Universal Devices ISY-994i Series, Руководство пользователя

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Well - a scene is merely a bunch of devices that all have responder records with matching
controller addresses and controller groups. This means that they are all prepared to
respond to the same group command from the same controller address.
The power of the scene is that because the dim level and ramp rate are set in the responder
link table a single controller can turn multiple devices on to varying levels of brightness at
varying rates. Very cool! But you have to remember that the devices are still simply
responding to on, off, fast on, fast off. So ALL the devices in the scene will either turn on or
all the devices will turn off. You don't get to mix ons and offs in one group command. This is
kind of restrictive in that for most of the scenes I've ever created I've wanted some lights to
turn off while others turn on and others dim. The solution to this problem is the dim level
setting. Recent Insteon devices have overcome the problem of a scene ON command
needing to turn things OFF by allowing a dim level near 0. When the Insteon device
receives an ON and its dim level is set close to zero it will turn the device so low that it
appears off. Magic! Scenes can now do whatever you want! Further - because scenes
respond to dim/bright commands as well you can get creative and make all the lights in a
scene move up and down in unison - very cool.
It's important to note, though, that you CANNOT turn off a KPL button using an ON
command. Even if you set it to a low dim setting it will not work.
So, what is it that ISY is doing for you?
Well the first thing ISY does is have you add your devices. This is a very significant part of
the process and bears some analysis. When ISY adds your device, you tell it the address (or
put the device in linking mode). This is in keeping with what I mentioned earlier about
security - ISY can't find it unless you tell it where it is or make it visible manually. You can
either tell ISY what kind of device it is or let it figger it out itself by device ID and version
information kept within the device. This is so that later on ISY can offer you the choices and
functions relevant to your device specifically. You hit OK and ISY goes off and does some
stuff.
So, what's it doing? Well - it's recording the info about your device into its own table. It's
also creating a controller-responder link between your device and the PLM. This is of great
importance as the PLM is the hub of a scene controller like ISY. So, let’s examine a PLM for
the moment.
A PLM is basically like a KPL without the ability to control anything and without any
buttons. It has groups that number into the hundreds and each group has its own
responder and controller link tables. Why does ISY link your device to the PLM? There are
two reasons. First - a controller with no links at all sends no signals on the network. If you
connect a SwitchLinc to your light and do not link it as a controller to another device then
when you press the button on the SwitchLinc the light turns on and off but NO Insteon
signal is sent. The device is effectively invisible to the ISY or anything else on the network.
Programs based on status and control states couldn't work without being able to detect the