nOOb - using slider to dim and brighten lamp module

[jeffelliott]

Hi again, all!



I would like to dim and brighten a lamp module using a slider control. I downloaded the sample configuration in this thread. I've managed to get the lamp to turn on and off using the X10 lamp module device and a multistate button. However, I'm striking out on the dim / bright piece using a slider and the dimming vars device.



I think it's something to do with the way the task was setup as an example but I can't seem to find the solution. Basically, I just want to turn the lamp on and off with a button and dim and brighten with a slider. Any suggestions on where to start???



Thanks

JE

[ScottBot]

If your X10 switch supports direct dimming, you can do it the easy way and don't need to mess with the example you found in the thread. If your switch doesn't support direct dimming, you have to use the other approach, but it's not very elegant.



First make sure the switch you are using supports dimming. Appliance modules won't dim, and there may be others.



You can test whether the module supports dimming by entering Bright;10 into the Direct X10 Command property of the Device in HouseBot. If the light was off and then comes up a bit, it supports it.



If it supports X10 dimming, you should be able to simply change the values of the X10 Dimming Vars Device to what you want. Be sure to set the X10 Dim level last.

[jeffelliott]

If it supports X10 dimming, you should be able to simply change the values of the X10 Dimming Vars Device to what you want. Be sure to set the X10 Dim level last.

They do support the direct x10 commands. Thanks for helping me troubleshoot the command piece!



Now, I'm a little confused by the set the x10 dim level last piece. Please forgive my nOObness, but I still have a couple of questions:



1) I believe I need to use the slider to change the property of the dimming vars null device?

2) If question 1 is true, what about the scale? I read that x10 is a 32 step dimming process but the null device has a 1 - 100 scale?

3) How do I pass the value of the null device into the direct x10 command?



Thanks!

Jeff

[Circe640]

You do not need to use the Null device. When you set up a X10 Lamp Module, one of the default properties is the Leviton Dim level which has a value range of 1 - 100 that will map directly to the slider values. The actual dimmer should map to that range. IF the dimmer you use only supports the range of 1 - 32 then on the slider control set the range parameter so the scale is the values 1-32. That should restrict the values to the 1 -32 range corresponding to the range supported by the dimmer.