Dimming Waveman receivers in Linux

[geirgp]

Hi,

I've been looking at Z-wave for a while, but am now tempted by Waveman devices which are much cheaper and I understand that the Tellstick is able to control such devices.

I want to use a Linux system for the home automation setup, and looked briefly at the tool you provide for Linux. I found this page on your wiki http://developer.telldus.se/wiki/TellSt ... 0-%20Linux

which shows usage output for the linux command line tool:

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Usage: rfcmd DEVICE PROTOCOL [PROTOCOL_ARGUMENTS]
         DEVICE: /dev/ttyUSB[0..n] | LIBUSB
         PROTOCOLS: NEXA, SARTANO, WAVEMAN, IKEA
         PROTOCOL ARGUMENTS - NEXA, WAVEMAN:
                HOUSE_CODE: A..P
                CHANNEL: 1..16
                OFF_ON: 0..1
         PROTOCOL ARGUMENTS - SARTANO:
                CHANNEL: 0000000000..1111111111
                OFF_ON: 0..1
         PROTOCOL ARGUMENTS - IKEA:
                SYSTEM: 1..16
                DEVICE: 1..10
                DIM_LEVEL: 0..10
                DIM_STYLE: 0..1

What I don't understand is that the WAVEMAN protocol has no DIM_LEVEL parameter like the IKEA one, yet there are dimmable waveman receivers on the market.

Is it not possible to use Tellstick to dim lights from Linux?

[pat]

Is it not possible to use Tellstick to dim lights from Linux?

found somewhere in this forum:

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tdtool -v [1-255] -d id or name of device

[fredrik.gullberg]

It's not possible to dim waveman using absolute dim values, this is only supported by arctech(proove, nexa, coco, it, and so on) and ikea receivers.

[geirgp]

It's not possible to dim waveman using absolute dim values, this is only supported by arctech(proove, nexa, coco, it, and so on) and ikea receivers.

Thanks for your answer. You mention that nexa is a protocol which supports absolute dim values - how is this done with the rfcmd tool? I can only see that this protocol has the following parameters.

• house code
  channel
  on/off

[fredrik.gullberg]

i don't think rfcmd has support for dimming, if possible, try using tdtool instead.

[dagb]

It's not possible to dim waveman using absolute dim values, this is only supported by arctech(proove, nexa, coco, it, and so on) and ikea receivers.

Without trying to sound like a smartass....

Any chance of having support for relative dimming, then?
And may I ask what causes the disability to use absolute dim values? Not supported by hardware?


Thanks,

Dag B

[fredrik.gullberg]

The hardware in waveman dimmers doesn't support absolute dimming.

[dagb]

The hardware in waveman dimmers doesn't support absolute dimming.

Fair enough. No support for *absolute* dimming. Does this imply that the hardware cannot be dimmed remotely?
Sorry if I appear dense. But whenever someone uses a qualifier (here: "absolute"), I assume there is another option.

Dag B

[fredrik.gullberg]

There are Waveman-receivers that can be dimmed, but only by using the remote control since you have to see the lamp to be able to set the dim-level.

[dagb]

There are Waveman-receivers that can be dimmed, but only by using the remote control since you have to see the lamp to be able to set the dim-level.

waitaminute...... let me rephrase that for you:
"One cannot dim the waveman dimmers with the tellstick because you have to see the lamp to set the dim-level."
I believe that sentence has pretty much the same meaning as yours. And no offense intended, but I don't get it.

Why can't I sit by the dinner table, pick up my phone, and set a nicer dim-level without having to walk over to the wall switch? (By means of remotestick or something similar.) Is it that the waveman dimmers use IR for dimming and RF for on/off? Doesn't sound very plausible, but what do I know.

Sorry if it appears I am flogging a dead horse here, I really just want to understand the issue at hand.


Dag B

[fredrik.gullberg]

When dimming the Waveman-dimmers, using a regular remote control you press on the on button until you've reached the desired dimming-level, right?!
There are mainly two problems by implementing support for this.
1. Since all software for TellStick is designed to work even if you can't see the lamp when you are controlling it, this function would differ from all other ways to control devices via TellStick.
2. Since you have to press the button and then release it when the lamp reached the desired dim-level it's quite hard to implement a function for this in ie. the iPhone app. It would be very important that the timing is correct, because if it's not, the dim-level would be incorrect. And since the signals from the iPhone App first has to be transferred from the iPhone and to one of our servers and then to the Computer where the TellStick is connected and then to the dimmer-receiver, the precision is just not good enough.
Since the nexa-recievers supports absolute dimming very well, we've choosen to not investigate this further.

[dagb]

When dimming the Waveman-dimmers, using a regular remote control you press on the on button until you've reached the desired dimming-level, right?!
There are mainly two problems by implementing support for this.
1. Since all software for TellStick is designed to work even if you can't see the lamp when you are controlling it, this function would differ from all other ways to control devices via TellStick.
2. Since you have to press the button and then release it when the lamp reached the desired dim-level it's quite hard to implement a function for this in ie. the iPhone app. It would be very important that the timing is correct, because if it's not, the dim-level would be incorrect. And since the signals from the iPhone App first has to be transferred from the iPhone and to one of our servers and then to the Computer where the TellStick is connected and then to the dimmer-receiver, the precision is just not good enough.
Since the nexa-recievers supports absolute dimming very well, we've choosen to not investigate this further.

Thank you. I believe I could live with simple a simple "increase" or "decrease" function. You have decided to not implement this. Fair enough.
<soapbox>Anyone else got a patch for tdtool handy?</soapbox>
Would Telldus accept a patch for this feature if one was produced? (And passes whatever quality norms you have.)

Dag B

[fredrik.gullberg]

A increase / decrease function would also be quite hard to do, since the only command you can send is "on" and you don't know if the receiver will dim up or down.
We do accept third party patches as long as they are "good enough"