Visonic keyfob and the Home Control Box
Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 1:53 pm
I would appreciate your thoughts on this one please.
Recently i bought a couple of Visonic sensors, a.o. a couple of MCT-302T magnetic switches, a few MCT-425 smokedetectors and an MCT-234 keyfob. They are to be connected to my Home Control Box through an RXFCom 868.95 MHz USB receiver. The HCB manual specifically mention those item as compatible. I also tried an MCT-100, which is not officially supported but seems to work fine.
Adding the sensors to the HCB's list of devices is easy: connect the RFXCom receiver to the HCB, add the appropriate device to the HCB's device list, and the first thing transmitting its 6 hex digits address is associated with that item in the device list. This works fine with all Visonic sensors, except the MCT-234 keyfob.
F.e. the MCT-425 smoke sensor is on address F33856. This one is correctly identified when adding the device to the HCB, and also shows up with that address in the device list afterwards.
The keyfob has address 8838xxx (7 hex digits iso 6, crossed out the last three digits for security reasons), but when i try to add it to the HCBs device list, the HCB incorrectly reads the address as 8838#xD; . Afterwards, when you look at the device list, it shows up with the truncated address of 8838. Commands sent by pressing the keys on the keyfob aren't recognised by the HCB.
For troubleshooting the RFXCom receiver comes with testsoftware to decode the received Visonic messages. Two examples of its output:
The MCT-302T is a magnetic switch. When i remove and replace the magnet the unit sends a number of messages like this: 245437690C60.
The RFreceiver software correctly decodes this to PowerCode Addr:543769 No Tamper,Close,Battery-OK ,Event,Restore reported,Primary contact bits=36.
The smokedetector and MCT-100 all transmit similar messages.
The MCT-234 sends out a message like this: 4226AF6xxx8838xxx240, which RFreceiver decodes to CodeSecure encr:26AF6xxx serial:8838xxx Button: Arm.
I replaced some of the digits with x's because i don't know how sensitive this info is. The decode looks good to me, but the HCB doesn't recognize this one.
What is obvious is the difference in length between the two strings. Also the units address is in a different location in the string. Apparently the HCB's programmers know this: they do start decoding the address at the right location in the string, but the last digits get messed up.
Conclusions i draw from the above are that:
- all Visonic sensors work fine, the RFreceiver software decodes their messages.
- the MCT-234 keyfob works fine too. Same reason.
- the RFXCom USB unit works. The HCB recognizes it, Visonic modules can be added to the devicelist, Visonic messages are received and macro's triggered by them.
The only Visonic unit not working is the one with a different message length and encoding. It implies that Eaton did not test the HCB with an MCT-234, because it would have been immediately obvious that it does not function (in this firmware version). Also it suggests that there are no other 'real life' HCB installations using a Visonic keyfob to switch things on or off, because they would have encountered the same problem.
I find the concluions above hard to believe. If you add support for a device you test it, and i expect Eaton has done the same. I'm not sure what the installed base of HCB units is, but am i really the first person that's using a keyfob with it?
So ... It's more likely that i'm making a big mistake somewhere. Help me find it, please. [:)]
Recently i bought a couple of Visonic sensors, a.o. a couple of MCT-302T magnetic switches, a few MCT-425 smokedetectors and an MCT-234 keyfob. They are to be connected to my Home Control Box through an RXFCom 868.95 MHz USB receiver. The HCB manual specifically mention those item as compatible. I also tried an MCT-100, which is not officially supported but seems to work fine.
Adding the sensors to the HCB's list of devices is easy: connect the RFXCom receiver to the HCB, add the appropriate device to the HCB's device list, and the first thing transmitting its 6 hex digits address is associated with that item in the device list. This works fine with all Visonic sensors, except the MCT-234 keyfob.
F.e. the MCT-425 smoke sensor is on address F33856. This one is correctly identified when adding the device to the HCB, and also shows up with that address in the device list afterwards.
The keyfob has address 8838xxx (7 hex digits iso 6, crossed out the last three digits for security reasons), but when i try to add it to the HCBs device list, the HCB incorrectly reads the address as 8838#xD; . Afterwards, when you look at the device list, it shows up with the truncated address of 8838. Commands sent by pressing the keys on the keyfob aren't recognised by the HCB.
For troubleshooting the RFXCom receiver comes with testsoftware to decode the received Visonic messages. Two examples of its output:
The MCT-302T is a magnetic switch. When i remove and replace the magnet the unit sends a number of messages like this: 245437690C60.
The RFreceiver software correctly decodes this to PowerCode Addr:543769 No Tamper,Close,Battery-OK ,Event,Restore reported,Primary contact bits=36.
The smokedetector and MCT-100 all transmit similar messages.
The MCT-234 sends out a message like this: 4226AF6xxx8838xxx240, which RFreceiver decodes to CodeSecure encr:26AF6xxx serial:8838xxx Button: Arm.
I replaced some of the digits with x's because i don't know how sensitive this info is. The decode looks good to me, but the HCB doesn't recognize this one.
What is obvious is the difference in length between the two strings. Also the units address is in a different location in the string. Apparently the HCB's programmers know this: they do start decoding the address at the right location in the string, but the last digits get messed up.
Conclusions i draw from the above are that:
- all Visonic sensors work fine, the RFreceiver software decodes their messages.
- the MCT-234 keyfob works fine too. Same reason.
- the RFXCom USB unit works. The HCB recognizes it, Visonic modules can be added to the devicelist, Visonic messages are received and macro's triggered by them.
The only Visonic unit not working is the one with a different message length and encoding. It implies that Eaton did not test the HCB with an MCT-234, because it would have been immediately obvious that it does not function (in this firmware version). Also it suggests that there are no other 'real life' HCB installations using a Visonic keyfob to switch things on or off, because they would have encountered the same problem.
I find the concluions above hard to believe. If you add support for a device you test it, and i expect Eaton has done the same. I'm not sure what the installed base of HCB units is, but am i really the first person that's using a keyfob with it?
So ... It's more likely that i'm making a big mistake somewhere. Help me find it, please. [:)]