I have schedules created in my JDS, HCI, or PHC10D controller. Is there some way I can use them with HAL?

Related Product(s): HAL2000

The TimeCommander-Plus and Stargate by JDS Technologies, Inc., the HomeBase Deluxe and HomeBase Pro by Home Controls, Inc., and the PHC10D by X-10 Pro are stand-alone automation systems that control devices through digital inputs/outputs and analog inputs.  HAL can be configured to run Schedules and If/Then Situations (Rules) that will affect the devices connected to the JDS, HCI, or PHC10D controller.  In doing so, however, HAL overwrites the schedules that may have been programmed in the JDS/HCI/PHC10D controller itself.  This FAQ describes how to set up the JDS, HCI, or PHC10D controller to send commands to HAL that it can use within its own Schedules and If/Then Situations.  In other words, commands or schedules that you'd prefer the JDS/HCI/PHC10D handle, HAL won't interfere with.  Likewise, HAL can control the devices connected to the JDS/HCI/PHC10D using HAL's own Modes, Schedules, and Tasks.  HAL needs to create its own Schedule because the JDS, HCI, and PHC10D products do not automatically send information out the serial port (and to the HAL computer) when a digital or analog input changes in value.  The Schedule that HAL normally writes to the controller is one that causes the JDS/HCI/PHC10D device to notify HAL with a piece of information/data when a digital or analog input changes.

• Connect the JDS, HCI, or PHC10D controller to a serial port on the computer that HAL is installed on.
• In the Input/Output Configuration screen (right-click on the ear icon and select "Open System Settings" then "Input/Output"), select the JDS, HCI, or PHC10D controller that you're using from the drop-down menu.  Make sure that the option to enable the I/O is selected (checkmark visible).  Select which JDS, HCI, or PHC10D controller is being used and the COM Port to which it's connected.  Make sure the Disable Sensor List Load option is also selected (this prevents HAL from overwriting the JDS, HCI, or PHC10D programming).
• Create sensors in HAL's Automation Sensors screen (right-click on the ear icon and select "Open Automation Setup Screen"; see the help file for information on creating sensors).
• Program the JDS, HCI, or PHC10D controller following the instructions below.

Create schedules in the JDS, HCI, or PHC10D controller following the examples below.  When the input connected to the JDS, HCI, or PHC10D changes status, the JDS/HCI/PHC10D will send a signal to HAL in ASCII format.  This signal tells HAL that the input's status has changed, which will trigger any Rules within HAL that are dependent on that change of status.

 

There are two types of schedules that can be programmed in the JDS/HCI/PHC10D controllers — FASTEVENT and EVENT.  An event will be processed/evaluated only once per controller event pass, and this can take some amount of time if you have a lot of events defined in the controller.  A fastevent will run immediately, regardless of any other events currently running in the system.  Although a fastevent is the preferred method, only a few events can be programmed in this manner.

There are two different types of inputs that can be connected to the JDS/HCI/PHC10D controllers — DIGITAL and ANALOG.  A digital input is any input that has only two states, such as on/off, high/low, etc.  Analog inputs have a range of settings, such as the variable temperatures in a temperature or light sensor.

 

Run the WINEVM (Event Manager) program on your computer.  Create the events following the examples below.  (See the JDS/HCI/PHC10D documentation for instructions on launching and using the WINEVM program.)

• Dig Input 1 On — Event description.  A name you choose to identify the event.
• DI:KIT MOTION — The JDS/HCI/PHC10D input description.  A name you choose to identify the input (DI stands for Digital Input).
• Goes ON — The status that the input changes to that triggers the schedule.
• ASCII-Out — The action that the JDS/HCI/PHC10D controller carries out.  In this case, it sends a signal over the serial cable to HAL.
• ~KITCHEN MOTION — The name of HAL's sensor.  This section of code must include the tilde symbol (~), the sensor name must be in all capital letters, and the name must match the name assigned in HAL (sensor names in HAL are restricted to 25 characters, including spaces).
• :1 — The number represents the status of the input — "1" is on, "0" is off.
• [COM1]— This signifies which serial port on the JDS, HCI, or PHC10D the ASCII signal is to be sent through.  Note that this is the communication port on the controller, not the serial port on the computer.

The example above shows how a JDS/HCI/PHC10D controller will send a signal to HAL when the "Kitchen Motion" input, or sensor, is "on" (activated).  The code below will send a signal when the "Kitchen Motion" input turns "off".

As mentioned before, analog inputs have variable ranges, such as a temperature sensor that can measure the temperature in the house from a low of 30 degrees Fahrenheit to a high of 120 degrees Fahrenheit.  Using this example, a thermostat is installed in the house.  This thermostat either has its own temperature sensor that connects via inputs to the JDS/HCI/PHC10D, or an external sensor is connected to the JDS/HCI/PHC10D.  This temperature sensor sends out a voltage to the JDS/HCI/PHC10D, anywhere from zero volts (0V) up to five volts (5V).  The JDS/HCI/PHC10D translates that voltage into a value from 0 to 256.  This value is what is used within the JDS/HCI/PHC10D to determine when an event is triggered.

For example, you create a sensor in HAL called HOUSE TEMP.  If this sensor indicates that the temperature in the house is getting too high, a condition that you created is triggered that turns on the air conditioning; if it's too low, then a different condition runs that turns on the heat.  This "sensor" won't actually be controlling the thermostat; it will be receiving its orders, so to speak, from the JDS/HCI/PHC10D controller.

 

Continuing with this example, you want the JDS, HCI, or PHC10D to tell HAL when the temperature in the house is over 80 degrees Fahrenheit or under 60 degrees Fahrenheit.  Because the temperature (analog) sensor sends its information in volts instead of actual temperature readings, the voltage information has to be converted to values that the JDS/HCI/PHC10D can evaluate.  This temperature sensor has a range of 90 degrees (30 to 120).  The JDS/HCI/PHC10D controller translates that range into 256 numbers, representing the voltage range from zero to five — 30 degrees is number 0, 120 degrees is number 256.  Divide 90 degrees by 256 to determine that there are .35 degrees/number.  So to find out what number 80 degrees is at, you first subtract 30 from 80, which leaves a value of 50.  This signifies the value of 80 in relation to the range; in other words, you're not counting up from zero, you're counting up from 30, and 80 is 50 more than 30.  Take that 50 degrees and divide it by .35 degrees/number.  That gives you a value of 142.  So when programming the JDS/HCI/PHC10D, 142 will be the value used to signify 80 degrees (see the programming sample below).  Follow the same steps to translate 60 degrees.  Its final value is 86 (60-30=30; 30 divided by .35 = 85.7).

 

To finish out this example, you would type this code into the JDS/HCI/PHC10D so that it would inform HAL when the temperature in the house was over 80 degrees:

• Analog 1 in High — The event description.
• A/D:HOUSE TEMP — The JDS/HCI/PHC10D input description.
• 142 — The status that the input changes to that triggers the schedule.
• ASCII-Out — The action that the JDS/HCI/PHC10D controller carries out.  In this case, it sends a signal over the serial cable to HAL.
• ~HOUSE TEMP — The name of HAL's sensor.  This section of code must include the tilde symbol (~), the sensor name must be in all capital letters, and the name must match the name assigned in HAL (sensor names in HAL are restricted to 25 characters, including spaces).
• :1 — The number represents the status of the input — in this case, "1" is high, "0" is low.
• [COM1] — The serial port on the JDS/HCI/PHC10D through which the signal is sent.

The code for when the temperature goes under 60 degrees is:

In this example, when the temperature goes above 80 degrees, the JDS/HCI/PHC10D will only send the information to HAL once and won't send anything again until the temperature drops back below 80 degrees (number is less than 142).  Likewise when the temperature goes below 60 degrees.

The numbers above are only for this example.  Analog inputs all have different range values, depending on what the device was configured for.  So instead of a range of 90 degrees, you could have a temperature sensor with a range of 200 or a light sensor with a range of 100.  The only values from the above equations that are constant, are the voltage range (0V to 5V) and the numbers (0 to 256) in the JDS/HCI/PHC10D controller.  The range for the analog device should be indicated on the device itself or in the literature that accompanied it.

 

When creating analog sensors in HAL (see the online help file), there is an area where high and low values can be set for the sensor.  These values are used when HAL is monitoring the analog input, not the JDS, HCI, or PHC10D.  When monitoring the input from within the JDS/HCI/PHC10D (as shown in the examples above), the high and low values programmed in HAL are ignored -- only the values programmed in the JDS/HCI/PHC10D, such as 142 and 86, are used.