Helping you understand AUDACY wireless lighting control
The Audacy system operates via a proprietary wireless protocol in the highly-reliable 915 MHz spectrum, unlike WiFi, Blue-tooth, or Zig-bee, which all operate at 2.4 GHz. This means little to no interference with other building networks.
The 915 MHz spectrum has less loss than the 2.4GHZ spectrum. This allows for easier radio transmission through walls, concrete, etc. which increases range of the Audacy system.
System security is achieved via a proprietary wireless protocol, SSL certificates, and 2048-bit encryption, in addition to login and password authentication.
Yes, mobile applications exist for the iOS platform. Search for Audacy in the Apple App Store and the app will be under the name of Audacy Lighting Controls.
The Luminaire Controller for the Audacy Wireless Controls System can be installed into an existing fixture in less than 3 minutes, versus up to 20 minutes for some wired systems.
Dimming is controlled via a switch in the space or via a Light Sensor that commands a lower light level in the space. Dimming can also be controlled through the Audacy Interface via the website (Audacycontrols.com), or the mobile app.
Yes, there will be a 60 second warning where the lights quickly dim and return to normal level.
The user input from a switch,web Interface, or app command will override the Programs.
Yes
Yes.
This will depend on the type of emergency fixture, battery or generator backup. Local codes regarding emergency fixtures may also have an impact on the functionality of the Audacy system in these situations. Contact Audacy support (contactus@ audacywireless.com) for more information on a specific application.
Audacy has the ability to drive the E/M to one of the following two modes when the regular lights are off. In both modes, the E/M fixture is controlled via the dimming lines from a fixture in the same “zone”. If the regular power goes away then the dimming voltage goes away also and the E/M fixture will be turned full ON. “Night Light mode” (default): E/M fixtures are full ON when regular lights are OFF in the zone. The dimming lines will appear open when the fixture is commanded to turn OFF and the E/M fixture will be full brightness. “Daylight mode”: E/M fixtures are OFF when regular lights are OFF in the zone. The dimming lines will have a “0-volt” output and the E/M fixture will be OFF. This mode can only be changed via the Gateway Interface and is not available via the web Interface. Can be set on a per Luminaire Controller basis by selecting “Invert Relay Off Dimming”.
All AUDACY products are supplied with a 5-year warranty.
The typical range within line of sight between the Gateway and the furthest device is about 300 ft. In installation environments with walls and/or metal structure barriers, the range is less. A repeater function can be enabled on the Luminaire Controllers to extend the range to meet difficult RF environments. We recommend limiting the maximum number of repeaters tied to a Gateway to 5.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes, but currently only on 64 bit Windows machines. Contact Audacy support for more information.
All switches, including scene switches, will continue to function without the Gateway. If occupancy was configured and the room was unoccupied when the Gateway lost function the Motion Sensor will turn the lights on. Vacancy won’t function and the lights will remain on unless manually turned off from a switch. Daylighting, web/iOS control, ADR events and schedules won’t function without the Gateway. Consumption will continue to be calculated based on the last known state of the fixtures.
Pressing this button will reset the IP address back to default. No device configuration will be lost. Make sure the Gateway has been powered up for at least one minute prior to pressing this button and wait at least one minute after pressing the button before trying to connect.
The Field Support Engineer helping to Commission the system will provide this information.
The battery in the Gateway is discharged. Leave the Gateway plugged in to charge the battery. The Gateway will not boot up until the battery is sufficiently charged. Depending upon the charge state of the battery this may take an hour or more. Long term storage or frequently unplugging the Gateway can discharge the battery. The battery provides enough power for the Gateway to properly shut down after a power loss.
If the Gateway loses power in the outage, the event that would turn the lights on would not happen. If the Gateway has a UPS or other power backup and only the Controllers lose power, the Gateway will put the Controllers at the correct level when they regain power.
No. The maximum amount of devices allowed can be assigned to a single room if needed.
Our proprietary low-power approach allows us to achieve a 25-year battery life on our battery-powered devices such as switches, Motion Sensors, and Light Sensors.
New or replacement devices can be physically installed anywhere due to the wireless nature of the system. Then, devices can be scanned into the system using the Audacy mobile app and the mobile device’s camera.
Yes. For occupancy, a Motion Sensor will turn on only the Luminaire Controllers it is associated with. For vacancy, they won’t turn off until the entire room is unoccupied. As there is only one vacancy timeout for the entire room all Motion Sensors in the room must see no motion for the room to time out and the lights to be turned off. If both occupancy and vacancy are needed on different light fixtures in a room, the room should be broken down into multiple Rooms/zones through the Interface.
Yes. A drop down is available to select which sensor to adjust. If all the sensors aren’t set the same the display on the main menu will be grayed out. There is no limit on the number of Light Sensors per room. (Note: Any given Luminaire Controller can be associated with just a single Light Sensor.)
The Audacy system will report three types of errors:
Yes. There are two fade rate settings that can be edited via the Gateway interface.
From the BAS, light states can be changed at the room and switch leg levels. Any change injected to the BAS port will change the state of all lights in a room or given switch leg. Controlling light states on an individual Luminaire Controller via the BAS can be accomplished by creating a virtual switch and associating it with the desired Controller which can then be controlled via the switch leg. A Scene can also be set for the room over the BAS.
Leaving the channel set to A is appropriate for most installations. Channel B may be used to optimize packet transmission over the RF Channel in the following scenarios:
Luminaire Connector as source: 2mA ; Sinking (ballast as source): 4mA
All fixtures should be tested for compatibility to ensure they will dim properly. However, as a rule of thumb use ELV for most LED fixtures including Edison base retrofit lamps such as PAR. Line/Triac dimming should be used for incandescent and MLV (magnetic) LED fixtures such as strip lights with a separate transformer.
The relay has a mechanical endurance of > 100,000 operations
The fixture may or may not turn on. Controllers with 0-10V dimming will initially turn on the fixture but once the load is turned off the Controller will cease functioning. ELV and Line Controllers likely won’t work at all.
Once per minute.
Consumption information is updated every five minutes for each Luminaire Controller for calculation purposes but is only saved as an hourly figure per room.
All rooms from all Gateways would be presented together as one system. The fact that the rooms are distributed between multiple Gateways is transparent to the user.
To see devices the user must go into the SETUP tab on audacycontrols.com, open the Gateway and select “Reload Rooms and devices from Gateway”.
The Audacy Proxy software takes a few minutes to load.
Audacy Proxy Software must run on a local computer or virtual machine on the premises where it is being installed.
The minimum vacancy timeout is 10 minutes. If the vacancy timeout is set to less than this threshold the lights will turn off at the end of the timeout period but they may not turn on when occupancy is detected.
Adding a Motion Sensor to a room will enable the vacancy timeout field for that room. Setting the timeout to anything other than “off” will enable vacancy on all Luminaire Controllers in the room. Associating a Motion Sensor to a Luminaire Controller(s) will enable occupancy for the associated Luminaire Controllers.
