Recent content by Black Magic

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    Fit2-PC

    Jumping in late into the conversation, but I've been using the original Fit-PC (version 1) with CQC for quite some time. Not only that, I'm running SQL Server Express on there as well (to log CQC events). It's pretty amazing what you can run with just 256 MB of RAM. The Fit-PC is the CQC...
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    Mutli-zoned HVAC

    I ended up programming my Elk M1 Gold to be the Zone Controller: http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?showtopic=7149 The code has been very stable (I've been running my house on it for almost 2 years now). The attachment in the old thread is a bit outdated. I have a couple of changes in my...
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    HVAC: zoned vs communicating thermostats

    The code that is in the above thread isn't the one I'm currently running on. The concepts are the same, I just had to adjust some of the logic to work with some underlying Elk bug fixes and existsing problems. If the new code isn't up in a few days, please PM me.
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    Multi-zone HVAC control

    You can buy an HVAC zone controller and add additional thermostats, then control them with your automation hardware/software: http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?showtopic=4150 This was more than I wanted to spend at the time, so I just bought several temperature probes and two controllable...
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    HA Technology Comparison Spreadsheet

    There is another correction to be made for the Elk M1 Gold. You can do basic math like subtraction with a custom counter.
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    ELK M1 A/C rules for poor communications

    I’ve had several communication failures from my Elk serial expander to my RCS thermostats. The cable lengths are only about 8 feet long. There is some suspicion that sending multiple commands to the TStat in one rule could cause a transmission failure. I need to test injecting a delay between...
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    M1 Lighting Control

    This is interesting. I can't answer your question, but I would like to tack on an observation. Using the Elk ZWave module and Elk Automation rules, I can’t reliably turn on a light with the brightness set to 100%. I have to use 99% for the light to turn on reliably using a rule. I wonder if...
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    HA Technology Comparison Spreadsheet

    There needs to be a couple of corrections to the Elk M1 Gold (I don’t have write access). The M1 Gold has touch tone control and phone answer. I can pick up the phone handset at my house or call my house and hit a key combo for the Elk to pick up. The phone interface is similar to the keypad...
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    Zoned HVAC

    I wrote some code for the Elk system that makes it work like an HVAC zone controller. My HVAC has been controlled by this code since before I made this post. I may have modified it a bit since then (I can't remember). http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?showtopic=7149&hl=
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    Elk not always controlling TR16 thermostat

    I've had to workaround this problem by doing a forced resync every 5 minutes or so. Essentially, I just have a rule to set the thermostats to values in custom counters. This way the thermostats stay in sync with what the Elk main boards thinks they are set at.
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    Elk M1 Gold as a HVAC Zone Controller, Save money on HVAC zone controlling!

    I posted this awhile back. http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?showtopic=7149
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    Active Room Control

    I wrote some code for the Elk that does this. http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?showtopic=7149 Currently, I only have temperature sensors in the bedrooms. I've schedule times to control temperature based off of sleep patterns. Eventually I'll install dampers and then each room will become...
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    Outputs and timers

    Will setting an output to 'off' for 2 minutes turn it off, then turn it on after two minutes? The ethernet module's web interface will only let you use timers for 'on', but the ElkRP will let you set timers for 'off'. My rules for 'off' timers don't seem to be working, and I can't clearly...
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    Elk M1 Gold as a HVAC Zone Controller

    In order to save money on energy and increase the comfort level in my house, I wanted to temperature control multiple zones. Through my research, I found that a complete 5 Zone installation can be quite expensive: http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?showtopic=4150 Some items like controllable...
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    Elk email and counters

    Can the Elk ethernet expander (M1XEP) send counter values in email? I can only get it to send static text. I need to do this to create a debug log over time for the HVAC multizone code that I have written. I'd like to know what the temperature readings for a zone was when the room asked for...
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