Infrared distribution and basic IR command control

fleetz

Active Member
Have a ELK M1G and wanting to get some IR commands into the ELk. I have a TSU 7000 Pronto remote control and I intend purchasing a couple more for the home I will be building. When I say IR commands I am not talking at an IR level more at a creating a button that ultimately when pressed will fire a relay for the M1G to recieve and act on.

Intended control function I will eventually want from the Pronto controller will be:
HomeThreatre
Lighting via C-Bus when the interface is release for the M1G
Remote door opening, gates etc
Various other things that will be under the control of the M1G

What I would like is some suggestions as to the IR harware distribtions system that would be suitable.

I have 4 zones that I will want to control via IR throughout the house. I will keep the A/V distribution fairly simple as it is unlikely that we will be wanting more than one zone to be used at any given time(the kids have flown the coop yah!!) make thing a bit simpler! I will just distribute video and audio to all four zones.

I will have a wiring closet which will also house all the HT components therefore I am looking for a solution that will enable anyone of 4 zones to control the HT gear as well and feeding the remote door opening commands into the M1G.

Another tricky one I am trying to resolve is having the ability to assign a function on the Pronto say to open the gates and or front door. I will have these functions under the control of the M1G and am wondering what solutions exist to via IR control finish up with a contact closure that I can feed into the M1G to execute whatever I am requiring to be be controlled from the ELK?

What recommendations do you have for the IR distribution and where to buy it from?

The more you delve into the design of HA from a new home installation prespective the more complex it becomes.

Look forward to your suggestions/recommendations.

Cheers,

Fleetz
 
From what I can understand, you want to use Pronto remotes to input commands into the Elk, so that it can then send commands (relay, C-Bus, etc) to other devices around your home, right? This is different from having the Elk output IR commands to control things like a TV or home theater...or do you want to do both?
 
Yes totally different agreed Guy.

No only want to be able to control ELK functions via contact closures. No need for the ELK to output things other than what is program via "rules". Hence just want a contact closure/s outcome from a button press/s on the Pronto.

One way only IR > ELK possibily 4 or 5 contact closures max.

Cheers,

Fleetz
 
If you only need 4 or 5 outputs, then a quick and simple way to receive IR is with the X-10 IR receiver that is the size of a mini controller. I realize it isn't directly into the Elk, it has to go via X-10, but it might work for you.
 
Most people are using the Ocelot interfaced to the M1 for advanced IR commands In and Out. Electron posted the ASCII command set for the Ocelot to work with the M1.
 
Thanks Guys,

Seen the Ocelot mentioned a number of times on the forum but never had any reason to dart down that hole. Had a look as a result of Spanky's post and it looks promising.

Pity you have to use some much hardware Ocelot and a XSP just to effect a contact closure albeit via using a ASCII string. Is ELK thinking and or doing something to get IR control into the M1G?

On the Ocelet..... Spanky you mentioned the post from Electron on the ASCII command set, I have looked at Electron posts and it didn't jump out like our pesky kangaroos.....he has a mother load of posts!. Can you point me to the specific post? Thanks.

Based on what I have seen with the Ocelot I am thinking of doing the following:

1. Using a Buffallo IR-250/350 RX and Buffallo IR-100 IR emitter as the IR reciever setup up to get the Pronto IR command (see my question below)
2. Feeding an output of the IR-100 to the IR input of the Ocelot unit (anyone know if there is any IR level compatibility issues?)
3. Connecting the RS-232 port to the M1G via a M1-XSP RS-232 port doing the necseaary configuration and then use the M1G rules to look for the appropriate ASCII string.

The question I have is what would I need to do to generate a unique IR code in the Pronto that can ultimately be recieved by the Ocelot and spit out the ASCII into the M1G? This is the missing link in the puzzle. Hope someone can put me in the right direction?

Cheers,

Fleetz
 
As in that other thread linked by electron says, The Ocelot can learn IR codes, so all you need to do is configure a IR code set on your Pronto that is not used or recognized by any of your A/V gear and make that the set to control the Ocelot. The Ocelot doesn't have a native IR code set, so all it does is learn codes and then attempt to match received codes with the ones it has already learned to trigger events, which in this case is to send a serial string to an Elk serial port.
 
fleetz said:
Have a ELK M1G and wanting to get some IR commands into the ELk. I have a TSU 7000 Pronto remote control and I intend purchasing a couple more for the home I will be building. When I say IR commands I am not talking at an IR level more at a creating a button that ultimately when pressed will fire a relay for the M1G to recieve and act on.

Intended control function I will eventually want from the Pronto controller will be:
HomeThreatre
Lighting via C-Bus when the interface is release for the M1G
Remote door opening, gates etc
Various other things that will be under the control of the M1G

What I would like is some suggestions as to the IR harware distribtions system that would be suitable.

I have 4 zones that I will want to control via IR throughout the house. I will keep the A/V distribution fairly simple as it is unlikely that we will be wanting more than one zone to be used at any given time(the kids have flown the coop yah!!) make thing a bit simpler! I will just distribute video and audio to all four zones.

I will have a wiring closet which will also house all the HT components therefore I am looking for a solution that will enable anyone of 4 zones to control the HT gear as well and feeding the remote door opening commands into the M1G.

Another tricky one I am trying to resolve is having the ability to assign a function on the Pronto say to open the gates and or front door. I will have these functions under the control of the M1G and am wondering what solutions exist to via IR control finish up with a contact closure that I can feed into the M1G to execute whatever I am requiring to be be controlled from the ELK?

What recommendations do you have for the IR distribution and where to buy it from?

The more you delve into the design of HA from a new home installation prespective the more complex it becomes.

Look forward to your suggestions/recommendations.

Cheers,

Fleetz
Hi Fleetz

Have a look at the link maybe you can use this to trigger inputs on your M1G Panel

http://www.ozitronics.com/

Look at kit ...k142.....an ir to 12 relay board

HTH
Frank
 
Thanks for that Frank,

I have btiten the bullet and purchased the Ocelet and Buffallo kit I mentioned in my earlier post.

Will start the integration soon.Currently getting the M1 system ready for the Clipsal C-Bus interface.

Cheers,

Fleetz
 
I am not familiar with the TSU 7000. Is it capable of sending X10 RF commands, if so then just hang a WGL W800 Reciever of the M1G.
 
fleetz said:
I have btiten the bullet and purchased the Ocelet and Buffallo kit I mentioned in my earlier post.
Make sure you also read THIS post about interfacing the Ocelot's IR output with the Buffalo Electronic's connecting blocks written and tested by our role model Guy Lavoie! :)
 
TCassio said:
I am not familiar with the TSU 7000. Is it capable of sending X10 RF commands, if so then just hang a WGL W800 Reciever of the M1G.
Yes TCassio the TSU can fire off RF X10 commands. I am using a very small amount of X-10 now with mine. Just be aware of the RF frequencies of the X-10 gear that you have in your market. Not where you R from but Philips do a US and European version of Pronto RC. One TX 418Mhz the other 433MHz RF so be sure to check the frequency of the X-10 available in your market before you jump into a Pronto.

Al be aware that you will spend a lot of time getting your Pronto interface up and going, but once you do it is really worth the effort.

Cheers,

Fleetz
 
BraveSirRobbin said:
fleetz said:
I have btiten the bullet and purchased the Ocelet and Buffallo kit I mentioned in my earlier post.
Make sure you also read THIS post about interfacing the Ocelot's IR output with the Buffalo Electronic's connecting blocks written and tested by our role model Guy Lavoie! ;)
Thank you BSR..... indeed I had see the post prior to purchasing the gear and have it tucked away in my favorites for reference when I get around to integrating the Ocelot into the MIG.

I appreciate very much you highlighting the thread. Have a great day!

Regards,

Fleetz
 
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