RadioRA module

mpullin

Hello, I have a Lutron system in my office and I'm controlling with the RadioRA module. I know it's possible to have feedback for the dimmer levels in each zone because I've seen Control4 systems where it is done. But is it possible with the RadioRA module? I'm not so sure. The following is straight from Lutron RadioRA.doc

7.	Light/Dimmer State
This message is generated when a lights level changes.

Format:		L:[<addr>]:<level>
Parameters: <addr>	: address of the light
		<level>	: new lighting level
Usage:

// Message from lighting module?
data_event[vRA]
{
    string:
    {
        // Lighting level change?
        if (data.text[] == ?L:[2]:1?)
        {
            // Process new lighting level
        }
    }
}

I get this kind of feedback from the module but the second parameter <level> is always either a 0 (light is totally off) or a 1 (light is 1%-100% lit).

Has anyone built a system with NetLinx where you are able to get dimmer feedback from the Lutron system?

Joe Hebert

AFAIK, you can't get the current light level of a zone from a RadioRA system. You can only get back whether it is OFF(0) or ON(1). If you look at page 16 of the RadioRA.doc you quoted you will also see:

Light/Dimmer State L:[<addr>]:<0,1> L:[2]:1 Current state of a light.Ex: light address 2 is on.

The Lutron RadioRA protocol manual also says that you can only get ON or OFF status.

If you use a Lutron HWI system instead of RadioRA then you can get feedback for every load.

Hope this helps.

mpullin

Thanks, I was afraid I was missing something.

It doesn't make sense to me at all that this module can't tell what level the dimmers are at. Why would anyone use it? And what do you mean by "Lutron HWI System"? Is that a NetLinx module?

Joe Hebert

It?s not the module?s fault. That?s just the way it is with a RadioRA system. The RadioRA system itself doesn?t support level feedback like Lutron HWI (Lutron HomeWorks Interactive.) RadioRA and HWI are both lighting systems made by Lutron. With RadioRA you can still push phantom buttons to run scenes and you can tell dimmers to go to a specific level. You just can?t get the level feedback. Bummer I know.

Spire_Jeff

mpullin wrote:

Thanks, I was afraid I was missing something.

It doesn't make sense to me at all that this module can't tell what level the dimmers are at. Why would anyone use it? And what do you mean by "Lutron HWI System"? Is that a NetLinx module?

HWI is the more robust and feature rich version of RadioRA by Lutron. HWI systems are controlled via a dedicated HWI Processor.

The reason the module doesn't tell what the dimmer levels are is because the product doesn't provide any way to report this data. You could attempt to track the dimmer levels but tracking what commands the AMX processor spits out, but all it would take is someone adjusting the lights from a RadioRA keypad to throw a wrench into the works.

[RANT]
The AMX Processor and AMX provided COMM Modules and very powerful and reliable and we would all be worse off without them. To blame AMX for not being able to glean this information from a system that does not report the information would be like blaming the iWEATHER module for inaccurate forecasts. Since you feel that the module should support this, why stop there? Why not ask AMX to write a module the makes the sun rise and the clouds part on rainy days?
[/RANT]

On a seperate note, if you remove all external control capabilities from the RadioRA system and ONLY the AMX has the ability to change lighting levels, you could write code that tracks the dimmer levels based on the commands you send to the RadioRA. This still wouldn't be 100% reliable unless the RadioRA provides a closed loop communication protocol that allows for verification that commands sent were actually received and acted upon.

This is by no means a knock on the RadioRA system. The RadioRA system was a great system back in it's day. At the time, such detailed reporting was most likely not financially feasable. Lutron does provide the functionality you are looking for in the newer HWI product offering.

I apologize for my harsh response, but today isn't going well and this seemed like less costly therapy for myself than a trip to a therapist.

Jeff