Setting Floodlight to Turn Lights On Only at Night

Question

How can I get my PR511 Floodlight Motion Detector to sense motion and turn the lights on only at night?

Answer

The PR511 Outdoor Motion Monitor can turn on lights when motion is sensed only when it is dark. Set the DUSK adjustment to the 6 o'clock position. The unit will need to settle for about ten minutes during darkness or dusk before it adjusts and operates properly. It is recommended that adjustments are made during the day when it is light. The power to the PR511 should then be turned off for about a minute, and then turned back on. After 10 minutes the unit will recognize that it is light and at dark it will start sensing motion and turning lights on.

Note: if you set the dusk setting all the way around to the LIGHT position, the motion detector will sense motion at all times, even during the day. This is useful if you want to use the unit to activate a remote chime (SC546A) to act as a remote door bell, i.e. to sound a chime inside the house when the motion detector senses that someone has approached your home. However, if you set the Outdoor Motion Monitor to sense motion at all times, it will also turn its connected floodlights on at all times, and also turn on any other lights it is programmed to control (such as other X10 lamp modules), at all times. It is not possible to set the unit to activate remote chimes at all times and lights only at night. The unit simply senses motion and transmits digital codes. The modules then respond to their codes (A1, for example). Therefore, the way you install the Outdoor Motion Monitor depends on your desired application.