Seeking Elk M1G X10 understanding

[jwest]

I'm an elk M1G newbie. I've been pouring over the manuals and I've found my understanding of it's X10 implementation wanting. Perhaps someone can elighten me!

I am planning for the PLC connector on the M1G to control both light switches and electrical outlets, specifically:

X10 outlets (SR227)
X10 lightswitches (WS12A)

It seems to me from the docs and going through the RP2 software, controlling the two above devices is very straighforward. But lets say I find some oddball device that is X10 controllable but doesn't use the standard "lights on/off" x10 messages. Is there any way to add support for this device by adding text strings and setting up rules that reference them? I don't see in RP2 how you say 'whenever you get string such and such FROM the PLC port'... send this string or whatever. It seems the PLC connector is designed to handle lights on/off and not just any X10 command definitions and I see no way to add them.

This lack of my understanding carries through to other areas... what if I find some nifty device that supports RS485... can I just program the messages that the device uses into the ELK (examples would be a huge help), or am I limited by the firmware in the M1G to only using PLC and serial and RS485 devices that the elk already directly supports?

Hopefully my description above will allow one of the PLC X10 people here to say "here's what you're not getting". Thanks for any clarification and/or advice!

Jay

 

[Lagerhead]

No. Generally speaking.

 

[SnyperBob]

I just use the PLC with my Elk M1 and it works great for cheap x10 light switches and lamp modules. I haven't been able to afford to drop major cash on other automation solutions. I spent the extra money for the M1G, and can always get the other stuff later.

Other than using basic x10 devices, I have not other experience with the PLC, so I can't answer any of your other questions

 

[Spanky]

You can program an ASCII string in the "TEXT" area of the M1 automation area in ELKRP and write a Rule such that WHENEVER the text string is received from the PLC, THEN send a X10 all lights on command.

 

[Quixote_1]

You can program an ASCII string in the "TEXT" area of the M1 automation area in ELKRP and write a Rule such that WHENEVER the text string is received from the PLC, THEN send a X10 all lights on command.

Hi Spanky,
To what extent is the Elk flexible with these strings?
I bought an Elk serial expander which I haven't had the chance to install yet, but my intention was to use it with a PH reader for an aquarium that has a serial output. The PH reader will send out strings that contain the PH with some other variables. The PH is given at an accuracy to .01. Is it possible to truncate strings and use mathematical ranges on the strings that we would obtain through the serial expander?
Thanks.

 

[Lagerhead]

. . .But lets say I find some oddball device that is X10 controllable but doesn't use the standard "lights on/off" x10 messages. Is there any way to add support for this device by adding text strings and setting up rules that reference them? . . .

Sure would be interested to know when you get this working.

 

[jwest]

My original post was actually brought about while looking at the AB8SS for speaker switch, but I've since gone with a different solution as the AB8SS/ESS seems to be pretty defunct. I was also thinking that there just HAD to be an RS232 or X10 capable weather station. At the country house, I'd like the elk to monitor outside temp (easy), pressure, windspeed & direction, rainfall, etc. (all hard) since it's in an area with frequent tornados and other bad weather. It'd also be nice to know "I shouldn't leave for the country house now cause it's raining like mad there". Now that I've looked around, I see there doesn't seem to be much available like that (under $2000). I do see there was a thread about someone on the forums making a device to do one of those, I'll post there and see if it's become a reality yet and if the other metrics might be on the horizon

Thanks for the input folks!

 

[Lagerhead]

The M1 can send and receive strings but cannot "process" them.

This capability is certainly useful. For example, I use it to signal phone ring and off-hook conditions (detected by the M1) to my automation system. Another application in my setup is to fill the gaps in the standard M1 ASCII Protocol output for Zone Type 3, which inexplicably omits signaling for some of the state transitions.

But in every case, these are static strings and there need be only a small number of them. If you are going to use the input-string method to measure pH (for instance) then you would need a set of strings, one for each of the possible values, as well as rules to go with each one. This could get rather unwieldy rather quickly.

You can program an ASCII string in the "TEXT" area of the M1 automation area in ELKRP and write a Rule such that WHENEVER the text string is received from the PLC, THEN send a X10 all lights on command.

Spanky does not say what port number applies to the on-board PLC. Does anybody have this documented? Also, if this is to be "general purpose" as jwest's requirements implied, it's not clear that this method can deal with all of the inevitable hex values that will occur in X-10 signaling. What am I missing here?

 

[Quixote_1]

Another question that's been on my mind is if we can look for text that comes in over RS485. For example, if we took a serial device and used an RS232 to RS485 converter, then attached the wires directly to the RS485 terminals on the ElkM1G, would we be be able to listen for text strings and if so, what port number would we enter in the rule?
Thanks.

 

[Lagerhead]

No. Generally speaking.

 

[Quixote_1]

I found the Elk-M1XSP (serial port expander) manual again and I can see that there is a set of 4 connections for RS-485.
If I connect a serial device through an RS-232 to RS-485 converter to those connections, can I receive text strings for rules?
Thanks.