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

~Mike

[stusviews]

Each Somfy RTS (Radio Transmission, Somfy) motor has the capability for an upper limit, a lower limit and one preset position. Somfy controller channels are independent of the motors being controlled. That means that you can assign a motor to any number of channels. Here's an example of how I use a five channel Decoflex remote in a room with a slider and two windows:

 

Ch 1. Deck (slider) verticals

Ch 2. Left window

Ch 3. Right window

Ch 4. Both windows

Ch 5. All coverings

 

Not that the slider is controlled by two channels and the each window by three. You cannot set a different upper limit, lower limit or preset for each channel. Once they've been set, they remain the same no matter the channel assigned.

 

In your case, you can use three channels for your two window coverings, one channel for each independently and one to control both concurrently. Do you need instructions?

 

As I indicated, I have an Autelis interface (connects to router) that allows me to send serial commands from the ISY to the Somfy URTS interface (also connected to the router). I need a separate resource (node) for each of up, down and stop for each window covering. The channels on my remotes are independent from the channels on the interface.

 

[MikeD]

HI Stu,

 

Your explanation seems to coincide with what I tried to describe so I believe I am on the same page.

 

I have read the Tilt 50 WireFree RTS Programming and Operation Instructions, ZRTSI Interface Instructions, and RTS Pocket Programming Guide (9/2015 edition) in an attempt to educate myself.

 

Do the Somfy controller channels assigned on your URTS interface show up as Nodes in the ISY Admin Console or do you just programatically send commands with the ISY Network Module?

 

Presently my one RTS 'node/channel' shows up in the ISY Admin Console as 'Class A Motor Ctl.' I believe, if I add another RTS channel to control one or more additional Somfy blinds, I have to issue a Z-Wave 'include' to get another corresponding 'Class A Motor Ctl' node on the ISY Admin Console for this new RTS channel.

 

Just a few more question and I think I may be ready to add more blinds...

From what I have read the only way to add blinds On a new channel is with a multi-channel Telis handheld remote like the Telis 16 RTS. (or the URTSI??) If you could please verify this I am good to go.

 

I only have a single channel Telis RTS handheld controller that came with my two blinds. That single channel purchase may have been a waste since I plan to add additional blinds.

 

Again, thanks again for your assistance!

~Mike

[stusviews]

You can add as many window coverings as you want to a single channel Somfy controller, but they'll all operate concurrently. The Telis is available as 1 channel, 5 channels, 16 channels or 6 channels with a built-in timer. None of those can be added to the ISY. There's also Decoflex controllers that can be in-wall mounted either independently or in or adjacent to an existing switch box.

 

The URTSI requires an additional interface if you want/need ISY control. Each window covering requires three network resources, up, down, and stop. The resources are added to programs.

 

BR Opaque Close
If
        Control 'BR / Devices / BR Fan+Drapes.A Fan 1 / BR Fan+Drapes.E Opaque Close' is switched Off <--this is a KPL button
 
Then
        Resource 'BR Opaque Close' <--this is a network module resource
 
Else
   - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')
 
 

[MikeD]

Then the 'BR / Devices / BR Fan+Drapes.A Fan 1 / BR Fan+Drapes.E Opaque Close' must be a node that is in the left column of the Admin Console. How did it get added to the ISY, by actions from the Autelis Interface?

 

The reason I ask is I plan to use the Z-Wave equivalent (ZRTSI) and I believe the ISY nodes, appearing in the left column of the Admin Console, will be added with it.

[stusviews]

Yes, keypad buttons appear as nodes as do all Insteon devices added to the ISY. Network resources do not appear as nodes at all. They're all under the Network Resources tab.

[MikeD]

Ah, I see. Your link to Somfy is through a Network Resource triggered by a KPL secondary button.

I plan on adding ISY nodes directly like my first Somfy virtual node on RTS channel 1. (ZW 023)

 

Then control directly after setting limits in the blinds. My network resource just notifies me through Prowl.

BlindsDaily - [ID 00E8][Parent 00E5]

If
        From    Sunrise + 40 seconds
        To      Sunset  + 40 seconds (same day)
 
Then
        Set '.Z-Wave / ZW 023 Binary Switch' Off
        Resource 'Sunrise-LowerBlinds-Opened'
 
Else
        Set '.Z-Wave / ZW 023 Binary Switch' On
        Resource 'Sunset-LowerBlinds-Closed'
 
COMMENT
Off is OPEN - CLASS A MOTOR CONTROL 0%
On is CLOSE - CLASS A MOTOR CONTROL 100%

[mcqwerty]

I too have the ZRTSI. I am running ISY firmware 5.0.4 and am able to open and close the blinds by sending an on/off command respectively.

As far as I can see the ZRTSI is not fully supported by the ISY since it just reports as a standard binary switch, so, as reported in this thread, there is no way to issue a 'My' command on any of the channels.

 

I used to control my blinds by sending network commands from my ISY to SmartThings as I had the ZRTSI paired with my smartthings hub. This enabled my to use the 'My' setting but was unreliable as smartthings is cloud-based and is quite unreliable.

 

But since smartthings were able to fully support the ZRTSI (including sensible naming on=Open off=Closed and including access to the 'My' command it must be possible.

If UD actually decide to implement it is another thing.

 

In the mean time I still have my smartthings hub humming away next to my ISY. 

[Birdman11]

Thanks mcqwerty, how did you get that firmware version ? ( official release currently at 4.5.4). You would think there would be a way to send a raw command from ISY to the ZRTSI. I hope UD adds the command to execute the My bottom. Michel do you have an idea if any of the next release will include this command.

[MikeD]

Version 5 is still in Alpha so not recommended for a production system. I am still at v4.5.1 mostly because of laziness.

I am happy with just the Open/Close capability we now have. Looking forward to adding more blinds in the near future.

[mcqwerty]

Thanks mcqwerty, how did you get that firmware version ? ( official release currently at 4.5.4). 

Hi Birdman11,

 

As pointed out by MikeD, the 5.x.x firware is still in Alpha. It can be downloaded from this forum area: http://forum.universal-devices.com/forum/108-50/

 

The current version is 5.0.8 but it has a lot of issues. The latest semi-bug-free version is 5.0.4 which I am running.

 

Progress is very slow and I don't even see mention of expanded support for devices such as the ZRTSI in the various 5.x forums so I wouldn't hold your breath for a full stable release of v5 any time soon, never mind one with full support for the ZRTSI 'My' function.