Motion Sensor trigger for "On Only" mode

[CJVann]

I have an Insteon motion sensor in "On Only" mode so I can trigger an event with every "ON" command received, rather than wait until motion has stopped for 1 minute to retrigger. I cannot get the ISY to recognize the "ON" commands (Unless it goes from Off-to-On, which is never in this mode). There are 2 "If" triggers, but they seem to do the same thing for some reason.

 

If Status Motion-Sensor is On

or Control Motion-Sensor is Switched On

[Sub-Routine]

I have an Insteon motion sensor in "On Only" mode so I can trigger an event with every "ON" command received, rather than wait until motion has stopped for 1 minute to retrigger. I cannot get the ISY to recognize the "ON" commands (Unless it goes from Off-to-On, which is never in this mode). There are 2 "If" triggers, but they seem to do the same thing for some reason.

 

If Status Motion-Sensor is On

or Control Motion-Sensor is Switched On

 

The motion sensor will send an On after a period of inactivity. It will not send another On until after a period of inactivity. I'm not sure how long it is, seems like 10-15 seconds, but I have not timed it.

 

Since it's Status is always On (in your case) you should remove that line from your Conditions.

 

Rand

[MikeB]

The Motion Sensor's "ON ONLY" mode actually behaves just like the default "ON/OFF" mode as far as the timeout is concerned. You still need to have the timeout period pass with no motion before another ON command will be sent from it. The ONLY difference is that it will never send an OFF command.

 

The difference between STATUS and CONTROL is that a STATUS program will trigger whenever the status of a device (or anything else in your IF statement) changes. For example, if your motion sensor is in ON only mode and you use this program:

 

If
       Status 'Motion' is On

Then
       Set Scene 'Kitchen' On

Else
  - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

 

..it will only work the first time motion is triggered. Since the motion sensor never sends an OFF command, the ISY's status won't change to OFF and thus will never change to ON again.

 

 

The CONTROL statement, however, will trigger any time a command is received - not just when the status changes. So, even if the status of a device is already ON, subsequent ON commands received will still trigger a CONTROL program.

 

So, in ON only mode, a program like this would be better suited:

 

If
       Control 'Motion' is switched On

Then
       Set Scene 'Kitchen' On

Else
  - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

 

EDIT: Thanks Rand! Seems we keep criss-crossing today.

[Sub-Routine]

EDIT: Thanks Rand! Seems we keep criss-crossing today.

 

Two heads are better than one. Good examples Mike.

[CJVann]

Thanks for the explanation. SH's docs said Jumper 4 will disable the automatic countdown Off, and the LED will flash every 8 seconds during motion...so I expected it to operate similar to the X10 motion sensors and send an "ON" every 8 seconds while motion continues.

 

I called SH tech support - they said that in either mode, you must have a 1-minute period of no motion before the next "ON" will be sent. He did say you can change the one-minute of no motion down to as low as 30 seconds, but it can only be done in their HouseLinc software.

[MikeB]

You're right, their docs are a bit vague about it - but yeah, that's how it works.

 

You can set the timeout period via the ISY as well. Simply highlight the Motion Sensor in your device list, then click the Set Options button and follow the on-screen instructions.

[Sub-Routine]

Thanks for the explanation. SH's docs said Jumper 4 will disable the automatic countdown Off, and the LED will flash every 8 seconds during motion...so I expected it to operate similar to the X10 motion sensors and send an "ON" every 8 seconds while motion continues.

 

I called SH tech support - they said that in either mode, you must have a 1-minute period of no motion before the next "ON" will be sent. He did say you can change the one-minute of no motion down to as low as 30 seconds, but it can only be done in their HouseLinc software.

 

In my experience that setting has nothing to do with how long the inactivity period is. I will experiment; I am leaning towards it being a factor of 8 seconds.

 

Rand

[CJVann]

You can set the timeout period via the ISY as well. Simply highlight the Motion Sensor in your device list, then click the Set Options button and follow the on-screen instructions.

Oh wow, I never noticed the "Set Options" button. You can set the Timeout, LED brightness, and Darkness sensitivity. Very cool - thank you.

 

Whenever I put a motion sensor into set mode, they don't exit out normally like they do if you are linking to a device. If I press the set button once more, they go into a double-flash mode. Pressing once more exits, but I've been very curious what that mode is/does!

[Sub-Routine]

The double-blink mode is unlinking mode. When using the ISY to write links to the motion sensor it does not matter which mode the MS is in.

 

I added some info to the Motion Sensor Wiki page.

 

Rand

[CJVann]

Oops - I skipped over the "unlinking" section of the Motion sensor quick start guide, as I planned to do all that via ISY. Great updates to the Wiki.