Subject: From: Date:

Re: [ECS] Security Systems Dan Hoehnen Wed, 13 Jan 1999 22:38:28 -0500 (EST)

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Bill,

The only 2 panels I know of (and I admit I am no expert) that provide a 
full 2-way serial interface are the Napco Gemini 3200 and 9600 models, 
and the HAI Omni, Omni Pro and Aegis.  I have a napco and am in the 
process of trying to add support so ACE can talk to it.  It's no easy 
task.  The serial protocal is not standard becasue you have to do some 
fiddling with a couple of the control lines in order to "wake up" the 
napco panel so you can talk to it.  Every command to teh panel must then 
be encrypted.  And, most messages from the panel need to be decrypted.  I 
am not really an ecs user and so am not sure if ecs can control the 
serial port control lines and encrypt/decrypt the data as necessary.  The 
whole interface is just not to my liking at all and the documentation of 
it is not good either.  Sorry Napco.

Now, the Omni on the other hand, is a pure dream.  I have an Omni Pro 
with a serial interface card that I am also developing support for for 
ACE.  The Omni Pro supports 2 types of serial interfaces - Omni Link and 
Pro Link.  The Pro Link would be very easy for ecs to interface with.  
Basically, you can define up to 128 15 character strings in the Omni 
Pro.  You can program teh Omni Pro to send any 1 of these strings in 
response to an event, like arming teh system.  You can also have the Omni 
Pro run a macro when any 1 of these strings is received.  These strings 
do not include a checksum and so are very easy to send and receive.  I am 
a homevision user and it took my about 5 minutes to configure the omni to 
send a couple strings when it was armed and disarmed and to have 
homevision setup to respond to each one.  

Now, I realize that the Omni Pro is probably overkill for your setup, but 
it is the best security system with an open protocol interface that I 
have found.  The Omni (not Omni Pro) does not support the Pro Link 
protocol, only the Omni Link protocol.  The Omni Link protocol is a 
little more difficult to use because it requires a 2 byte checksum at the 
end of each command.  If curious, I can send you a snippit or 2 of teh 
omni link protocol so you can decide if ecs can work with it.  The Omni 
will probably save you $200 or so over the Omni Pro.  

BTW, the omni will control your t-stats and provide local/remote phone 
access to everything.  

I have really gone on long enough for now.  But, I'd be glad to provide 
more info you want.


On Wed, 13 Jan 1999, Bill Walters wrote:

> All -
> 
> My security system, a Napco Magnum 900, circa 1987 is beginning to show
> signs of needing replacement.  Currently one of the 3 keypads is
> beginning to fail and the Fire Alarm circuit has become unreliable,
> requiring disconnection.  The sensors for the Fire zone all check out,
> but randomly report "fault" conditions which results in our being
> visited by the local fire department.  My alarm service (who also does
> the maintenance on the system) suggests the panel may need replacing.
> 
> I have 9 zones, plus fire/smoke and would prefer something which would
> interface with ECS (not using X-10 but via RS-232 or ???) and there are
> 3 keypads (front entry door hallway, kitchen/den entry, master bedroom)
> that controll the system.
> 
> So, my question is....... what system should I be looking at?  What will
> it do?  What will it cost?  Where can I find out more information on it?
> 
> 
> Bill Walters
> 

Dan Hoehnen                            
dhoehnen@infinet.com                   
He who dies with the most toys, wins! 
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