Dlt

[1JL]

Hello again,

I am installing 4 DLT's on a job....is there any known issues or advice anyone has for me.

Thanks

JL

[JohnC]

I just did my first DLT project recently - and I went around in circles a bit before I got into a routine...

The thing to remember is that DLT text is saved separately from Cbus Group Address. You cannot assign text or graphics until you have set the GA. This is because the graphics are allocated to the Group Address, not necessarily to a particular switch. And the DLT labels are not continuously "sent out" to the network, the command is only issued once and it's manual (from Languages dialog in Toolkit) so you have to specifically issue it to all the switches that use that graphic.

One difficulty I found was that there is a very limited amount of room for text, so it's hard to fit it on-screen. So you inevitably have to send the DLT labels out a number of times until you get it looking nice. However, if you have 2 or more switches sharing the same GA (ie: a 2-way switch) then they all have to be connected to the network to accept the DLT instructions...

I normally program the switches on the bench, then hand them to electrican to install. With DLTs my method still works OK, but I found that this doesn't really work too well for the DLT labels. When I was doing the DLT labels on the bench I would then have to remember to re-label many DLTs (which had been programmed and re-packed) every time I made a small change. This drove me almost crazy.

So, you need to be organised - I had a situation where I'd changed the text on one DLT, but because others weren't connected to the network at the time, the displays on those ones differed. So, I had switches that worked OK, but the DLT labels didn't match. This is not a huge problem, but it takes a bit of time to get used to it.

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One other thing - sometimes it takes a couple of "attempts" to get all the DLTs on a network to show the same display... it's like sometimes only some of them "hear" the command so they don't change. This can absolutely confuse you, especially if you change a button assignment.

You inevitably have to change things a bit on-site (move buttons around) - when that happens, collect up all the DLT label changes and do them ALL at once. Then make a new "DLT lables list" and do the walk-around to check them all. It is much more efficient that doing them one at a time (which is how you tend to do normal C-bus Group Address changes.

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The best solution I found was to have them all connected, then make a rough diagram / list with what each DLT should display. Save ALL DLT labels to the network at least twice, and then do a walk-around to confirm that all the uinits have accepted it. If any problems, you can R-click on just one DLT label (in Toolkit) and re-save just that one label to any misbehaving units.

In summary - install all the switches and get the GA's & button assignments finalised BEFORE mucking around with the DLT labels. Just pretend that they are normal Utli-Saturns until the network is finalised . Once it's all working as you want, then start working on the Labels - you will save yourself a lot of walking around the site :)

Hope that helps, John

[PSC]

JohnC,

You are either a very fast typist or you have far too much time on your hands...

:D

[1JL]

Thanks for that, that should get me started ok. If I have any problems I'll post again. Thanks

JL

[daniel]

In summary - install all the switches and get the GA's & button assignments finalised BEFORE mucking around with the DLT labels. Just pretend that they are normal Utli-Saturns until the network is finalised . Once it's all working as you want, then start working on the Labels

Absolute gold advice. This one tip will save anyone a lot of trouble.

Incidentally, there are changes on the way to make labelling easier.

[Josh]

Incidentally, there are changes on the way to make labelling easier.

It would be nice to have local DLT labels instead of the global GA label. What I am getting at is, for a GA like Dining Room or Kitchen, the global labels works fine, from any other DLT the label will make sense. But for other rooms like bedrooms, a label "Bed Light", might be ambiguous if the same GA is controlled in another room, and a local DLT label might be ideal.

As I said it would be nice, but not critical.

[daniel]

But for other rooms like bedrooms, a label "Bed Light", might be ambiguous if the same GA is controlled in another room, and a local DLT label might be ideal.

We hear you. Stay tuned...

[JohnC]

It would be nice to have local DLT labels instead of the global GA label. What I am getting at is, for a GA like Dining Room or Kitchen, the global labels works fine, from any other DLT the label will make sense. But for other rooms like bedrooms, a label "Bed Light", might be ambiguous if the same GA is controlled in another room, and a local DLT label might be ideal.
Don't know if you know the work-around for this...

Save the first label (eg: to the Bedroom DLT, saying "BedLight"), then disconnect that switch from Cbus Network. Now edit and save the (same) label on the second switch (eg: "Bed2master"). After that's done, re-connect the first switch again.

Because the DLT labels are saved manually (from Toolkit) rather than constantly updated, this "feature" allows you to have a different DLT label on different switches for the same GA.

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What I'd really like is the ability to edit DLT labels from the normal Device screens, or at least from "Edit GA" dialogs. It's a P.I.T.A. to have to keep jumping across to Languages... Oh, and I'd like a DLT label preview, so each label wasn't a "suck-it-and-see" procedure.

Cheers, John

[Mark]

Hi,
Save the first label (eg: to the Bedroom DLT, saying "BedLight"), then disconnect that switch from Cbus Network. Now edit and save the (same) label on the second switch (eg: "Bed2master"). After that's done, re-connect the first switch again.
Possibly easier way to acheive pretty much the same thing is to use the "Dynamic Labelling" tickbox in the unit's Global tab. Once you have the labels right for the first unit, de-select Dynamic Labelling and the unit will ignore any newer labels.

Cheers,
Mark.