Setting a macro for night – understanding Sunset+ /etc

[Anonymous]

#40026

I’m trying to set a macro so that when an X10 signal A3 ON is sent, an Insteon light is also turned on if the time is after sunset and before sunrise. If A3 OFF is sent, I want the Insteon light to turn off regardless of time.

I’ve figured out that I’ll need two separate macros, one for A3 ON and one for A3 OFF. It looks as if the Macro screen will almost do what I want, but I don’t understand the meaning of Sunset- / Sunset+ / Sunrise- / Sunrise+.

Is what I want to do currently supported? If so, how do I set it up?

Many thanks!

[Anonymous]

#42109

The -/+ following Sunrise/Sunset indicates a block of time before or after Sunrise/Sunset for which the Macro is active. For example, I just defined a Macro with an X10 ON as the If, At Sunset- hh 07 mm 19. I have a Sunset time of 20:19. So this macro will be active starting at 7 hrs 19 minutes before Sunset (13:00), and remain active to Sunset. I just tested this and the macro was not active before 13:00, and now, a few minutes into the block of time the macro is active, an X10 On is now turning on an Insteon device.

You are correct in that you will need a macro which defines an If X10 OFF with Anytime= to turn off your Insteon device at any time. There is no current feature that allows specifying a Sunset start and a Sunrise stop on the same macro. Another user has successfully defined two macros, one with Sunset+ and some number of hours, and a second macro with Sunrise- and some number of hours (with the blocks of time overlapping). Both macros have the same If and Then conditions, thus creating a macro environment (2 macros collectively) that will turn on your Insteon device between Sunset and Sunrise based on the If condition. I have created two macros with that exact situation and will test them tonight to be sure they are working on 1.54.2. Both macros have an If X10 ON, one macro has an At Sunset+ with hh 06, the other macro has At Sunrise- hh 08, with both macros turning on an Insteon device. I will post the results tomorrow.

[Anonymous]

#42110

andrewc, I’m testing a beta image follow on to 1.54.2 which has some macro enhancements that could support a single macro covering sunset to sunrise for the X10 ON situation you describe. I still plan to test the two macro X10 ON approach tonight along with some of the macro enhancements. Will post the results of overnight testing tomorrow morning.

[Anonymous]

#42111

For those interested in trying the Beta, send me an email.

[Anonymous]

#42112

The two macro scenario for handling sunset to sunrise is confirmed to work on the beta image as well as earlier images. One macro covered Sunset+6 hours, the second macro covered Sunrise-8 hours. The first macro triggered for its 6 hour window, before and after midnight. The second macro triggered for its 8 hour window, before and after midnight. The hours of overlap between the two macros allow for the normal shifting of sunset and sunrise times as the season changes.

A beta image follow on to 1.54.2 has additional macro options for handling sunrise/sunset. These new macro options eliminate the need for two macros to cover the sunset to sunrise and sunrise to sunset time periods. A single macro with the “between sunset and sunrise” option provided the same trigger action as the two macro approach described above.

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