Need advice on security

[samaritano]

Hello there.

I've been researching this forum and I'm a little confused on what my needs are.
I would like to put together a security system with the option of adding some home automation
down the road. The system I'm looking at is the ELK M1 EZ8. Would this controller work on my situation?
My house is prewired for a security system and includes 10 zones plus 2 "spare" zones (I'll have to locate these spare zones).
It also comes with 10 zones for power (ie. 22 x 4 wires) that includes two thermostats a siren and keypads.

I would like to add wireless glass sensors and wireless motion detectors. It could be possible to wire for these sensors but only
on one area of the house. I would eventually like to add light, fire and HVAC control.

Other than the M1EZ8KS, what other addons do I need (security only)?
If I want to add and inside and and outside siren, could these be powered from the EZ8 or do I need something else?
Which zone extender and wireless receiver do I need?

Thanks for any input. All this research can be overwhelming at times.

 

[Steve]

The add ons for the EZ8 are the same as that for the M1G. So, the zone expander would be the M1XIN and for wireless you could use either the GE board or the recommended Elk M1XRFG2 board. You will need to add serial expanders like the M1XSP to support HVAC and lighting.

 

[scatkins]

I have pretty much the same situation as samaritano....

I want inital security, maybe a little automation, some surveilance and I want to add stuff as I have time.

I think I have settled on the Elk M1 Gold, but is there any other comparible systems that I should be considering? I started looking at CADX which probably would do what I needed but it didn't seem to have quite to growth and community available.

Any thoughts appreciated

Steve......

 

[Jeepasaurus]

I was in the same boat as you guys a few months ago. When I first started doing some research a little over a year ago I had decided on the Elk M1 Gold... then I started second guessing myself when I was about to purchase.

Well, I ordered the Elk M1 Gold and couldn't be happier. I also bought the ethernet interface and really dig that. Programming is MUCH easier sitting at a desk and I can remote desktop to my computer at home from work and check on the status.

I do plan on creating a secure web interface for it so I can check it from my Windows Mobile phone. The API for the Elk is another thing that I really liked (my day job is programming).

Steve, surveillance is going to be handled by a completely different system. My thoughts behind this are setting up a computer that can handle 4 cameras for input (usually a PCI card) and using something like Zoneminder (linux). It will only record when it sees movement.

Those are my thoughts.

 

[Steve]

I think I have settled on the Elk M1 Gold, but is there any other comparible systems that I should be considering?

The only thing really comparable to the M1 family at this point is the HAI Omni line. Depending on what you are doing with surveillance, they do have a little tighter integration with that. They are both very good systems.

 

[scatkins]

Thanks for the inputs guys......... Sounds like the M1 is the way to go for me..

For survailance, yes understand that is definitely a different camera/DVR system. I'm just looking to be able to provide a way to integrate it and from what I've seen it shouldn't be too hard with a little bit of programming.

For example, I want to be able to trigger an event when someone trips a sensor outside (side of the house, backyard or maybe a driveway sensor). Maybe send me a text message then I can remote in from somewhere else to the camera system to see what is going on.

I'm pretty convinced that I can do this with the M1, and it sounds like it is just about as good as anything to use as a baseline platform.