Neurorad
Senior Member
Believe me, there is enough information (and opinions) on EOL resistors in this forum that one could write a book on the subject!
Amen. Try a search, jaybird.
Edited to make inoffensive
Getting started ELK and HAI
- Thread starter rsw686
- Start date
Amen. Try a search, jaybird.
Edited to make inoffensive
Dean Roddey
Senior Member
I've never read through all that stuff. But, whichever position makes me look smartest, that's my official position.
Work2Play, did you get a chance to test the theory that the Elk light status updates with Elve polling the status in the background? This does make sense as Elve would request the status and Elk will see the response from the switch. The response from the switch should be just like the response would be if the switch was manually operated.
I'm most likely going to order the Elk this weekend. I wish the integration with UPB was stronger like the HAI. However the HAI seems to be lacking on the security side. I want to be able to arm the system with the garage open. You can't force arm the HAI meaning I either have to enable auto bypass (selectable only for all zones) or manually bypass a zone. Additionally if you arm the Elk from a program unsecure zones are auto bypassed, which is great as I can auto arm at night even if a window is open. For HAI there was a line in the manual that stated if auto bypass was disabled and the system armed the alarm will sound if the zone is not secure.
I'm most likely going to order the Elk this weekend. I wish the integration with UPB was stronger like the HAI. However the HAI seems to be lacking on the security side. I want to be able to arm the system with the garage open. You can't force arm the HAI meaning I either have to enable auto bypass (selectable only for all zones) or manually bypass a zone. Additionally if you arm the Elk from a program unsecure zones are auto bypassed, which is great as I can auto arm at night even if a window is open. For HAI there was a line in the manual that stated if auto bypass was disabled and the system armed the alarm will sound if the zone is not secure.
tmbrown97
Senior Member
I did a little testing the other day and got weird results that I need to examine closer. I turned on a whole bunch of lights and then killed them with a Scene. About an hour later they still hadn't updated - and I crashed for the night. When I woke up, all the statuses were correct again.
I need to do more testing and actually watch what's going on - I have an extra PIM that I may hook to a computer and fire up. I'll post back when I get a chance but honestly this whole week is looking tough.
I need to do more testing and actually watch what's going on - I have an extra PIM that I may hook to a computer and fire up. I'll post back when I get a chance but honestly this whole week is looking tough.
Elk is a fine choice. Fyi on HAI you can achieve the per zone bypass programatically. For example I bypass the garage door when opened and remove the bypass when it closes.
Still haven't pulled the trigger on the Elk. I feel like I am going to regret not having the light status tracking and the ZigBee thermostat option on the HAI. I realized it is going to be more of a mess than I thought to get a wire from the upstairs thermostat to the basement alarm panel.
I didn't think of doing the garage bypass triggered by the door itself. Does your code resemble the below?
WHEN Garage Door NOT READY
IF SECURITY OFF
THEN BYPASS Garage Door
WHEN Garage Door SECURE
THEN RESTORE Garage Door
With HAI the other issue I had was the console Night button arms to night instant. To get the best of both I figured if the motion downstairs is triggered to change to night delay. When changing arm modes do you know if the console beep? I'm hoping I can have it switch silently.
WHEN Downstairs Motion NOT READY
IF SECURITY NIGHT
AND NOT SECURITY NIGHT DLY
THEN PROGRAM NIGHT DLY
I'm not sure if this is the exact syntax for the NOT operation. From what I read SECURITY NIGHT also include SECURITY NIGHT DLY so I would need to check that. Otherwise the motion would continually change it to NIGHT DLY.
I came across the HAI OmniPro C# SDK, which looks perfect to create an email notification service. Part of my day job is writing C# so I can't imagine it would take more than a few hours to learn their SDK and create it. If I go the HAI route and come up with something good I'll be sure to share.
My last concern is the visible ready / arm status. The HAI console looks to have the LED below a plastic silkscreen. I'm thinking I could open the console and just cover the opening for the LED. For the LCD portion I know the system shows the date time on the top row and SYSTEM OK on the bottom. When armed what does this change to? I'm assuming it shows something like ARMED AWAY. I know it is possible to show a message on the console. Anybody know if the message overrides the ARMED AWAY or if it alternates between them?
My last concern is the visible ready / arm status. The HAI console looks to have the LED below a plastic silkscreen. I'm thinking I could open the console and just cover the opening for the LED. For the LCD portion I know the system shows the date time on the top row and SYSTEM OK on the bottom. When armed what does this change to? I'm assuming it shows something like ARMED AWAY. I know it is possible to show a message on the console. Anybody know if the message overrides the ARMED AWAY or if it alternates between them?
I am not looking at it currently, but I think that is what I did for the garage doors. IIRC, you might also be able to do it during the actual arming phase.
WHEN ARM AWAY <- Start of exit delay
BYPASS GARAGE OVERHEAD DOOR
I am not 100% sure it works, but it might. Here is a link from the HAI programming forum here showing how someone uses auto-bypass with a garage, yet has bypass disabled on other sensors: http://cocoontech.com/forums/topic/19167-garage-exit-bypass-rearm/page__hl__+garage#entry159488
Mine switches mode silently. For example, when we hit the goodnight button on the HLC controller next to our beds it turns off all lights in the house and set the alarm to night mode. No beep happens.
The C# SDK is pretty horrible as far as APIs go. It is functional, but not that well documented and not a lot of fun to use. For email notification have you considered what higher level automation software you are going to use? With C# skills, I would recommend looking into Elve. That would let you contribute drivers and get the software at a discount (or free, I can't remember). Elve can already handle talking to the HAI (or Elk) and email.
ASIHome.com was great and had everything at my door two days after ordering. I finished installing the panel last night and have the security part operational. All in all it took around 5 hours to swap out the exisiting panel, resistors, keypads, and program the basic settings. Only mistake was plugging the panel in at 11:45pm. I couldn't silence the keypads beeping before it woke up my wife.
McKinneySmart
Member
LOL. Yes the keypad beeping while it 'syncs-up' to the panel can be an irritant. I learned that the hard way also.