alarm: fading up lights over a long period of time

[James Sentman]

There are many examples in the past on the list, do a search on the  
shed site for "slow dawn" which is what Michael has always called it.

basically you want to create a global script called something like  
"slow dawn" and then run it via a scheduled even at the time you want  
it to start.

In the script you'd just do something like:

if (value of "name of your bedroom light) is less than 100 then
   brighten "name of your bedroom light" by 5
   execute script (ThisScript) in 1 * minutes
end if

so you see what will happen, if the light isn't all the way on yet,  
it will brighten it by the smallest increment, wait 1 minute and try  
again. (that will take 25 minutes to get to full brightness, you  
might not see anything the first few minutes, most lights dont start  
to glow until 10 or 20% or so, depending on the lamp and the lamp  
module used)

The only tricky bit is that lamp modules dont go from off to dims,  
they only go from off all the way on and then dim. This is called the  
"Nova" effect, (search the list and shed site for that for more info  
than you could possibly want ;) What you have to do is turn on the  
light and dim it all the way to 0 the night before. I do this sort of  
thing in my going to bed script so that even if people have turned on  
and off the light manually it is ready for the next morning. So you  
need a going to bed script that just does something like:

dim "name of your bedroom light" to 100 with no transmit
dim "name of your bedroom light" to 0

this is my favorite work around for the nova problem, because no  
matter what the state of the light it will end up in the correct  
state. If it's already dimmed to 0 instead of turned off, this will  
not, visibly affect the state off the lamp. If it's at any other dim  
level it will get dimmed to zero, and if someone has turned it on and  
off manually then it will cause it to nova, then dim to off. (so do  
this before your spouse goes to bed, or make it part of her "setting  
the alarm" nightly ritual.) you can use any remote to run that  
script, or you can schedule that too if you always go to bed at the  
same time.

If you get a more fancy lamp module like the LM14 then it does not  
suffer from the "nova" effect and you can just turn it off and  
brighten it without worrying about the setup the night before. But  
they are more expensive and really, dealing with it is not as bad as  
it sounds here ;)
  James


On Jan 4, 2006, at 8:59 AM, Jerry wrote:

> Hi Dustin,
>
> It's very easy to do actually.
>
> You'll just need:
> Computer - Basically anything Mac with a serial port added later or  
> otherwise.
> XTension —(Of course)  Michael, what the price nowadays?
> Computer Powerline Interface — (CM11 / Lynx-PLC / among others) $50- 
> $100 I think
> Lamp Module — (Radio Shack has them) $15
>
> I tried this approach and found that I wouldn't wake up properly  
> unless there was a sharp increase in light rather than the slow dim.
>
> In fact, both my wife and I wake up by the computer.  The computer  
> ramps the bedroom torchiere to 75% in about 2 seconds and then back  
> down to 20% when it's dark outside; the rope light surrounding the  
> base of the bed comes on to 100% and a voice specifies WHO is to  
> get up, the day of the week and what time it actually is.
>
> My wife won't hear the voice unless I shock her awake with a bright  
> light and then the voice will get her attention.  I, on the other  
> hand just need the voice but I run a similar routine just in case I  
> was up late and need that extra "boost.""
>
> Your idea does work well on aquariums though and the fish seem to  
> be more calm without the "instant on" a rotary timer would  
> provide.  ;)
>
> I think you need to realize that for you to get into the hobby  
> there's a little upfront cost.  It really is a Hobby and not  
> something you'll just set up and leave alone.  This is a stepping  
> stone to bigger things and I guarantee, you'll want to do more.   
> Some of the things that people find to automate and/or monitor are  
> incredible!
>
> Good Luck!
>
> Jp
>
> On Jan 4, 2006, at 2:39 AM, Junk wrote:
>
>> i'm a complete newbie to xtension and x10 (and all the other  
>> modules); i
>> haven't bought any hardware yet.  i'm wondering if it would be  
>> possible
>> for me to make an alarm clock that is computer controlled  
>> (obviously) that
>> will fade a lamp up from zero to full brightness over a period of  
>> 45 min
>> to an hour.  if so, what would be the cheapest and then, if  
>> different, the
>> best equipment to get?  how reliable would such a set up be?  i'm  
>> hoping
>> to use it as an alarm clock (there's research that suggests fading  
>> light
>> up to simulate dawn may help with sleep regularity and setting  
>> circadian
>> rhythms).  what would the costs of said systems be?  i assume the
>> parts/modules would be extensible to other applications, yes?
>>
>> thanks in advance,
>>
>> dustin
>>
>>
>