HAI Key Fob Programming

[dgetz]

I have been experimenting with my HAI key fob and the necessary automation programming for it to function. I have not found any code that I am perfectly happy with, but I am entirely new at this and probably missing something. I am trying to mimic a cars key fob in the lock/unlock buttons, i.e. with the porch lights flashing to indicate a confirmation of the arm state. The ease of this was a major 'preselling' point for the WAF of the system so I need this to work perfectly. Here is what I have:

3. WHEN Key fob 1 lock button NOT READY
AND IF AREA 1 ANY ALARM NOT ACTIVATED
THEN PROGRAM ARM AWAY
THEN Front porch overhead light BLINK (0.25 Sec) FOR 2 SECONDS
4. WHEN Key fob 1 unlock button NOT READY
AND IF AREA 1 ANY ALARM ACTIVATED
THEN PROGRAM DISARM
THEN Front porch overhead light BLINK (0.50 Sec) FOR 2 SECONDS

Basically the code checks to see the system state and arms or disarms and then blinks the porch light. I am having two issues, first the lock/arm puts the system in exit delay for arming. I want to use the fob once outside the house to immediately arm the system, similar to how a car's key fob functions. The second issue is the delay I am having. The time between pushing the key button and response of the system is a good 4 to 5 count. I have the light button programmed to turn on some lights and it also has the same significant delay, with an additional 3 to 4 second delay between each set of lights switched on. How can I speed this up? Am I even doing this right?

 

[Brian Yokum]

"Alarm activated" means that the alarm has been tripped, not that it is armed.

Try this:

WHEN Keyfob 1 Lock Button NOT READY
THEN PROGRAM ARM AWAY
THEN Light BLINK (0.25 Sec) for 2 SECONDS

WHEN Keyfob 1 Unlock Button NOT READY
THEN PROGRAM DISARM
THEN Light BLINK (0.50 Sec) for 2 SECONDS

You'll still have the exit delay. There is no way around that. You'll probably also want to enable auto bypass so that the system will still arm if a zone isn't secure when armed.

In regards to the delay, make sure you have "Number of Expansion Enclosures" in the controller and address/number of addresess in the wireless receiver set correctly. If you only have one wireless receiver with less than 17 zones, the number of expansion enclosures should be set to 1 and the wireless receiver should be set to A=1 N=1.

 

[madburg]

Sorry, new to this automation coding and learning, where is the option "BLINK" and does it work with ALC Lighting?

 

[dgetz]

Brian,

Changing the number of expansion enclosures significantly improved the initial delay, it is now under a second and works like I would expect. There is still 2 to 3 seconds before the second line of code is run for my key fob light button. For coming home at night just an 'on' command may work, but for playing with it and impressing friends the 'toggle' is better... :huh: Here it is:

2. WHEN Key fob 1 light button NOT READY
THEN TV room main overhead lights TOGGLE
THEN Hallway main overhead light TOGGLE

So will the delay on the wireless controller get larger as I add more devices? Or is it just a matter that I had a bunch of empties? When setting up I had figured since the controller had X number of zones possible I needed to set the enclosures =X/16.

Thanks for the help on the code. Some way to instant arm without the delay through code in the future would be awesome. I haven't had a chance to completely explore how the new code functions, that is on the to do list for today, but is the controller still expecting an exit zone to trip during the delay to go fully into away mode?

Thanks again.

Sorry, new to this automation coding and learning, where is the option "BLINK" and does it work with ALC Lighting?

I am using UPB so I am not sure if the same option exists for ALC. I only get the 'full' set of light options when I select a specific upb device and not the room that contains it. Once i do that I get blink, toggle, brighten, dim, light level, LED ON, LED OFF, and some others. Blink comes with a blinking rate and duration. I hope that helps.

 

[Brian Yokum]

I suspect the delay until the second lighting command executes is due to the UPB transmission time. There really isn't anything in the controller that should cause a delay between the two commands.

The delay receiving changes from the wireless receiver is a function of the number of addresses (groups of 16) that need to be polled. So you shouldn't see a change in the latency until you go from 16 zones to 17 zones.

The blink command is not available for ALC. The toggle command will turn a light on if it is off or off if it is on. It will not "blink" once.

The controller only looks for an entry/exit door to be opened/closed when armed at a console or touchscreen. It doesn't require an entry/exit zone to be opened/closed when programmatically armed.

 

[programmergeek]

One other sugestion when we do this code for customers I put the trigger on the button press not on the arm status. I usally have a outside strobe on the house hooked up to a relay so I use that instead of lights but there is still a delay. In any case I do that in case they miss seeing the initional press or if they are driving/walking away from the house and they are not sure they armed it, if they hit it again the light blinks and they can verify. Seems to be a bit more fool proof less calls my alarm is not arming off the remote for me.

Jason
AC Electric Inc.

I suspect the delay until the second lighting command executes is due to the UPB transmission time. There really isn't anything in the controller that should cause a delay between the two commands.

The delay receiving changes from the wireless receiver is a function of the number of addresses (groups of 16) that need to be polled. So you shouldn't see a change in the latency until you go from 16 zones to 17 zones.

The blink command is not available for ALC. The toggle command will turn a light on if it is off or off if it is on. It will not "blink" once.

The controller only looks for an entry/exit door to be opened/closed when armed at a console or touchscreen. It doesn't require an entry/exit zone to be opened/closed when programmatically armed.

 

[ano]

Might be a bit of overkill, but what I have done is install a Betabrite sign in my garage, and indicate alarm state on the sign. The "normal" state is for the sign to display weather stats, but when the system is armed, the sign says Arming in 60, the Arming in 50, Arming in 40.... and it goes down to Alarm On in red letters, and then I have the sign blank off to save power. When any garage door opens the sign turns back on and will display Alarm On. Once the alarm is deactivated it says it over the garage speakers and the sign says Alarm Off in green letters. After about 30 seconds it goes back to weather data.

the sign was not very expensive, and it makes it very clear if the alarm is on or off.

I should add that I do this with CQC, but it may be possible to do this directly with the panel using a serial port. Most Betabrite signs, and certainly the older ones available on eBay are serial connected.