Piston only firing twice a day. want it to fire everytime the weather changes

#1

1) Give a description of the problem
Have piston condition set for between sunrise and sunset but its only fires at sunrise and at sunset

download
download.png1178×1556 189 KB

2) What is the expected behavior?
(PUT YOUR INFO HERE)

3) What is happening/not happening?
(PUT YOUR INFO HERE)

Received event [Home].test = 1556144383726 with a delay of 0ms
+153ms ║RunTime Analysis CS > 24ms > PS > 78ms > PE > 51ms > CE
+157ms ║Runtime (54777 bytes) successfully initialized in 78ms (v0.3.10a.20190223) (154ms)
+159ms ║╔Execution stage started
+217ms ║║Comparison (time) 65983896 is_after (time) 1556100900000 = true (15ms)
+219ms ║║Time restriction check passed
+222ms ║║Condition #3 evaluated true (53ms)
+225ms ║║Cancelling statement #3’s schedules…
+238ms ║║Requesting time schedule wake up at Thu, Apr 25 2019 @ 12:00:00 AM EDT
+400ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 3 = false (4ms)
+403ms ║║Condition #18 evaluated false (158ms)
+415ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 4 = false (4ms)
+418ms ║║Condition #19 evaluated false (13ms)
+431ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 5 = false (3ms)
+434ms ║║Condition #20 evaluated false (14ms)
+447ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 6 = false (3ms)
+450ms ║║Condition #21 evaluated false (13ms)
+462ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 7 = false (3ms)
+465ms ║║Condition #22 evaluated false (13ms)
+477ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 8 = false (3ms)
+480ms ║║Condition #23 evaluated false (12ms)
+492ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 9 = false (3ms)
+495ms ║║Condition #24 evaluated false (13ms)
+506ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 10 = false (4ms)
+510ms ║║Condition #25 evaluated false (12ms)
+522ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 11 = false (3ms)
+526ms ║║Condition #26 evaluated false (13ms)
+537ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 12 = false (3ms)
+540ms ║║Condition #27 evaluated false (11ms)
+551ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 13 = false (3ms)
+554ms ║║Condition #28 evaluated false (12ms)
+565ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 14 = false (3ms)
+568ms ║║Condition #29 evaluated false (12ms)
+579ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 15 = false (3ms)
+582ms ║║Condition #30 evaluated false (13ms)
+594ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 16 = false (4ms)
+597ms ║║Condition #31 evaluated false (12ms)
+608ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 17 = false (3ms)
+611ms ║║Condition #32 evaluated false (13ms)
+622ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 18 = false (3ms)
+625ms ║║Condition #33 evaluated false (11ms)
+636ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 37 = false (3ms)
+639ms ║║Condition #34 evaluated false (12ms)
+650ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 38 = false (2ms)
+653ms ║║Condition #35 evaluated false (12ms)
+664ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 39 = false (3ms)
+667ms ║║Condition #36 evaluated false (12ms)
+679ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 40 = false (3ms)
+682ms ║║Condition #37 evaluated false (13ms)
+694ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 41 = false (3ms)
+697ms ║║Condition #38 evaluated false (12ms)
+708ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 42 = false (4ms)
+711ms ║║Condition #39 evaluated false (13ms)
+723ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 43 = false (4ms)
+726ms ║║Condition #40 evaluated false (13ms)
+738ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 45 = false (3ms)
+741ms ║║Condition #41 evaluated false (12ms)
+752ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 26 = false (3ms)
+755ms ║║Condition #42 evaluated false (13ms)
+767ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 27 = false (3ms)
+857ms ║║Condition #43 evaluated false (100ms)
+871ms ║║Comparison (dynamic) 30 is_equal_to (integer) 28 = false (4ms)
+874ms ║║Condition #44 evaluated false (14ms)
+876ms ║║Condition group #6 evaluated false (state did not change) (632ms)
+878ms ║║Condition group #2 evaluated false (state did not change) (709ms)
+883ms ║║Cancelling statement #15’s schedules…
+894ms ║║Skipped execution of physical command [Kitchen Virtual Switch].off([]) because it would make no change to the device. (4ms)
+896ms ║║Executed [Kitchen Virtual Switch].off (8ms)
+904ms ║║Condition group #47 evaluated true (state did not change) (1ms)
+915ms ║╚Execution stage complete. (757ms)
+918ms ║Setting up scheduled job for Thu, Apr 25 2019 @ 12:00:00 AM EDT (in 20415.356s)
+933ms ╚Event processed successfully (932ms)

#2

As far as I know, $twcweather cannot be used as a trigger.
You have to actually make a query to know the current iconCode.

#3

can you recommend any other ways of designing this piston?

#4

I use Accu weather to get the Cloud cover value and turn on lights based on that. I store the value in a global variable that updates every 30 mins between certain hours.

#5

I used to make a query every 30 minutes with Weather Underground, but the new $twcweather is soooo ss-ll-oo-ww to update, I’m thinking every hour or two is better.

This is likely the structure I would start off with:

temp
temp.jpg669×878 66.8 KB

Note:
The TEST button will not do anything with this piston. You have to import it and wait an hour to see it in action.

#6

Thank you soooo much you rock!

#7

I was just working on a similar piston and found this one works pretty well.

image
image.png1178×894 43.6 KB

I will most likely change the timer to every hour but for now it seems to work correctly.

One thing I did notice yesterday is that $twcweather intermittently reported cloud cover as Partly Cloudy while it was dumping down rain. This may simply be that my reporting station is far enough away that there was a momentary break in the clouds.

I also added a daylight checker so the lights wouldn’t come on in the middle of the night and I already control lights in the morning and evening via ST.

For now it seems to be doing what I want.