DALI interface questions

We've had an enquiry from a customer who have built their own DALI switches as the customer did not like the Clipsal range.

They are hoping to use the switches (77 of them) to control CBus groups/scenes etc. via the DALI interface.

Is this possible ? - any literature i find on the interface seems to indicate that the interface is for CBus control of DALI equipment, not the other way round.

DALI is totally new to me, so any advice appreciated.

If their switches will work - how are they presented to the CBus system and in toolkit ?


Regards



Dean Barrett

 

Mapping DALI Commands to C-Bus

G'day Dean,

There's no simple answer, so here goes...

Differences between the two protocols make mapping DALI commands to C-Bus very difficult. I won't bore you with the details unless someone really cares...?

The DALI Gateway supports limited mapping of DALI commands to C-Bus.

Fully supported DALI Commands for Ballasts and Groups are:
Direct Arc Power
Off
Sticking with these commands should give you no problems.

There is also limited support for:
Recall Max
Recall Min
The Gateway has a single RECALL MAX LEVEL($F8) and RECALL MIN LEVEL($0A) for each Dali Network. A DALI Recall Max or Min command will result in this level being transmitted to the C-Bus network. WARNING: IT IS NOT NECESSARILY THE LEVEL YOU HAVE CONGFIGURED IN THE DALI BALLAST!

Setting a DALI Scene (GO_TO_SCENE_X command) will result in the corresponding C-Bus Group being turned On, but DALI Ballasts going to internally stored levels. This behaviour is inconsistent with C-Bus and will result in level mismatches between the two networks. Mapping of DALI Scenes to C-Bus will be disabled in a future update. Please use C-Bus for all Scenes!

DALI Gateway supports two DALI Networks. Each Ballast, Group and Scene is mapped to an individual C-Bus group. The DALI Gateway has minimal configurability via toolkit. This will be improved in a future update.
Toolkit provides no visibility to the far side of the Gateway.

Confuseds you yet?

Actually, there is a simple answer:
Direct Arc Power commands to Ballasts or Groups GOOD!
Indirect DALI commands, DALI Scenes BAD!


Cheers,
Mark.

 

If the client was not happy with the aesthetics of the Neo, Saturn, Reflection, 2000 series in brass, stainless steel or the myriad of other plastic finishes available then please let us know. We're keen to keep developing the range so a description or a sketch of what they wanted would be useful.

If you find a switch style that the client is happy with then you can interface them to C-Bus directly using the Bus Coupler. It does not matter whether they're momentary or latching-type switch contacts as the Bus Coupler can be programmed to use either.

I'd suggest that a fully integrated C-Bus control system, in lieu of the DALI/C-Bus hybrid control, will yield the best results at the end of the day.