best z-wave gear for ELK

[Digger]

What about UPB? Can I read status of that?

UPB devices can be set to report their status, however, if there state changes state as part of a scene the ELK will not know it. There is an ISY for UPB coming out shortly from PCS that should address this.

 

[electron]

UPB works well, but keep in mind that the M1 can't track device which were turned on/off via a link. This is a protocol limitation, but some controllers get around that by having a copy of the link database onboard (Homeseer and the UPB version of the ISY-99 are supposed to support this).

 

[ddennerline]

Also, it's my understanding that the ELK cannot determine the status of Z-wave devices. What kinds of devices CAN it determine the status of?

The M1XSP/XSP can determine the status of any Z-Wave device that supports the HAIL command. There’s a jumper on the M1XSP firmware to enable/disable this feature. Some Z-Wave devices will transmit a "ping me back" command. This is different than Leviton/Cooper Z-Wave associations. I had to disable the M1XSP HAIL jumper because it was causing ElkRP "WHENEVER Lighting" rules to activate twice.

If you install any wall controllers such as VRCZ4, and the switch activates the group command, then up to four secondary controllers (i.e., M1XSP/VRC0P) will receive light/status updates.

The Leviton associations solution is proprietary. Even with this restriction, I am planning on sticking with Leviton switches/controllers. If you want to control a wide selection of different types of Z-Wave devices, then M1XSP/VRC0P probably is not the best HA controller.

BTW Leviton now sells a wall VRR15 receptacle.

 

[signal15]

Argh, back to square one. I still don't know what I want now. So many drawbacks to ALL of the technologies.

 

[electron]

Maybe it's time to look at the Mi Casa Verde Vera 2.

 

[etc6849]

This sounds like an issue with the Elk implementation. The VRC0P protocol works just fine under Premise (PC based program). The good news is the VRC0P protocol is published online, so you can hard code work arounds in ascii.

For the OP: here's some good Leviton docs to read on Vizia RF+ line:
www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/ibcGetAttachment.jsp?cItemId=QkbO1wWYMFldB9QOkciU6Q&label=IBE&appName=IBE&minisite=10024

Definitely read this one to understand the basics of zwave (it's shorter too):
http://communities.leviton.com/docs/DOC-2394

VRC0P programming notes:
http://communities.leviton.com/docs/DOC-2392

VRCOP protocol:
http://communities.leviton.com/docs/DOC-2407

I had to disable the M1XSP HAIL jumper because it was causing ElkRP "WHENEVER Lighting" rules to activate twice.

 

[tmbrown97]

I'll also throw out that Elve does a great job tracking status of UPB even after Links are used; and I'd be willing to bet that, if it doesn't already, it could be made to help update the status on the M1 as well by triggering a switch to send the status (I haven't tested if the update goes only to Elve or if it's a broadcast that helps the whole network). For $99 intro, it'd be a simple solution, but does have to run on a PC.