Elk M1 Gold vs. HAI OPII Programming

TomZ

New Member
Hi All,
I'm planning my new DIY install and I would appreciate feedback on Elk M1 Gold vs. HAI OPII Programming. I'm leaning towards the Elk System and I've read many of the comparison posts but many seem several years old. So here are my questions that remain unanswered:

1) Which has the most intuitive programming via its user interface on the PC, Elk M1 Gold or HAI OPII?

2) I've read about the Elk Whenever / Then feature and it seems intuitive and useful, does the HAI OPII offer anything similar?

3) I read that Elk is more DIY'er friendly, is this true? I don't want to learn C or any other in-depth language just to turn my lights on when the alarm goes off, I just want to do a DIY Security System install that is user friendly and you don't have to be a software engineer or have to tinker endlessly with it to get it to work, but I do want more features then Ademco or DSC, is this to much to hope for?

Your feedback is greatly appreciated, TomZ
 
1) Which has the most intuitive programming via its user interface on the PC, Elk M1 Gold or HAI OPII?

I have 3 OPII's set up and have become familiar with the PCA program over the years. I've read that the Elk M1 software is also very good. I guess relating to "intuitiveness" the PCA most current version GUI is very intuitive and roughly based on earlier versions of PCA which was a bit less intuitive. The word intuitive though can mean one thing to one person and another thing to another person.

Here's a bit of my OPII programming. Its very simple; nothing complicated.

Code:
4.	//	=================================
	//			Power Failure
	//	=================================
5.	WHEN AC POWER OFF
			THEN LOG Loss of Power
6.	WHEN AC POWER ON
			THEN LOG Resumption of Power
7.	WHEN MB Door NOT READY
		AND IF Chime Flag OFF
			THEN Chime Flag ON FOR 1 MINUTE
			THEN Door Chime ON FOR 6 SECONDS
 
I am pretty sure both platforms are just as easy to program. Here is an example from my M1 which notifies me via e-mail and cell when a power outage occurs:
Code:
WHENEVER AC FAILURE TROUBLE IS DETECTED
	THEN SEND EMAIL MESSAGE 7 TO ################### (Email 7)
	THEN DIAL cell (###############) AND ANNOUNCE AC Power Failure (vm210)

Rules in the M1 are mostly generated with mouse clicks, the only time you use the keyboard while editing a rule is to enter numerical values.
 
I would base your decision on other factors that may be more important. Both the M1 and OPII programming work in a very similar manner. You can make arguments for either one with small things but overall its pretty much a draw. You will be able to do pretty much the same thing in both. One thing that Elk does that I sometimes wish HAI did was to do a 'compare' of the panel to database. But even that is not something I would call big enough to sway one way or the other.
 
I install both both are easy. I think you can do more with the HAI but elk has better end user support HAI is really geared towards an installer being your interface to HAI. The one major thing is with HAI to do email you will need wl3 with elk it is native to the panel. Other than that point which is major I perfer the HAI.
 
I've got a related question...

HAI programming setup seems straightforward to me... you by the PC Access software, connect a PC via the serial connection or ethernet network, and use the software to program the stuff you want.

Elk, on the other hand.... I can't find anything talking about programming software or interface... I understand it has a serial connection with an optional ethernet add-on, but how exactly do you do the programming? The ElkRMS Remote Management Software seems to be about control the system via a PC, not programming it.


Any help?
 
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