IBM Home Director Starter Kit

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Home Director Setup Instructions ........................
1
Getting Started .....................................................
2
Installing Your Starter Kit ......................................
5
To Control a Lamp .., .......... ........ ................. ....
9
Sample Routines for You to Try ............................
ICI
Using the 6-k-l Remote .......................................
22
Safety Considerations ..........................................
23
FCC Statement ......................................................
24
See page 13 for fun and practical routines you can set up!
Thank< for buying IBM Home Director. We’ll do our best to get you up and
runnini quickly. With Home Director your PC-is put to everyday use to add
controk and convenience to your life. The benefits of your PC-will be extended
to every room of your house!
Make your lights and appliances go to work for you....
IBM Home Director brings added security, convenience, and energy
management to your home by controlling your lights and appliances with
petsooalired routines defined by you. Hams Direct&s easy-to-use softwxe
and hardware can automate almost any light or appliance in your home...
and it’s easy to install. Within minutes, IBM Home Director can make your
lights and appliances go to work for you.
Here are just some of the things you can do with Home Director:
* Make your house look lived-in by having certain lights or appliances learn
your normal living ,patfern.
l Program your,lights to.zome on at dusk (rather than a pre-set time) - so you
don’1 have to come home to a dark house.
* Control individual (or groups)~of lights or appliances remotely.
* Create personalized “r,outines” for certain times of the day, like when you
wake up or go to bed.
* Use remote controls to control your fights and appliances from anywhere in
your home. The f.-in-1 ‘Universal Remote Control can also control your TV
VCR, Cable TV, Stereo, and Satellite TV
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This manual will briefly explain how Home Director works and how to set it up.
Next, it will teach you how to control a simple lamp from your PC. Once you’ve
mastered the basics, the manual will show you different automation routines
you can set up using your Home Director software. Finally, we will explain how
you can use your 6-k-l Universal Remote Control to control lights and
appliances from anywhere in your home.
We know that you want to get started, so we’ve kept this introduction as short
as possible. It contains very valuable information, so you should read through
it very carefully.
The first thing you need to understand is that there are three different devices
that you need to control your house: modules, controllers, and the PC
Connection Module,
Modules
ContMllers
Contropers send commands to the modules over the existing electrical wliring
in
your heuse without affecting your electricity in any way. There are three ways
this can happen: (1) directly from your PC; (2) through a remote control. sue+,
as the 6-k-l Universal Remo!e Control included in the Starter Kit; or (3) throclQh
a mini controller (available separately)-that plugs into your wall.
PC-Connection Module
The Home Director PC Connection Module connects to your computer’s serial
port and then plugs into a wall outlet, The Home Director software tells the PC
Connection Module what to do by downloading instructions into the PC
Connection Module’s memgfy. The PC Connection Module then sends digital
signals over your existing house wiring to a module which receives the signals
and executes the command. sent by the controtter. Since the instructions are
downloaded to your, PC Connection Module’s memory, you can turn off your pG
and your Home Director. routines will still execute when you want them to.
Any light or appliance that you want to control is plugged into a module and
that module is plugged into a standard power outlet. Mod
commands from controllers. Your Home Director Starter Ki
Lamp Module and a Remote Module. Other Home Director
are Appliance Modules (Z-pin and 3-pin), Wall Switches,
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House and Unit Codes
Each module has a specific address made up of a House Code (red dial on the
face of the module) and a Unit Code (black dial on the face of the module). The
controller first sends an address and then a command on the power lines. Only
the module with a matching address wifl execute the command. If more than one
module has the same address, both modules will execute the command.
Addresses are set on the module by turning the two dials on the front of the
module to the desired letter and number. (You can use a small screwdriver or a.
coin). The House Code is selected from the letters A through P, and the Unit
Code is selected from the numbers 1 through 16.
The Home Director software lets you:
* Create a picture of your modules on your computer screen and use them to
control your lights and appliances from your computer.
. Create schedules of timed events that automatically run your home 24 hours
a day, 7 days a week.
* Define Routines that control gr,oups of modules. For example, a “Cqming
Home Routine” might turn on the porch light, the living room light.,.&id the
stereo. A “Goodnight Routine” might turn off all internal lights,,;turn off the.,
/
stereo, but leave the outside yard lights on.
a*,
* Define conditions that allow Home Director to control your,:ever$s ,based on “,
time of day, date and when it gets dark at your house., For instance, the “True’
Dawn to Dusk” feature can automatically calculate dawn and dusk times
each day and instruct lights to turn on and off accordingly.
* Create printed reports showing different aspects of your home ,e$omation
system, such as what modules are installed in your home and what timed
events have been set.
Your Home Director Starter Kit comes with everything you need to begin
automating your home. Your kit includes the following:
1. SoftGare CD
2. PC Connection Module
with cable
3. 6.in-1 Universal Remote
4. Lamp Module
5. Remote Module
Contains the Home Director software
Sends commands to your lights and
appliances from your computer
Sends commands to your lights and appliances
as well as to your TV VCR, and stereo
Controls lamps; dims and brightens any
incandescent lamp
Receives commands from the 6.in-1 Remote and
sends them to your lights and appliances. Also
serves as an appliance module
Hardware Installation
.i
Make sure your computer is turned off!
,‘I ,,” _ -, S
,. *. ,<,
1. Slide the battery cqve? i
d the bottom of the PC Connection
Module. Install 2 AAA’batteries ahd replace the cover.
2. Connect the large br
of the cable that came in your
Home Director Starter Kit $6 aserial port on your computer. Many
computers have two serial borts. If yours has two ports, note the
one you connected the cable to (it is usually marked as “A” or
“B”.)
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Software Configuration
3. Plug the small end of the Home Director cable into the
connector on the bottom of the PC Connection Module. The
cable connector should snap firmly into place.
1. Make,sure you are at the Windows** 95 desktop.
2. Insert the Home Director CD into your CD-ROM drive. The Home Director
install program will start automatically.
3. Follow the instructions on your screen.
Plug the PC Connection Module into an AC electrical outlet
at is not controlled by a wall switch. The electrical outlet must
ot be surge protected. Using extension cords is not
ommended. For your convenience, there is an outlet on the
Connection Module so that you can still plug something into
e outlet. (The PC Connection Module will not interfere with
anything you plug into it.)
The computer portion of the hardware is now set up to control the Ii
appliances in your home! To complete the hardware setup, yo
modules for the devices that you wish to control.
Next we will install the software.
tall
Congratulations! Your software has been successfully installed.
The first time you run Home Director it loads a file called MYHOUSE.HOM.
MYHOUSE shows a picture of the lamp module included in your Home Director
Starter Kit as well as two sample Routines.
The lamp module has been named My Lamp Module. My Lamp Module is set to
address Al (House Code A, Unit Code 1 located on the bottom center of the
module on your screen). The module on the screen should match the setting of
the lamp module included in your starter kit.
Make sure the Address Dials on the face of the module in your
starter kit are set correctly. The red dial should be set to A. The
black dial on the lamp module should be set to 1. If it is not set
correctly, you can reset the dials with a small screwdriver or coin,
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When you are ready to install your lamp module. click My Lamp Module with
your right mouse button This brings up a sub-menu with four entries: What’s
This?, fnstallation, Module Type, and Delete. Click Installation using the left
mouse button, A diagram showing how to install the module will appear.
Notice the Room Tabs along the top of the window, You can use these tabs to
organize modules you have created in the software to match your house,
To confrol a famp using Home Director, follow fhese steps:
1. Select a lamp that uses a standard light bulb. Make sure it is turned on.
2. Unplug the lamp from the wall outlet and plug it into the Home
Director lamp module
P 4 ‘j
I
3. Plug the Home Director lamp module into an
AC outlet. If this outlet is controlled by a wall
switch, make sure the wall switch is turned on.
4. If you have not already done so, start Home Director
5. Using your mouse, click $e On/Off switch of the My Lamp Module shown on
your computer screen. There may beeadelay of a second or two from the time
you click the module switch
ght actually turns on. You can also
to drag the Dim switch up and down.
dim the lamp by usin
“(_ II Ifj o)
You can schedule an
rn on or off automatically by clicking in the
“Click here to schedul
6. You can also control _I
p using your 6-in-1 Universal Remote Control, To
turn the lamp on, press Hoti& Uirector, then 1, then On. Press 1 then Off to
turn the lamp off.
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How’lt Works
You can alSO define your own automated routines tor the )ights and appliances
in your home. Use the Routine Assistant to quickly and easily create routines
from the devices defined in the Home Director software.
included with your Home Director software are two demo routines. These
routines, “Demo Routine 1” and “Demo Rodiine 2”, are located in the Genera)
room tab. To see the definition of these routines, you need the Routine
Assistant, Dotuble-drck on one of the routines or click the rightmost button on
the toolbar to open the Routine Assistant,
DemnRoutine 1 is the routine with a House Code/Unit Code address of A4-On
on the left side of the screen. It has five modules linked together. If you look
closely, you will see that there are really only two different modules, My Lamp
Module and My Appliance Module. Each of the five modules are doing
something slightly different.
Routine Assistant
On the right side of the screen are all of the modules that have already been
defined in to Home Director. On the left side of the screen are the routines that
have been defined. Ror~fines have a House Code and Unit Code address (like
modules) along with an On/Off condition to activate the sequence of events
outlined in the routine.
Try Oemo fteuttne 1
What Demo Routine 1 Does
Turns on My Lamp Module immediately at 50% brightness*@., f
,;‘.
Turns on My Appliance Module immediately
Turns on fhe same My Lamp &fOdule at 100 76 brightness al& j, 5 &wte delay
Turns off the same My Appliance Module after a delay of lO.,,minutes
Turns off the same My Lamp Module after a delay of 15 minutes
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Try DBmo Routine 2
The modules represent steps in the routine The first module turns on My Lamp
Module at 50% brightness whenever the PC Connection Module detects an
A4-On address (the address of Demo Routine 1) being sent over your house
wiring. The second module turns on your My Appliance Module at the same
time as My Lamp Module turns on at 50% brightness.
The third module turns on your My Lamp Module to full brightness (100%) five
minutes after the routine begins. Notice the clock face on the linked modules,
The middle module has a digital clock that shows a time delay. To set or
change a time delay, double-click the clock face.
The fourth linked module is your My Appliance Module and it is set to turn off 10
minutes after the routine begins. The last module is your My Lamp Module
again. This time it is set to turn off 15 minutes after the routine begins.
The routine can be initiated in three ways: (1) Programmed to a specific time by
downloading the routine to the PC-Connection Module; (2) Using a corrtroller: or
(3) Clicking on the Initiate button of the Routine Module shown in theGeneral
room. You can run this routine by clicking the Initiate button on theibutine
module named Demo Routine 1. This routine will take 15 minutes to complete
because of the delay times we used.
A second demo routine, with a House Code/Unit Code address of A4-Off, shown
on the left side of the Routine Assisiant screen, has two modules linked together.
Routine A4-Off shows that you can have an On and Off routines that can be
totally unrelated for each House Code and Unit code address. Because a
routine initiates a sequence of events (that could turn devices on or off), you can
use the ON command for an address to initiate a routine and the OFF command
for that same address to initiate a totally different routine.
Automate your home today with “Wake Up” and “Goodnight”
Routines
Let’s define a Wake Up routine. What do you want to do when you wake up in
the morning? Let’s,_assume you want to turn on the lamp next to your bed, but
not too bright at first- You__a&r,,want Jo”turn on the coffee pot in the kitchen so
Five minutes after you wake up you want
you have fresh coffe
ay up so you can find your way to the
to turn the lamp brig
batRr6orfi you want the famp to turn off as
bathroom. When 7
of coffee. Don’t forget, you want the coffee
you head to the kitch
pot to turn off before you!leave,f& work.
OK, how do we set all thi ~up’?~ First take the lamp module (address Al) that we
8roOm and connect your bedside lamp to it. Be sure
used previously to your
the lamp is turned on. Take your remote module (address AS) to your kitchen
and connect it to your coffee pot. Remember to turn on the coffee pot. Make
sure to set the slide on the Remote Moduie to 9,
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Now let’s rename the on-screen My Lamp Module. Click on the name field,
press the backspace key, then type Bedside Lamp. Also change the name
of your My Remote module to Coffee Pot and change its address to AS.
Next, go to the Routine Assistant screen (click the rightmost button on the
toolbar) and click Routine on the menu bar. A pull down menu will appear.
Click New. A new routine will be created for you named “Routine 1” with an
address of A2-On. The Home Director software will choose the next available
House Code/Unit Code address when creating a new module or routine. The
software will also provide the next on/off switch state for that address. To
change the on/off state, click the on/off field.
To define your routine:
1. Change the name of the routine to Wake Up.
2. Move your cursor over to the right side of the screen.
button, click the Bedside Lamp module and drag it to
screen and drop it on top of the Wake Up routine. A c
Lamp will automatically link to the Wake Up routine.
3. On the CODY of the Bedside Lame module that vou
brightness to’&% by using the do&n arrow next to’ t
4. Drag and drop a copy of Coffee Pot over to the W
Pot will now be linked to your Wake Up routine. Coffee
for Qu, so we do not need to do anything else with this one.
5. Drag and drop a copy of
the Bedside Lamp
module to the left side of
the screen again. Notice
that this time the Time Delay
Screen is automatically displayed.
Click and drag the pointer to 5 minutes, then click OK.
6. We want this copy of the Bedside Lamp module to turn the lamp on all
the way (loo%), which is:the default setting when we link it to the routine.
I/
7. Drag and drop another copy of the Bedside Lamp to the left side of the
screen. This tir$set the~time
. . _~ delay
,. to 30 minutes and dim the lamp to Zero,
v ,~,
” I, *,
ver the ‘Coffee Pot to the left side of the screen.
kayto one hour and turn it off by clicking the switch
/’
e “jC in the upper right corner of the screen. The
routine you just created will ,be downloaded and you will be returned to the
Home Director main soeen. Notice that you now have a new on-screen
module named Wake Up.
Next, you need to schedule your routine to execute at a specific time by
clicking in the “Click here to schedule” part of the screen of the routine
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module. This opens the Timer Settings screen where you can set the initiate
times for your routine.
You set the initiate time for
your routine on the top bar
of the Timer Settings
screen. Drag the green
cu1601, on the top, to set
the desired time, or type
the time into the box in the
top right corner. (Type
using this format: 12OOam
or 8~3Oam.l Note that vou
can’t set OFF times for
routines, because you are setting the time that the routine will initiate, not what
it is supposed to do.
Next, select the day or days that you want the routine to exec
days are selected, so just click on the days you do not wan
execute. You can instead select either Today, Tomorrow,
Weekends, or Every day rather than clicking on individ,uaf
Congratulations, you just automated your
.: :
Another example of a handy routine is a Goodnight routi
bedside lamp to your lamp module and your electric bfa
__
module Schedule your routine to execute just before bedtime each day. More
than o(e schedule can be defined for your routine. For example, Monday
through Friday you go to bed at IO:00 p.m., so you would schedule your routine
to execute at 1900 pm. on Weekdays. On weekends you normally go to bed
at Ii:00 p.m., so select Next on the Timer Settings screen and set 1 I:00 pm,
and Weekend on the second schedule Now your bedroom light will be turned
on and your bed will be nice and warm when you get there Your routine can
then dim the light after a few minutes and off even later along with the electric
blanket,
These are just a few of the many possibilities with Home Director
Advanced Functions
By using Home Director you will never have to come home to a dark house
again. You can do this by scheduling a Coming Home routine to turn lights on
at a specific time as in our previous example, You can also schedule a routine
to execute at dusk rather ihan’a specific time each day,
On the schedule screen,%you can set the routine to execute at dusk or dawn by
clicking the Dawn/Dusk button located on the Options bar, The dawn/dusk
button allows you to select On at Dawn or On at Dusk for a routine. You
can also enter an Offset amount which will allow the routine to execute either
before or after the dawn or dusk time by the amount of time that you enter into
the Offset field,
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For the dawn and dusk feature to work properly you
need to identify your location and time zone on the
Location screen. Select Options on the Menu
bar, then Location. Select the city nearest your
house from the list. Then select your time zone and
click Daylight Savings lime if it is used where
vou live. Now your liahts will turn on at a different
time each day as Home Director tracks the actual
dawn and dusk times for your location.
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You can also select Specific Dates on the
Options bar. This allows you to execute your
routine (or control a module) on certain dates. For
example, you might only want a routine to occur while you are on vacation, say
between July 1 and July 15. Drag the left (green) cursor under the months bar
to the date you want the routine to start (July 1). Then drag the right (red)
,\rei.
cursor to the date when you want the routine to stop (July 15).
Selecting Special from the Options bar shows you three a
. The Security feature executes modules or routines at a
between 30 minutes before or 30 minutes after the sched
example, if your scheduled time was 630 p.m., the routi
execute at a random time between 600 p.m. and 9:OO
* The Multiple Transmissions feature will send each
may be useful when using Home Director in an electric
. The Freeze feature is used to temporarily suspend the
event,
Sample File
You should also spend some time looking at the Home Director sample file.
To open the sample file, click on File on the menu bar and then select Open.
Click on SAMPLE.HOM, then click OK. The Home Director sample file
gives you an opportunity to study a typical file and explore the various Home
Director functions before modifying your MYHOUSE file. There are various
room tabs labeled at the top. Click on each room to see what’s installed in
each one. You will see pictures of lamps and appliances (dimmers and
switches). Look at the various routines. They can give you more ideas for
your own routines.
Organizing The Home Director Screen
At the top of your Home Director desktop are tabs representing the various
rooms in your house. These tabs organize your Home Director desktop by
room. For example, if you have a module located in your bedroom put the
on-screen module in the Bedroom tab. You can move the on-screen module
to any of the rooms described at the top of the screen by simply dragging it
to the appropriate tab. To view a different room, click on its tab or use the
lab key on your keyboard (Shift+Tab to go backwards).
The rightmost tab is labeled Trash Can. To delete a module, simply drag the
unwanted module to the trash can or select a module and then push the
Delete key on your keyboard. Modules can be recovered from the trash
can anytime before you exit the program.
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Remember to exercise good common sense when using IBM Home Director,
especially when scheduling unattended devices. There can be some
unexpected consequences if you are not careful. For example, an empty
coffee pot can be remotely turned on. If that should happen, your coffee pot
could be damaged from overheating. If an electric heater is turned on by
remote control while clothing is draped over it, a fire could result.
USE EXTREME CAUTION when using the system for the control of high
power heating appliances such as portable heaters.
F,CC CA”Tl0N THIS DEVICE COMPLIES WITH PART 15 OF THE FCC RULES
O P E R A T I O N rs SUBJECT ~0 THE FOLLOWING TWO CONDITIONS:
(1) THIS DEVICE MAY NOT CAUSE HARMFUL INTERFERENCE, AND
(2) THIS DEVICE MUST ACCEPT ANY INTERFERENCE RECEIVED, INCLUDING lN?ERFERENCE
THAT MAY CAUSE UNDESIRED OPERATION.
This equipment genera& and uses radio frequency energy. and if not installed and used
prop-+ that is, in strict accordance with Ihe manufacturers instructions. it may cause
inlerkrence to radio and television reception, 11 has been type tested and lound 10 comply
with the limits for remok control securiiy devices in accordance with the specifications ir, Si~b~
Part 8 of Part 15 of FCC Rules, which are designed Lo provide reasonable protection against
such interference in a residential installalion
However. there is no guarantee Ihat interlerenc~
II this equipment does cause inlerlerence lo radio or
will noI occur in a particular instalIation
television reception. which can be delermined by unplugging the equipment. try to correct the
intPlf@rence by one or more of the ioliow\“g measwes
Re-orienl fhe antenna of fhe radiom/ experiencing Ihe inlerference~
Relocate the interlace wiih respect lo the radiu,‘lV
Move the interlace away iron, the iadioiTV.
Plug the intake into an o~IIet on a different electrical circuit from ihe Mdio/l? experiencrrx,,
Ihe ,n,er,erence~
*
If neixssary, cons~it y o u r local De&r lor a d d i t i o n a l s u g g e s t i o n s ,
NOTE:: Modiiicafions to this product will void fhe “sers authority to operate thk equipmeni~
I
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Help At your Fingertips
Home Director includes detailed online help for almost every aspect of its
operation. In fact, much of the information contained in this booklet is
included in the Getting Started section of the online help. If you ever have
questions about how to do something in Home Director, you can open the
online help using any of the following steps:
1. Press the Fl key.
2. Select Help from the main menu bar.
3. Click the Help button (if one is displayed)
You can use the 6-in-1 Universal Remote Control to control your lights and
appliances as well as your TV, VCR. and stereo. First let’s use it to turn on a
light.
1. Plug the Remote Module (with the antenna)-into any electrical outlet in your
house.
2. Press and release the Home Director button on the 6in-1 Remote.
3. Then press the unit code of the module you want to control.
4. Press the On, Otf, Dim, or Brt buttons to control the light. Pretty simple!
Configuring The Serial Port
If you need to change the House Code from the factory setting of A, do the
fofiowing:
To test the port connection to the Home Director PC-Connection Module, run
Home Director, select Connection in the menu bar, then COM-Port
Settings. Click the Teet button to verify the port connection. Home
Director will test the specified COM port looking for the PC-Connection
Module. The status line indicates when the software has found the installed
PC-Connection Module. if the test fails, click on one of the other COM ports,
then click the Test button again When the correct COM port is found, exit
the window by clicking OK. If the test cannot find the PC-Connection Module
on any of the listed COM ports, refer to the “Troubleshooting” section of the
online Help.
1. Press the Home Director button on the &in-l Remote.
2. Press and hold the SET UP button until the red light glows.
3. Press the number corresponding to the letter of the aiphabe
using for the house code this remote wilt control.
4. Press EN1 and the 6-k-1 will remember the new House code.
5. You must set the same House Code on the Remote fvl.odGfe (vtfj the; ;
antenna.
,a’;
//;
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,#, ’
See the 6.in-1 Universal Remote Control instruction booklet for usin
control your TV, VCR, and other home theater componertts!
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