A common scenario for integrators: a commercial or civic building already running Helvar lighting – fixtures grouped and addressed, scenes stored in Helvar Imagine routers – where the project brief now calls for dynamic effects, timeline-driven sequences, or event-triggered logic that the Helvar system alone can’t deliver. Helvar manages structured DALI control well; Pharos Designer adds the show control and conditional logic layer on top. The question is how cleanly the two systems communicate.
Pharos Designer supports a dedicated HelvarNet IO Module – a downloadable integration available directly within the Designer software – that handles TCP communication with Helvar routers natively, without custom scripting. This article covers what the module does, which hardware it supports, and how to approach configuration.
What the Pharos HelvarNet IO Module Does
IO modules are downloadable extensions within Pharos Designer software that provide ready-made triggers and actions for third-party system integration – no protocol-level scripting required. The HelvarNet IO Module communicates with Helvar routers over TCP, with the Designer project referencing the router by IP address. Compatible hardware spans the legacy DIGIDIM range (905, 910) and the current Helvar Imagine line (920, 945, 950).
Communication is bidirectional: the module maintains a TCP connection and can receive push messages from the Helvar side, so Pharos Designer controllers can react to events originating in the Helvar system rather than only issuing commands. For this to work, Push Messages must be enabled on the Helvar router via Helvar Designer – without it, inbound triggers will not fire on Pharos Designer controllers. Once active, Helvar groups, blocks, and scene numbers are referenced directly in the module configuration; there is no need to re-map the Helvar lighting structure inside the Pharos project.
Available Triggers – Reacting to Helvar Lighting Events
The IO Module exposes five inbound triggers that fire when events are received from the HelvarNet router, enabling Pharos timelines and scenes to respond to activity on the Helvar side.
- Latest Scene in Group fires when a scene is recalled on a specified Helvar group. Matching can target a specific Group, Block, and Scene number, or be wildcarded to ‘any’ – useful for capturing all scene recalls on a group and applying downstream conditional logic. Trigger variables expose Group, Block, Scene, Constant Light flag, and Fade Time.
- Latest Level in Group fires when a direct level is set on a Helvar group, exposing Group, Level, and Fade Time.
- Latest CCT in Group fires when a Corrected Colour Temperature value is set – enabling Pharos to track and mirror tunable white changes from Helvar wall panels or schedules.
- Direct / Modify Proportion Received (Group) fires on relative proportion adjustments (−100% to +100%), covering incremental dimming commands from the Helvar side.
- Connected / Disconnected fires on TCP connection state changes, which is useful for triggering fallback scenes or logging network events via Pharos Cloud.
Available Actions – Sending Commands to the Helvar System
IO Module actions allow Pharos Designer timelines and trigger rules to send commands to the HelvarNet router, controlling Helvar-managed DALI devices without Pharos needing to own those DALI buses. For projects where Pharos also needs direct DALI ownership, a RIO D4 provides four independent DALI ports; the two approaches can coexist in the same project.
Scene and Level Control
- Recall Scene (Group / Device) instructs the Helvar router to recall a stored scene with a configurable fade time – the primary action for synchronising Helvar states with Pharos timeline cues. In a conference facility, for example, a Pharos timeline can simultaneously launch a façade effect and recall a ‘presentation’ scene on the Helvar-managed interior, both within the same cue.
- Direct Level (Group / Device) sets a fixed intensity on a Helvar group or device with fade time, for situations where Pharos needs direct level control rather than a stored scene – such as ramping down a Helvar zone as part of an end-of-day sequence.
Colour Control
- Direct CCT (Group / Device) sets Corrected Colour Temperature on tunable white Helvar fixtures, enabling Pharos to drive circadian CCT transitions on Helvar DALI application controllers using an Ethernet connection, without the Pharos system having a direct connection to the DALI devices.
- Direct XY (Group / Device) sets CIE XY colour coordinates on colour-capable Helvar fixtures (DALI DT8), extending Pharos colour control across Helvar-managed devices in hospitality or event space installations.
- Direct / Modify Proportion (Group / Device) sends absolute or incremental intensity adjustments, covering use cases where stepping to a fixed level isn’t appropriate.
Configuration and Commissioning Workflow
Adding the HelvarNet IO Module to a Pharos Designer project requires four parameters from the Helvar side: the router’s IP address, Cluster ID, Router ID, and TCP port. All are available from Helvar Designer once the router is discovered. Cluster ID and Router ID correspond by convention to the first and second octets of the router IP address, but are exposed separately in the module for pattern matching on incoming messages.
Enable Log Comms during commissioning – the diagnostic log records raw HelvarNet messages and connection events, which speeds up troubleshooting significantly if triggers aren’t firing as expected. Disable it once the system is verified. Connection status, router address, and last command sent/received are available via the Pharos local web interface, and remain useful for ongoing support via Pharos Cloud.
One dependency to be clear on: Helvar Imagine or Helvar Designer must be used first to address, group, and configure fixtures on the Helvar side. Pharos references those group and scene numbers but does not replace any part of the Helvar commissioning workflow.
Conclusion – A Native Integration Path for Helvar and Pharos Installations
The HelvarNet IO Module gives integrators a stable, officially supported path for combining a Pharos Designer system with an existing Helvar installation. The integration boundary is clearly defined, neither system requires modification to accommodate the other, and Helvar scenes can be updated in Helvar Designer without touching the Pharos project – provided group and scene numbering is preserved.
For full trigger and action parameter specifications, refer to the Pharos IO Module documentation. To see how this pattern extends to other third-party systems – KNX, BACnet, Lutron – see related integration posts. To discuss a specific project, contact Pharos or your local distributor.
