scott711 May 30, 2013 Share May 30, 2013 If Outlet LightsAt10 = ON Then LED_0.10 If Time 08:00 to 20:00 Then Then LED_0.10 Top one would be used for victual outlets, bottom one would be used for the physical outlet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoelace May 30, 2013 Share May 30, 2013 Hmm... Not sure if you need to layer in any power at all? The fixture should be plugged in all the time but the VDM would trigger the drivers to light the LEDs. I think he is using a virtual outlet just as a switch to run the profile. But DC8's aren't needed for virtual outlets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM May 30, 2013 Author Share May 30, 2013 (edited) The DC8 isnt a real thing. It is just a fake module created in order to get some outlets that can be queried for state. Or at least that is my guess at how it works. I did it because of this post: http://forum.neptunesystems.com/showthread.php?57-Virtual-Outlets Edited May 30, 2013 by AlanM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM May 30, 2013 Author Share May 30, 2013 in your above example you did not set a ramp time (seconds) or starting intensity. Also 10% intensity is very low. You will have to play with the intensity. When do your actual lights come on? The apex interface says that the ramp time is in minutes, not seconds. Is 0 a valid entry in that field to have them come on immediately? I will put start intensity to be the same as end intensity and put the ramp time to 1 so that there are nonzero values in those fields, and it should do the same thing I would guess? Will it then stay at the end intensity after the ramp is over or should I put some big number in there to get it to stay at 1v output essentially forever? In theory my LDD drivers dim from 0 all the way up. They arent supposed to cut out at a low value, but that is one thing I am trying to test by doing 10%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoelace May 30, 2013 Share May 30, 2013 IRCC, 0 is a valid value for ramp times. I think that is how I programmed my "non-ramp" lighting periods. I think unless you ramp down via a profile or turn of via an outlet, it just stays at the level at which the program last told it to achieve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM May 30, 2013 Author Share May 30, 2013 I changed LED_0.10 to have a ramp time of 60 and start and end intensity both at 10. Did the same for the 25% one. So I just went home for lunch and tested it. I switched the Virtual Outlet LightsAt10 to On and RoyalBlue and NeutralWhite to Auto, and measured the outputs on those channels with a voltmeter. I got 1.02V on them, and the RoyalBlue and NeutralWhite variable outlets turned orange in the GUI. Then I turned the 10% one of and LightsAt25 on and got 2.5V, so I guess that works. I set the LED_0.10 ramp time to 0 and tested again, and that also worked. So 0 ramp time must mean forever. Wonder if it means forever at the start or forever at the end. My guess would be end. So I think I'm sorting it out. Helps just to type it back and forth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoelace May 30, 2013 Share May 30, 2013 Great. It was confusing to me at first but after trial and error I sort began to understand the internal logic of the Apex programming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott711 May 30, 2013 Share May 30, 2013 it is definitely trial and error. I don't have the documentation in front of me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM May 30, 2013 Author Share May 30, 2013 (edited) I still think they need a big list of stuff that can go in the Advanced field when configuring outlets. I'd like to see a list of Built-In Variables (so far I see Temp, Time, what else? The comprehensive manual lists a bunch, but doesn't actually include the variable name, just the description) Conditionals (If-Then, maybe While?) Operators (=, <, >, etc.) Commands (Set, Fallback, etc.) Edited May 30, 2013 by AlanM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM May 30, 2013 Author Share May 30, 2013 Now to get a scope to look at the PWM output... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM May 30, 2013 Author Share May 30, 2013 So I am dumb. I took another look at the Comprehensive Reference Manual v3 and there are two chapters, 5 and 6, which contain all of the statements I was wondering about. I should be set to do some unnecessarily complicated stuff now. 8) Thanks Scott and Shoelace and DaveS for helping me figure it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM May 31, 2013 Author Share May 31, 2013 Just to followup on the topic of the aquarium controller interfaces from stevesleds converting 10V into PWM. Here are the scope outputs. It seems to work well. I tried to take a pic of both the apex interface and the scope display. First pic, lights at 0. Second pic, lights at 10. Note that the LightsAt10 switch is on. Looks like about a 10% duty cycle at 500Hz Third pic, lights at 25. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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