Using M1G Mic/Spkr Feed To/from Home Automation

Hi,

Newbie here. Recent HomeSeer user that just built my M1G system. Up and running, but still a lot to learn! I have been taking advantage of the wealth of information here and the HomeSeer forums.

I have 3 mic/speaker units (M1TWSF) hooked up to the two way amplifier (Elk-M1TWA).

I am trying to figure out if there is any way to utilize the M1G microphones as input to HomeSeer.

I am also trying to determine if there is a way to feed the Homeseer output into the M1G Speakers.


Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Regards,
Vector

Not sure about the mics. But for the speakers, you could get a mixer and external amp going to the speakers (ELK makes a separate AMP), and then run the M1 and Homeseer box into the mixer.

Depending on the mixer you choose, you may be able to feed multiple mic inputs to multiple outputs, and then feed one to the ELK and the other to your Homeseer box. I know that there is a serial port controlled mixer that has been discussed here before that should have this capability, but I forgot the name of it. A couple of months ago, I priced them out, and you can get them for under $100 used on eBay. They are rackmount too.

signal15 said:

Not sure about the mics. But for the speakers, you could get a mixer and external amp going to the speakers (ELK makes a separate AMP), and then run the M1 and Homeseer box into the mixer.

Depending on the mixer you choose, you may be able to feed multiple mic inputs to multiple outputs, and then feed one to the ELK and the other to your Homeseer box. I know that there is a serial port controlled mixer that has been discussed here before that should have this capability, but I forgot the name of it. A couple of months ago, I priced them out, and you can get them for under $100 used on eBay. They are rackmount too.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your response. That sounds like what I need to do. But since I am using the M1TWA to connect the speakers and the microphones, I would have to get a cable for the J7 plug ( since it appears that is how the speaker/microphone get to/from the M1TWA and the M1G. )

I searched and could not find any reference material that describes the pin connections for the J7 plug. Can anyone point me to the reference for the J7 pin configuration?


Regards,
Vector

Check out this thread. In it I discribe how I hope to impliment the ELK-M1TWA two way amp with my home automation system so that I can use the ELK speakers for both ELK annoucements and Automation annoucements. I do believe it will work by adding a couple of relays to change the input from ELK to Automation.

I haven't had the time to do any of this however. So I cannot give any real life experience however.

Thanks again for everyone's responses. I just wanted to report back on my progress so far:

I was able to get the M1G speakers to speak output from HomeSeer. To get this to work I did the following:

1. Connect the PC output to pins 5&6 on the J7 connector. One is direct connect and the other passes through an M1 output NO relay - This is to be able to disconnect the feed from the PC when not being used. This is necessary to prevent the 2 signals (M1 & PC) from being mixed which results in a low volume output. The other alternative would have been to use a controllable mixer as signal15 suggested.

2. Connected pin 9 (purple wire) on the J16 connector to another output NO relay along with a +12VDC source. This pin will turn ON the TWA amplifier. I tried using the rules to set Output 10 ON (which controls but this did not work as the system was immediately turning Output 10 OFF.

3. Wrote several events/rules in HomeSeer/ELk and used a Speak Proxy (ISSpeaking) that queues speaking until commanded.
- HS Speak ON Event to turn On the 2 relays and then release the Speaking IFF there is queued speech AND Output 10 is Off (M1g is NOT speaking)
- Elk Rule to turn OFF the 2 relays if it detects Output 10 ON (M1G is speaking)
- HS Speak Off Event to turn Off the 2 relays after speaking is complete
- HS Resume Speaking Event to turn the 2 relays back on if Output 10 Off (M1G finished speaking) AND HS is still speaking

There are probably more sophisticated ways to accomplish this, but I found this actually works pretty well.

So what this allows me to do is to send ANY typed message through to the M1G as voice output. I do not have to limit myself to pre-specified messages, or compose messages out of pre-selected words. I can feed the weather, or news, or ... through to the M1. I am really excited about this as I do not currently have an intercom system or whole house audio system to feed through.


I have not tackled the M1G microphone input to HomeSeer yet. That is lower on the importance scale.

Regards,
Vector