Elk M1 Gold Homeowner Installation and Service Manual

[felixrosbergen]

I think the manual itself is pretty darn good for something relatively complicated.

Some sort of standardized spreadsheet for the actual configuration (zones, types, names, attached device to the zone) and other general settings (adressed on the expansion modules, etc) would be good idea. My wife recently asked what to do if I am not home (sometimes i go away for weeks at a time) and have an accident or something. That get's you thinking.

 

[gasbie]

Bucko, I just wanna use this time to tell you that you did a fabulous job on designing the wiring of the ELK-M1. You just made life easier for the DIY'ers. Are you done installing yours? Are you happy with your installation? Please keep us updated with your installation. Also, what software did you use to design this?

 

[CDC]

I too think this is good idea, especially since I am currently putting together user doc's for a 170-zone system. This system is way to big to do the zone line drawings, but I would like to do line drawings of the system modules, expanders, power supplies, surge suppression and such. Bucko, I like your line drawings, you did a great job. Would you mind telling me what program you used to do them? Perhaps a link? Also, how you incorporated the Elk graphics into the drwg.
As far as my doc's, so far I have a narrative of the system function and operation but nothing technical. This is intended for anyone to reference to use the system (women & children first). I am also doing the hard copy of all components which has manuf. cut sheets and such. I have 2 file folders full of these from the installation. I honestly don't see anyone ever being able to use these other than our techs.. The DVR & PTZ manuals are about an inch thick combined. It is my intention to have these technical doc's in a digital format on a disk, with a table of contents that the owner can follow a link from the name of the component of the system to the description and function of the component to the technical documentation if they need to go that far.
This is turning out to be a very time consuming and cumbersome task. I am very interested in seeing youre'alls ideas.
Thanks to all.

 

[bucko]

Bucko, I just wanna use this time to tell you that you did a fabulous job on designing the wiring of the ELK-M1. You just made life easier for the DIY'ers. Are you done installing yours? Are you happy with your installation? Please keep us updated with your installation. Also, what software did you use to design this?

Thanks for the kudos. I have put a number of hours in this, and have revised it several times after finding some errors. I will try to post my latest revision, which I think is much better and addressed a few mistakes.
I haven't started the install yet. My townhouse is scheduled to be finished in Jan. Then I will start the wiring. Right now I just want to lay out the Elk and get a better idea how I will pull it all together into a full HA system. I use Visio for the design work. I think it is the best one going. Takes a bit of a learning curve, but it has some great features. The connections page I show here is just one of several pages I made in Visio. I also have seperate pages of my floor plan, one for each level. There I show all device placement and wiring specs. I can export this data directly into Excel to give me an instant inventory list of all the devices I will need. Then in Excel I can apply all my wire label id's and end up with a record of everything in one place.
Nex,t I will use Visio to design/layout my rack space right down to the details of all the server wirings and connections of patch panels, switchers, telco, etc. I hope to end up with a complete journal of every detail of my systems and exactly how they are wired. Lots of work up front, but I think well justified in the end.

 

[DotNetDog]

Bucko, I just wanna use this time to tell you that you did a fabulous job on designing the wiring of the ELK-M1. You just made life easier for the DIY'ers. Are you done installing yours? Are you happy with your installation? Please keep us updated with your installation. Also, what software did you use to design this?

Thanks for the kudos. I have put a number of hours in this, and have revised it several times after finding some errors. I will try to post my latest revision, which I think is much better and addressed a few mistakes.
I haven't started the install yet. My townhouse is scheduled to be finished in Jan. Then I will start the wiring. Right now I just want to lay out the Elk and get a better idea how I will pull it all together into a full HA system. I use Visio for the design work. I think it is the best one going. Takes a bit of a learning curve, but it has some great features. The connections page I show here is just one of several pages I made in Visio. I also have seperate pages of my floor plan, one for each level. There I show all device placement and wiring specs. I can export this data directly into Excel to give me an instant inventory list of all the devices I will need. Then in Excel I can apply all my wire label id's and end up with a record of everything in one place.
Nex,t I will use Visio to design/layout my rack space right down to the details of all the server wirings and connections of patch panels, switchers, telco, etc. I hope to end up with a complete journal of every detail of my systems and exactly how they are wired. Lots of work up front, but I think well justified in the end.

ray: ray: ray: ray:

I don't suppose we could talk you into posting the actual Visio file?

 

[project_x]

I don't suppose we could talk you into posting the actual Visio file?

That would be sweeet!