Scheduling lights on and off

Is there a way I can schedule lights to come on and off at certain times of the day ? e.g. If I was on holiday I could schedule various lights to turn on and off so it looks like I'm still at home.

 

Yes there is a way.

 

Thanks, can you point me in the right direction?
Cheers

 

Ross you could elaborate a bit or are you just trying to get the number of posts up there this morning?
Scheduling can be done three ways in order of costs
1: Pac unit. The schedules can be created in the Pac and enabled by local cbus switches or time based on the programming done in the Pac from Piced software.
The disadvantages are that you can?t visually see or edit the times scheduled but it is the cheapest option.
2: Band W touch screen. The schedules can be created in the Touch Screen and enabled by local cbus switches, buttons on the screen or time based on the programming done. These times can also be edited in the schedules but is a little harder to edit than in the Colour Ctouch
3: Colour Ctouch: I feel this is the nest way as you can edit the schedule with options of full time and day view with endless possibilities on odd, even custom days etc with scene edit ramp times and group switching etc etc.
The best way is to work out what the customer?s ability is in order to sell them the right product and not over complicate the solution.
If the customer doesn?t require any user changeable ability then the Pac may be the go or if the customer is fairly windows literate and wants the option of full on schedule scene changeable scenarios then the colour ctouch could be the answer. Hope this helps
Cheers

 

Thanks. Exactly the type of info I'm looking for . I'll probably go for the Pascal Automation controller (PAC), as I'm very comfortable with programming.

I already have a PC interface, so I can sell this on , shame that I've only just thrown away it's box after keeping it for 2 years.

 

Hi Nathan,
Yes, my post count is very important to me. My whole purpose in life is to try and become the most prolific poster on this and all other forums.
I guess I could have posted a bit more info but would rather the person seeking the info to use the search button first, and then ask a question. I would have to say that this question would have to have been asked and answered more than once and getting the right information for his particular requirement speculative at best. Perhaps a combination of security usage and cbus scheduling would be more beneficial for his application. Maybe an M1, maybe a minder/thinkboxx, the list goes on and on. I am not sure. You have got him off and running with a few pointers however which is commendable.

 

I think a clock module will do what was asked as well. Never used one or seen anyone mention one, so I don't think they are very popular, but it is probably a lot cheaper than touchscreens and a PAC

 

What really counts

Ross,

You could have a look at what I have posted and post as many valid responses as you wish.

Phil

 

One more post for me...

 

I wouldn't get rid of the PCI. PAC's can only be a PCI OR a PAC at any one time. For debugging, programming or automation from your pc it is much better to use the PCI and only use the PAC connection for downloading to the PAC. The PAC "PCI" functionality is a handy feature, but second rate to having a PCI or CNI to use.