Home Automation Domotica Forum Europe, Bwired Forum

Hi,

Here's a few questions after looking at different ways to 'arm' my home.
(this is basically telling the house the somone or nobody is home).
I don't have, and won't buy a PowerMax alarm system.

Q: Is it possible to 'arm' my house using a Visonic Keyfob (MCT-234) and RFXCOM/HS?

Q: If yes, how would I see if my home is armed or not? (led on keyfob?) It's important to see if the house is armed or not.

Q: RFXCOM only supports Visonic receiver. Does that mean that the MCT-237 (2-way) keyfob wouldn't make sense?

Any other thoughts?


Thanks!
DJ

In theory you could use a MCT-234 to arm your house. However, in practise the RFXCom receiver misses the keyfob signals most of the time. This has something to do with encryption I think. If you are able to arm your house, you could define a Homeseer event to flash a light or something like that to indicate arming has been successful.

Rene.

Dj,

On a short distance the MCT234 will work OK.
If you have the 433.92 receiver you can also use a KR21 X10 security remote.

The RFXCOM alarm panel works with both.

Bert

I was also thinking about a Visonic MKP-150 Alarm panel, which ofcourse would show that the house is armed or not. Not sure how this alarm panel integrates with HS and what it allows you to do (features/caveats/etc). This device is in the supported list of the RFXCOM Visonic receiver.

It's very important for me to easily see if the house is in armed or unarmed mode (because of the Wife Acceptance Factor. If an alarm goes off when she's in the house a few times she'll kick it out [:)] )

Any ideas?
DJ

Why do not you want to purchase a Powermax Plus or Pro console? It makes life much easier especially taking all your wishes into account.

Rene.

The MKP150 is not supported as that unit is using an encrypted communication.

If you are a Homeseer-RFXCOM user:
Install an appliance module with a CFL lamp (or a power adapter with LED connected) that indicates the alarm status. Create an Event on the RFXCOM Alarm Panel State and switch the lamp On when the alarm panel state becomes Arm-Away. Another Event that switches the lamp on for a few seconds when the alarm panel state becomes Arm-Home, or keep the lamp on also. When the alarm panel state becomes Disarmed you swith off the lamp.

Spend your money on a touchpanel PC with HSTouch and you have a nice alarm panel with lots of additional functions and flexibility. see for exmaple: http://board.homeseer.com/showpost.php? ... ostcount=2

If you are not a Homeseer-RFXCOM user:
Follow the advise of Rene.

This is an endless discussion. I am a Homeseer-RFXCom user, but I would not be dependent on Homeseer and RFXCom for my Alarm. In my experience a Powermax Pro is far more reliable than a Homeseer-RFXCom combination. No negative words about the Homeseer-RFXCom combination but I do not think it is suitable for this job.

Rene.

I would be inclined to agree with Rene about not relying solely on Homeseer / RFXCOM as a security system. I think the biggest headache with a Homeseer based system is power. You need to make sure that the PC and RFXCOM interface can stay powered up during a mains failure. Being able to achieve this for any length of time (3 or 4 days for example), even with a very low power PC would require a pretty large and expensive UPS device.

I use Homeseer / RFXCOM, but I also have a Powermax + panel. The Powermax panel is a self-contained unit with its own power backup and is designed for one purpose, which in my experience it performs very well. I have added the GSM dialler to my panel for a bit of added peace of mind.

I have also increased the battery capacity on my Powermax so that it can run for about 10 days without mains power.

Because my RFXCOM LAN interfaces are located remotely from the Homeseer PC, that would mean I would need at least 1 more UPS device to make sure that at least one of the interfaces stays powered up to receive security sensors.

Im not sure why you are against a Powermax panel, but this will provide visual (assuming you can see the panel) and audible indication of armed state. You also get the ability to listen in to your house remotely.

I cant see why the alarm would sound for no reason, thus reducing WAF. These panels are used in 000s of homes and work perfectly well in much the same way as any other security alarm system.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Paul..

Thanks for the good pointers. I agree that relying on HS/RFXCOM for real alarm purposes might not be wise because of power (HS/RFX has been running extremely stable - knock on wood

Why no Powermax+ panel? It's big and very ugly. Because of my house I would have to place it in a location where it would look horrible. An alternative could be the seperate alarm panel.

At the end one of my primary goals was to let the 'house' know if I'm there or not. Based on that info it could do stuff with SMS notification if doors open, motion is detected etc. I might have to move towards a real alarm.



Cheers!

Granted, the Powermax+ panel is an ugly device. Mine is located out of sight and although I have the MKP-150 remote panel near the main entry door, we tend to use the keyfobs all the time for arming / disarming.

If you use it with the GSM module, then the only requirement for the panel is power, so you could mount it almost anywhere out of sight. If not, then you will need to get a telephone line to the panel.

You can still use Homeseer / RFXCOM in parallel with the Powermax to perform all your automation functions and sms etc. This is the way I do it.

99.9% of the time, Homeseer takes care of all the alarm functions and the Powermax is there in the background just in case.

If you use the keyfobs for arming / disarming, then both the Powermax and RFXCOM are controlled with the same button press.


Paul..

Sorry DJ for hijacking this thread,

Paul,

Im not against a physical alarm panel but people can make a decision for their configuration based on arguments and the level of security and reliability they need. My message is not that you should not use a physical panel (I'm using myself one) but in my opinion the software alarm panel is a good alternative with of course some minus but also some big plus.
I still use a PowerMax panel together with the Homeseer system. I started to secure my house before I started with Home Automation and I like to keep the call-in function to listen in. This function is not so easy to implement with my Home Automation system at the moment. For the other part I fully rely on my Home Automation security system.
Here are some point to take into account and again it is my experience and not a law.

Most households in NL are using an ADSL or cable modem for their telephone connection. So if there is a power fail the alarm panel is not able to send the alarm condition. For this reason they need an UPS anyway.


A Home Automation system must be reliable anyway. It doesnt have to be a reliable system for the security system only but also because our home is almost completely controlled by this system. If your Home Automation system is not reliable then spend all time to make it a reliable system.

Checklist for a reliable Home Automation system:
- UPS powered dedicated Home Automation system, (do not run other applications)
- Dont receive e-mail messages on your Home Automation system, (virus attacks)
- Low power PC with auto restart after a power failure and preferable with watchdog,
- UPS powered modem and RF receiver,
- Regular back-up the system,
- Select an UPS having about 30 to 60 minutes power up time for the total configuration,
- Do not connect unnecessary devices to the UPS,
- Send an SMS on power failure.


Using the Home Automation system as an alarm panel (stand-alone or in addition to the physical panel) will provide you with a number of great features without too much or no additional cost:
Send SMS text messages and/or e-mail messages with detailed information which sensor has set the alarm condition,
Send camera pictures in an e-mail message,
Control devices on alarm like: opening curtains, record streaming video/sound, stop ventilation on smoke alarm, switch a siren depending on arm-away/home/day/night.

Checklist for a reliable Security system running on a reliable Home Automation system:
- Ability to send SMS warning messages for power failures and alarm conditions,
- Optional: ability to send e-mail messages with camera pictures,
- Detect battery and communication failures,
- Physical indication of the alarm state (armed/disarmed)

About the LAN receiver: for a next development I have placed PoE on my to-do-list.
For this moment, if you are using a LAN cable to the remote receiver you can use 1 free pair for the 5 Volt supply to the LAN interface and place the power adapter on the central UPS.
And dont forget to connect the ADSL or cable modem also to the UPS.

My personal experience with the Homeseer system is very good. It is running very reliable without any problems for several years now on an XP system. A few months ago I switched to a low-power 1GHz LEXCOM touch panel PC running XP professional that runs also very reliable and with a power usage of less than 30Watts.


Hopefully people can add positive comments or additions without creating an endless discussion

Bert

Good comments Bert.

As you say, it is down to personal preference which system to use. I use a combination of both. Adding the Powermax panel to my system was a relatively small cost and it also enables me to use the Visonic wireless external siren. We can also use the phone line here in the UK even if the mains power is off.

The features provided by the software method are of course many compared to a hardware panel, but personally I would not be 100% happy with a software only solution.

You got my brain ticking with the POE thing. Tomorrow I will be investigating the possibility to use POE injectors for the LAN interfaces.

One of my problems is that my HA hardware is positioned in different parts of the house which creates a problem getting power to everything in the event of a mains failure. My Homeseer PC, router and ADSL line are in one part of the house, whilst my CCTV equipment and one RFXCOM interface are in another part and my second RFXCOM interface is in yet another part.

I have recently refurbished one of my outbuildings and I am going to create a space in there for all my HA equipment. This will involve a lot of re-wiring, but it should have the side effect of increasing the WAF a little.

Paul..

DJ there is another thread where you can see Enver's and my solution to control the PowerMax with HS using the IPpower and a remote control, then you have the dual system talked about by everybody here and full control from touchscreens etc.I am also using a Visonic MKP-150 but since all my touch screens show the Alarm state too I hardly use them.
I fully agree with the men here, having both systems is the best solution (and a very good one too)