New to HA, ordered a Raspberry Pi and need to pick lighting control protocol

One more thing to add, though not directly related the the Pi. A friend sent me this: http://www.pytomation.com/ - Pymation. It's a Python based HA package. I'll need to load this up and give it a try. Currently it doesn't support Z-Wave (which I'm taking more interest in, which is why I am bringing this up). I also need to reduce any writing to the SD card that the default Raspian (Debian for the Pi) is doing. I mean, an embedded system should run for decades without service.
 
On a bit of a tangent here....
 
Here today have degressed a bit using Zoneminder (running Ubuntu)  with a CM11A I/O connection concurrent with utilzing xAP. 
 
Both will work interOS and device on the network. 
 
I also have a little Seagate Dockstar running Arch Linux on a little 2Gb flash drive talking serially to my two Rain8net devices, one 1-wire network and xAP and its been fine now for over a year.  The little Dockstar is sitting inside of the old Rainbird sprinkler control box and its doing very well.  Its also very redundant these days doing a backup every night of the configuration. 
 
You can't go wrong with either UPB or RadioRA2. They both work great. I have UPB in my house, Combination of zwave/UPB/RA2 in one office, UPB in one office, and the new Tulsa location is being equipped with all RA2.
 
If your budget is a little flexible, I would go RA2. If your budget is a little tighter, I would go UPB.
 
Okay so here's a review of what I think  works with the Pi (running one of the Linux distributions):
  • X10 (via the CM11A (R), CM15A(U) and a bunch of other wire/wireless interfaces)
  • Insteon ( various controllers (R/U/N))
  • Z-Wave (not sure of which controllers - there is the daughter board but I haven't used it yet)
  • UPB ( various (R/U))
  • KNX (aka EIB, unknown interface on my part)
  • Various interfaces to security systems (I have no experience with a lot of them)
  • Then the various weather, ethernet, USB IO devices that I won't try to list here.
 
R = RS232
U = USB
N = IP (Network)
O = Other
 
 
Making an assumption that most using a Raspberry Pi will play at a deeper level, I would also say RadioRa 2 is fully controllable.  I say this because the interface is so simple although I haven't written a driver.  I'm no longer a developer and I'm sure I could cobble together an interface with the Lutron Interface Protocol (search for the doc) if I needed/wanted to.  Fortunately I don't have to since I paid for CQC and now Dean over at Charmed Quark is ensuring the driver works. :)
 
David
 
I agree but I don't have one so I didn't include it. At the moment I'm also a bit pressed for time so I'm limited as to what I can dive into. :( So many protocols so little time.
 
Of course I could make time if I had one . B)
 
Thank you all for your insights. While I'm a fan of certain closed systems (Apple nut here), I'm not comfortable with the cost and closed nature of Lutron's Radio RA2, and the relatively little DIY knowledge out there about it.
 
Given the reliability issues some have with Z-Wave, I'm still leaning toward UPB.
 
Does anyone have any recommendations on what type of Linux install I should use on my Raspberry Pi for use with MisterHouse? Is there anything special regarding UPB with MisterHouse I should be aware of?
 
rogersmj said:
Does anyone have any recommendations on what type of Linux install I should use on my Raspberry Pi for use with MisterHouse? Is there anything special regarding UPB with MisterHouse I should be aware of?
I don't know of anything special about the Linux image. Raspbian should work (it's what I'll be using). As far as Misterhouse, use the git version. The old code on the 2.105 version is ancient and the git release is the latest. Also join the mailing list to keep up with changes. The users are trying to update things and improve things.
 
"Can anyone recommend a particular brand of UPB switches? I've been reading a lot on the Simply Automated switches, they look good, have a lot of options, and the dimmers I would most often need can be had for ~$60 each. But I haven't found any that dim CFLs or LEDs."
 
HAI's HLC (Their UPB implementation) have by far been the most reliable for me. They also work perfect with dimming LED bulbs on every brand I've tried. I originally tested some SA brand switches but the rocker action felt very cheap to me. The HAI 6 and 8-button keypads are also among the best. The buttons are soft, can be custom labeled, support IR, and you can control backlighting and button brightness. 
 
Great, thanks...I'm going to order a couple HAI switches to get started.
 
I got my Raspberry Pi setup and Misterhouse installed. I can't really do anything until I have a controller, though. HAI's PIM looks to be serial only. My initial reaction was...seriously? Who still has a computer with a serial port on it? But the more I dig around, it sounds like a lot of people are having problems with USB PIM's. Some have reported success by using a quality RS232-to-USB adapter with a serial PIM (here's a thread on this forum about it, although it's several years old).
 
There are some USB PIM's out there (SA, PulseWorx) but they have very mixed reviews. What does everyone think about getting the HAI UPB PIM and then an RS232->USB adapter so I can connect it to my Raspberry Pi? Has anyone done this?
 
I have not done this specific setup but I have several serial devices that I control via usb->serial and that works well. I am still waiting for my raspberry PI that I ordered a month ago, so cannot tell you about the quality of its usb port, but if it works, it should work with serial PIM.
 
^ picta, you should have ordered it from Amazon. I got mine within a few days.
 
Thank you all again for your help. I have received my first HAI dimmer switch and the USB-to-serial cable, and am now just waiting on my UPB PIM so I can get started.
 
I have a fundamental question that I'm struggling with: do I create scenes using MisterHouse, or do I need to do that using the HAI UpStart software (mildly annoying that it needs a Windows PC -- will have to use a VM)? Do I have any dependency on the UpStart software to get things configured?
 
Yes, you will have to use UpStart to configure the switches.  You also want to create scenes in UpStart.  The benefit of this is that you'll be able to send a single command to turn on one light or a whole set of lights and the set of lights will react simultaneously.  If you create scenes in MH it will likely send commands synchronously to each switch so they won't activate simultaneously.
 
OK thanks, that helps. I assume, then, that MisterHouse is able to "watch" for scene commands being sent across the UPB network, and perform additional actions? For example, I intend to get some kind of sensors for the garage doors. When I set my "nighttime" scene using a UPB scene switch on the wall, I want to be able to program MH to also check the garage doors and alert me if they're not closed. Is that a valid use case for MH?
 
I just realized that I'm going to need to switch the UPB PIM between a Windows computer (to use the UpStart software) and my Raspberry Pi (for day-to-day running). That's kind of irritating, but I guess I won't be doing scene setup very often.
 
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