"powerlinc" help text

Issuing the command "powerlinc help" shows the following help text:

usage: powerlinc [-d] [-v]   [   ...]
       powerlinc [ help | listen | test | prog= ]

    -d  turn on debugging output
    -v  turn on verbose output
    -q  quiet, turn off all non-error output
       is  [  ... ]
        is   [   ... ]
        is Hn or Hn,p,q...  where H is a housecode A-P
                                  and n,p,q are unit codes 1-16
         is [ on off bright dim statreq ddim=n ]
                                  where n is percent brightness 0-100
    prog=
        issue command sequence for module programming, where 
         is [ clear setramp defonlevel addscene delscene rampscene ]
    test
        issue hardcoded test pattern (for debugging only)
    listen
        loop listening on serial port and report traffic seen
    help
        show this message
    EXAMPLE:
        powerlinc e7,8 on e7 dim dim dim

"powerlinc" sample commands

Here are a few examples of using the "powerlinc" script...

On, off, dim, bright, direct dim

Turning module "C1" (housecode C, unitcode 1) off, turning it on, setting it to a particular dim level, then making it brighter by one level and then dimmer by two levels:

  powerlinc C1 off
  powerlinc C1 on
  powerlinc C1 ddim=50%
  powerlinc C1 bright bright
  powerlinc C1 dim dim dim

Note: you must issue one more dim/bright than the number of levels to change, so to brighten by one level, issue two consecutive "bright" commands, and to dim by two levels, issue three "dim" commands.

You can specify a bunch of units, then commands, more units, more commands...

  powerlinc C1 D4 off  E5 ddim=35%

Note on direct dim: the "ddim" command above uses the standard X10 protocol's "direct dim", and not the extended X10 protocol. This will work with Smarthome modules. Other manufacturers' modules may need the extended protocol; you'll need to check and experiment.

Status request

You can issue a status request to 2-way-capable modules. This command uses the standard X10 protocol's status request command:

  powerlinc E5 statreq

  E5 E-statreq E5 ddim=35%

Listen on the line

The 1132B reports on any X10 traffic it sees on the wire. To listen and report:

  powerlinc listen

  E7 E-off E3 E-on

Program a Smarthome module

The Smarthome modules are programmed by sending sets of house/unit codes out onto the line as commands. For more information, refer to the owner's manual that comes with your modules. For example, to add a secondary code (scene membership) of C1 to module B9 at "on level" 30%, I would use these commands in my script, and they would issue the following X10 codes:

Typing this command:	issues these codes:
powerlinc prog=clear	O16 N16 M16 P16 M16
powerlinc B9 ddim=30	B9 B-(level=9 ddim-high)
powerlinc prog=addscene	M16 N16 O16 P16
powerlinc C1 on	C1 C-on

Verbose mode

Use "-v" to see the data bits and bytes as they are sent and received. Here's an example command and its output:

# powerlinc -v e5 statreq
powerlinc: issue_x10_standard_address hc=E, u=5
powerlinc: >>> 1 byte
powerlinc:          1  0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 (0x02)    Ready?
powerlinc: <<< 2 bytes
powerlinc:          1  0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 (0x06)    ACK
powerlinc:          2  0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 (0x0D)    EOT
powerlinc: >>> 6 bytes
powerlinc:          1  1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 (0x80)    Send ext x10
powerlinc:          2  0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 (0x04)    bytecount=4
powerlinc:          3  1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 (0xE5)    literal bits
powerlinc:          4  0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 (0x65)    literal bits
powerlinc:          5  0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 (0x64)    literal bits
powerlinc:          6  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 (0x00)    literal bits
powerlinc: <<< 5 bytes
powerlinc:          1  0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 (0x45)    EXT_CMD_UNDOC
powerlinc:          2  0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 (0x41)    housecode='E'
powerlinc:          3  0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 (0x42)    unit='5'
powerlinc:          4  0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 (0x31)    repeat='1'
powerlinc:          5  0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 (0x0D)    EOT
powerlinc: E5
powerlinc: issue_x10_standard_command hc=E, cmd=statreq, level=NOLEVEL
powerlinc: >>> 1 byte
powerlinc:          1  0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 (0x02)    Ready?
powerlinc: <<< 1 bytes
powerlinc:          1  0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 (0x15)    NAK
powerlinc: >>> 1 byte
powerlinc:          1  0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 (0x02)    Ready?
powerlinc: <<< 1 bytes
powerlinc:          1  0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 (0x15)    NAK
powerlinc: >>> 1 byte
powerlinc:          1  0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 (0x02)    Ready?
powerlinc: <<< 2 bytes
powerlinc:          1  0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 (0x06)    ACK
powerlinc:          2  0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 (0x0D)    EOT
powerlinc: >>> 6 bytes
powerlinc:          1  1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 (0x80)    Send ext x10
powerlinc:          2  0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 (0x04)    bytecount=4
powerlinc:          3  1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 (0xE5)    literal bits
powerlinc:          4  0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 (0x6A)    literal bits
powerlinc:          5  1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 (0xA8)    literal bits
powerlinc:          6  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 (0x00)    literal bits
powerlinc: <<< 15 bytes
powerlinc:          1  0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 (0x45)    EXT_CMD_UNDOC
powerlinc:          2  0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 (0x41)    housecode='E'
powerlinc:          3  0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 (0x5F)    func='statreq'
powerlinc:          4  0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 (0x31)    repeat='1'
powerlinc:          5  0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 (0x0D)    EOT
powerlinc: E-statreq
powerlinc:          6  0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 (0x45)    EXT_CMD_UNDOC
powerlinc:          7  0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 (0x41)    housecode='E'
powerlinc:          8  0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 (0x42)    unit='5'
powerlinc:          9  0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 (0x31)    repeat='1'
powerlinc:         10  0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 (0x0D)    EOT
powerlinc: E5
powerlinc:         11  0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 (0x45)    EXT_CMD_UNDOC
powerlinc:         12  0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 (0x49)    level=9/31
powerlinc:         13  0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 (0x55)    func='ddim-high'
powerlinc:         14  0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 (0x31)    repeat='1'
powerlinc:         15  0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 (0x0D)    EOT
powerlinc: ddim=29%

2004 (c) Anne Bennett <anne.powerlinc@porcupine.ca>