Pigeons and a need to Flash

Ok no laughing on this one!

I have a shed with a colourbond roof. The pigeons have decided they like it a little too much. If I throw something at the roof from inside and it 'bangs' they fly away.

So...as I have an L5108REL with a few spare channels I bought a 12v solenoid boxed it up and placed it under the roof so when powered up it bangs the roof.

What I need to do though it have this flash (or pulse) 2-3 or 4 times a second for about 3 seconds (like a ratatat sound). In toolkit it is possible to flash a GA for 0.5 seconds but I can't see a way to do this in logic - the PulseCBusLevel only allows integers so minimum is 1 second.

Can anyone suggest a nice way to flash/pulse more rapidly?

The pigeons may not thank you but I will....

 

I have used logic for all sorts of fun stuff like this..

Use the delay function which allows a 0.2 second.. Try something like below

Module

If Getlightingstate("Pigeon noise maker") = on then
Begin
Setlightingstate("Pigeon solenoid", on);
Delay(0.2);
Setlightingstate("Pigeon solenoid", off);
Delay(0.2);
Setlightingstate("Pigeon solenoid", on);
Delay(0.2);
Setlightingstate("Pigeon solenoid", off);
Delay(0.2);
Setlightingstate("Pigeon solenoid", on);
Delay(0.2);
Setlightingstate("Pigeon solenoid", off);
Delay(0.2);
Setlightingstate("Pigeon solenoid", on);
Delay(0.2);
Setlightingstate("Pigeon solenoid", off);
Delay(0.2);
(Repeat longer if you need too)
Setlightingstate("Pigeon noise maker", off);
End

Then setup a schedule to run and activate the pigeon noise maker group..

There is also probably an easier other way of achieving this that others will advise on.. ;-)

Let us know how u go..

 

To trigger you could have one of those garage door IR safety sensors run across the top of the roof and as soon as Mr. Pigeon sits down to relax he gets the fright of his life.

PS. I don't know if those are weather or lightning proof though. Also, if Mr. Pigeon poops himself from fright you may need to change your strategy

 

That's funny. A Roosta scaring pigeons.

 

Thanks for the responses. I mistakenly thought 'delay' could only take an integer too so thanks for the update on that.

Although the solenoid is quite happy to be flashed multiple times a second (manually) it seems that either the relay or the network doesn't like things to go that quickly.

If I use a Delay of 0.2 the messages seem to get lost or the relay can't cope with them that quickly. The following is ok - but even a change to the delay to 0.5 after the OFF causes some of the toggles to be lost.

Is there a way to direct a message to a specific unit very quickly rather than broadcast generally across the network AND
is there any physical limitation on the relay preventing it toggling states (ON/OFF) multiple times a second?

This is the code at present:

once GetCBusState(net_JantFar, app_Irrigation, ga_PigeonScareEnable) then
begin
SetCBusState(net_JantFar, app_Irrigation, ga_PigeonScare, ON);
Delay(0.5);
SetCBusState(net_JantFar, app_Irrigation, ga_PigeonScare, OFF);
Delay(1.0);
SetCBusState(net_JantFar, app_Irrigation, ga_PigeonScare, ON);
Delay(0.5);
SetCBusState(net_JantFar, app_Irrigation, ga_PigeonScare, OFF);
Delay(1.0);
SetCBusState(net_JantFar, app_Irrigation, ga_PigeonScare, ON);
Delay(0.5);
SetCBusState(net_JantFar, app_Irrigation, ga_PigeonScare, OFF);
Delay(1.0);
SetCBusState(net_JantFar, app_Irrigation, ga_PigeonScare, ON);
Delay(0.5);
SetCBusState(net_JantFar, app_Irrigation, ga_PigeonScare, OFF);
Delay(1.0);
SetCBusState(net_JantFar, app_Irrigation, ga_PigeonScare, ON);
Delay(0.5);
SetCBusState(net_JantFar, app_Irrigation, ga_PigeonScare, OFF);
Delay(1.0);

SetCBusState(net_JantFar, app_Irrigation, ga_PigeonScareEnable, OFF);
end;

This could be tidied up using a loop - and the GAs are on the Irrigation application as that is what the L5108REL is mainly used for.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

Hi abg
L5108RELVP sources its power from the CBus network.
Bought one recently because I specifically wanted a bus powered relay.

It does have switching speed limitations though.
Info is in the manual.

 

Hmm thats interesting.. I have used the same code to do a 3min lighting sequence on a job with 2x L5508D1A dimmers (xmas light display) and a spectrum touchscreen and it works a treat.. No missing any commands at all.. This is dedicated to that task though.. Not mixed with any other control..

Must be a dimmer vs relay thing..

 

Hi Roosta
The power to switch the relays on the L5108RELVP is sourced from the CBus network not a 240v supply like the other relays.

It's a handy product if you want to switch low voltages and don't have or want 240v terminals there.

 

I had a similar problem trying to pulse a garage door relay between 0.5s and 1s. The symptoms were exactly as mentioned earlier, sometimes the relay would pulse and sometimes not really. The fact that it didn't pulse, which I attribute to the fact that the timing was too short, it just makes an 'attempt' to pulse - like a very short make/break.

When I increased the pulse width to +-2s then things started to work as expected. My guess is that a Pulse command doesn't work really well when you get to sub-second timings, even a 1s pulse sometimes would pulse for 1.5s or a too short 'glitch'.

To date I haven't found a Cbus solution, I eventually moved it to my Alarm Panel that could pulse more accurately down to these short intervals.

Ingo

 

Have you tried just wiring the relay up as a buzzer and just pulsing the power on for a few seconds? Just wire the normally closed contact in series with the coil. It will be more of a vibration by might work just as well.

 

Ashley sorry for being obtuse but can you explain the buzzer bit?

At the moment I have the -ve from the 12v transformer going directly to one terminal on the solenoid, the +ve to the common on the relay channel and the NO to the other side of the solenoid.

How does the NC fit into this?

 

To turn a relay into a buzzer you need a change-over relay (or just a NC contact which is rare). Connect the normally closed (NC) contact to one side of the solenoid, then apply power (via the CBus relay) between the other side of the solenoid and the common. When you apply power, the solenoid is energized via the NC contact. When the solenoid pulls in it disrupts its own power so the contacts release, which re-close the NC contact, which pulls the solenoid back in etc etc. Depending on the relay it will vibrate around the 100Hz mark all the while power is applied.

 

Have not seen this before - very interesting.

To slow it down, you could use a delay make timer so that when power is re-applied, it does not make the contact for x seconds (or fractions of depending on the relay timer values).

I too have a problem with flying rats (swallows) in my shed and this may ptoentially work for geting them to move out. Sealing the shed up is way too hard to do.