[bart_75243]

Thanks to all of you for all the help and advice you post on a daily basis. I have truly learned a great deal from all your wisdom. In an attempt to pass back some information, here is a way to get one of the nice features of the Lutron Spacer to work with a programmable remote like the Pronto.


For those of you who like myself have been unable to figure out the "fade to off" feature and are not pleased with the rigged dim-pause-dim-pause solution, here is the IR code to make this work:


0000 0067 0000 0007 0333 0113 005b 0113 005b 005c 016c 005c 005b 0113 005b 00b7 005b 01f5


You can now press and hold a button on your Pronto programed with this code, or build a macro that uses a series of these sequentially to automatically increase the delay time before the fade event (I found that it took about 8 of these to activate the delay and required me putting .1 second delays in between each alias to make this work).


Anyway, hope this helps those like myself who have been trying in vain to get this to work!

 

[anson]

I must have missed something. When I programmed my Pronto for the Spacer, I just used the remote that came with the Spacer. Now I "press" one button on the pronto to dim-to-off and another (or same) for gradual off to back on. Is this what you're talking about? Thanks, BTW, for the sleuthing work.


-anson

 

[bart_75243]

Anson,


It's quite possible that the remote that comes with the Spacer has this feature as one of its buttons. I purchased the dimmers without remote and downloaded the .ccf files from RemoteCentral, none of which worked for this particular effect.


The effect I'm talking about is equivalent to pressing and holding the "down" bar on the dimmer. The longer you hold the bar, the longer it delays the fade sequence, for up to 60 seconds I believe. This gives you time to wind up and get everyone seated while the lights dim. All the ccf files seemed to have small down, large (like 4X) down, small up, large (4X) up, and the 5 scene buttons, and an "off" (immediate fade), but none of them recreated the delayed "fade to off" effect.

 

[anson]

Thanks for the clarification! Now I know what you're talking about. I have the three button remote which does what you're talking about, though I did not attempt to program my Pronto with with long delay, just the short one. Good sleuthing!

 

[kal]

"The longer you hold the bar, the longer it delays the fade sequence, for up to 60 seconds I believe. This gives you time to wind up and get everyone seated while the lights dim."


I'm on the fence about buying one of the Lutron Spacer IR dimmers...


So if I understand correctly, to have the thing fade to black over a period of 60 seconds, you have to physically be holding the button down on the Spacer remote for 60 seconds? Or do you hold it for 2-3 seconds to let you KNOW that you want to fade to black slowly over 60 seconds?


If indeed you need to hold it down, at least with the Pronto you can program this in as one long macro so that you don't have to hold it down that long... correct?


Thanks,


Kal

 

[amillians]

Kal:


The "standard" Spacer fade is about 10 seconds--press the rocker switch, 10 second ramp down to dark or 10 second ramp up to light.


The "enhanced" Spacer fade allows 20/30/40/50/60 second fades, but triggering this feature is clumsy--you physically hold down the rocker switch, and after about 3 seconds, you let go of the switch when the fade level reaches the point you want it to be, as indicated by the blinking light trailing up the rocker switch. In other words, to do a 60 second fade to dark, I would push and hold down the rocker switch until the blinking light on the left of the panel was all the way at the top--about 9 seconds. To do a 30 second fade to dark, you'd hold down the rocker until the light was about mid way up the panel--about 6 seconds. You have to do this *every* time you want to do a 10+ second fade...it would be better if there were some way to "save" a preferred fade rate and have that work every time like on the higher end GE systems.


I don't have the Spacer remote, but I gather it works the same way for the "enhanced" fade.


The Pronto workaround is to launch a series of macros to accomplish the same thing--a single press on the Pronto results in a simulated 8-9 second button hold down to replicate a 60 second fade.


For what it's worth, besides being clumsy, the 60 second Spacer fade can look somewhat weird--the fade isn't smooth/even from light to dark...it seems like 25% of the fade occurs in the last 5 seconds. I only mention this because the more expensive Lutron GE system doesn't seem plagued by this issue. Of course, it could also be related to the bulbs I'm using and the way that the Spacer fades them (quick on/off cycles).

 

[mercury]

Will these numbers(codes)also work to program the MX500 remote,


thanks-


tommy

 

[bart_75243]

Mercury,


I'm not familiar with the MX-500 (Theater Master, right?). The codes are IR, so they should work with any learning IR Remote.


The problem you're going to have is with the macro sequence. I found my own Spacer to be very finicky with regard to the timing of the commands repeating to simulate a "held, repeating" command. As I mentioned in my first post, the default .1 second delay between iterations of the IR sequence did not work to activate the delayed off feature. I ended up having to trick it with "beeps" to create shorter delay times. These beeps are normally used for creating songs or actually beeps, and can be programed in both duration and pitch.


If activating the "delayed off" isn't a concern, then there shouldn't be any problem at all using the command for a simple straight-fade. I have all the others as well if you need them.


You might want to check RemoteCentral.com for more help with the MX-500 if you need more specific information. They seem to be the definitive source for all things remote.

 

[Tim Smith]

I downloaded a couple of Spacer CCFs off of remotecentral but I'm having trouble. I don't have the spacer scene remote so I can't teach my Pronto the codes.


Basically, I have 3 switches. I want to set my pronto to remember my current scene, 2 lights on (1 full, 1 half way) and 1 light off. All of the Spacer CCF's are preprogrammed to someone else's scene settings.


Anyone know of a way to set the scene in the pronto w/o the Lutron remote?

 

[bart_75243]

Tim,


You basically have to teach the switches what the Scene1 (for example) command means to each of them. To teach a switch a "scene" command, you first adjust it to the desired levels. In your case, with multiple switches, adjust 1 full, 1 half, 1 off. Then, you aim your remote at the switches and press and hold the scene button on the remote (say Scene1, for example) until the LEDs flash on the switches. Now, Switch1 thinks that the command Scene1 means "full on," Switch2 thinks that Scene1 means "half on," and Switch3 thinks that Scene1 means "off."


You can repeat this for each of the Scene buttons. The one area that the Spacers will have trouble with is the dim and increase commands. All will respond equally to the command, so you have to stick with scenes to do what you want or sequence master commands with subsequent scene commands.


Hope that helps.

 

[bart_75243]

Mercury,


Lutron has recently updated its website and one thing I noticed was the reference to the MX-500 in their Remote Control FAQ section:

http://www.lutron.com/spacer/remotecontrol.htm

Which aftermarket remote controls come pre-programmed with Lutron codes?

Universal Remote Control's Home Theater Master series MX-1000, MX-700, MX-500, SL-9000, SL-8000, and SL-7000.


If that's the case, it looks like you may already have support for the Spacer without having to program anything.

 

[Tim Smith]

I tried pressing the Pronto Spacer ccf button for scene 1 but all that happened was that the lights turned on to what was already programmed for scene 1.


Any other ideas?

 

[amillians]

Tim:


If Bart's instructions didn't work for you and you have the correct .ccf file (I downloaded one that worked and one that didn't), the only other thing I can think that would stop you from getting this to work is your dimmers themselves--make sure you have the Spacer SYSTEM dimmers, not the "normal" Spacer dimmers. The System dimmers have product codes starting with "SPS" (vs. "SP" for the non-System versions). The multi scene capabilities ONLY work with the System dimmers. Normally, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. only sell the non-System stuff...the System stuff is usually a special order item or is available through lighting stores (or online at www.mmlighting.com ).

 

[Tim Smith]

Yep, I've got the System switches.


Do you know which ccf you have?

 

[bart_75243]

Tim,


Use these codes for your scenes. They are "clean" and repeat, unlike many of those I have seen in the ccf files. Note the length (short) and the '0000' series in the third position. The 0000s in the third position are required for codes to repeat properly when you hold the button on your Pronto. Also, it takes my Spacer about 5 seconds to respond with the flashing LEDs, indicating the scene level has been set.


Scene 1

0000 0067 0000 0007 0333 0113 005b 0113 005b 005c 016c 005c 005b 0113 0111 005c 005b 0199


Scene 2

0000 0067 0000 0007 0333 0113 005b 0113 005b 005c 016c 005c 005b 00b7 005b 00b7 005b 0250


Scene 3

0000 0067 0000 0008 0333 0112 005b 0112 005b 005c 016c 005c 005b 00b7 005b 005c 005b 005c 00b6 0199


Scene 4

0000 0067 0000 0007 0333 0113 005b 0113 005b 005c 016c 005c 005b 005c 0111 0113 005b 0199

 

[Tim Smith]

That's great! Thanks so much. I'll give these a try tomorrow.


Tim

 

[Tim Smith]

These codes worked perfectly. Thanks!

 

[Crescent]

I'm about to do electrical and found this thread. The Lutron spacer system sounds right for me. How do you enter these codes into a learning remote other than the Pronto?

 

[Crescent]

Is it not possible?

 

[bart_75243]

Crescent,


It should be possible. They are simply IR commands, but many learning remotes do not allow an input method other than head-to-head memorization of a code. What I mean is that if you have the code but they aren't in a remote, you need a software interface through which to assign them.


While I am not familiar with any of the remotes other than the Pronto, if you look at:

http://www.remotecentral.com


you will find reviews and information on a number of other remotes, many of which also have PC software interfaces. Each should have a help file detailing how to work with that particular remote.


Sorry I can't be more helpful.


Bart