is Set Scene On <level> possible?

[simplextech]

Please tell me what is wrong with this and why it does not work.

Hallway.Lights-OverNight - [ID 003A][Parent 001E]

If
        From    10:30:00PM
        To      Sunrise (next day)
 
Then
        Set 'Hallway / Scene / Hallway 3-Way' On 10%
 
Else
   - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')
 

 

[Dr. Q]

A scene can only be on or off, no in between. If you need a different level, make a new scene with that level defined.



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[simplextech]

Just now, Dr. Q said:

A scene can only be on or off, no in between. If you need a different level, make a new scene with that level defined.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks.  That clarifies that.  So in a program to adjust a scene I either have to adjust the scene 'on level' or adjust a single device member in the 3/4/5 way setup correct?  The only annoyance with this is I then have to adjust each scene member for the LED's to reflect the correct level.

[Dr. Q]

Well,

So in a program to adjust a scene I either have to adjust the scene 'on level' 

You could call sequential scenes in a program to whatever effect you're going for. If you have a 3/4/5 way and the switches are linked (as in a scene), they'll act as one and the LEDs should match across switches (you're talking about the little white LEDs on the side of the switches, right ?.

There was a long philosophical debate somewhere on this forum from way back about the pros and cons of scene levels. On the one hand, it makes no sense, a scene is binary. On the other, a scene level *status* can be deduced from any devices within the scene that were adjusted after the fact, but you can't *control* a scene other than on or off. This is an option in Mobilinc, and Agave, I think, to show the total percentage of the scene that's running at the time.

HTH

Chuck

[kclenden]

2 hours ago, simplextech said:

That clarifies that.  So in a program to adjust a scene I either have to adjust the scene 'on level' or adjust a single device member in the 3/4/5 way setup correct?

I'm not entirely sure what your goal is, so I'll answer two scenarios:

First, let's say you have three lights in a scene, and you set the scene to turn them on to 100% brightness whenever a switch is tapped, and then you tap one of the switches to turn on the lights.  Now, while the lights are ON, you want to adjust their brightness to 50% at 10:30pm (i.e. bring all three lights down to 50% brightness).  You can't do that with the scene that you used originally.  You'd either have to send a command to each device telling it to dim to 50%, or you'd have to have a second scene already setup to turn those devices on at 50% brightness, in which case all you'd have to do is turn on that second scene.

Second, let's say between 10:30pm and sunrise you want the three lights in your hallway to only brighten to 10% instead of 100% whenever any of the switches is tapped.  Since the ISY isn't involved when any of the switches communicates directly with the lights, you have to "adjust" the scene ahead of time.  That you can do by using the "Adjust Scene" option.  Essentially, at 10:30pm, you would individually adjust the desired scene brightness for each responder (i.e. light) per controller (i.e. switch).  So if you had a 3-way switch configuration controlling three lights, you have to make 9 scene adjustments.  Once that was done, whenever any of the switches was tapped, the lights would come on at 10% brightness.  Then at sunrise (the ELSE of your program above), you have to make another 9 scene adjustments to return the programmed scene level to 100%.  In the example above, your lights and switches are probably synonymous (assuming each switch directly control a load), but the end result is the same.

[larryllix]

Scenes are presets inside your Insteon devices, that ISY r other Insteon devices can send an easy code to tell devices to go to that preset setting.

Yes you can play with the scene preset settings, but Insteon scenes are either on or off, like pushbuttons on a car radio....you can't half push them and 'sort of' tune that radio station. However, you can reprogram your preset pushbuttons to get something else, before using the pushbutton.

Edited February 21, 2019 by larryllix

[simplextech]

Thanks for the scene clarification.  I think UDI needs to remove the "on level" adjustment when a "scene" is selected in the program.  It leads to this type of topic

Starting to get my head around the Insteon world now a little better.  I get it that scenes are binary unless adjusted which I do with another scene actually.  I was hoping that since there was that 'on option' in the program window it would maybe do something, but I guess not.

[kclenden]

8 hours ago, simplextech said:

I think UDI needs to remove the "on level" adjustment when a "scene" is selected in the program.  It leads to this type of topic

UDI is usually pretty economical with their programming technique, especially given all the effort they've been devoting to get v5 to a production state.  So I wonder if there isn't an underlying reason why the "on level" adjustment for a scene is present.  Maybe it's allowed with Zwave or Zigbee?  If it's allowed by another protocol, I could see why they left it in for Insteon, as limiting options by protocol would probably be low on the list of things to implement when you're trying to get out your first production release of a new firmware version.