Security System Interfacing

TurnipTruck

Greetings,

I have a customer building a new home and I need to recommend a security system that will work well with the AMX system that I am providing.

I have worked with a GE Concord, but was a buggy experience.

I have also worked with the Ademco Vista, but it had no way of doing a panic alarm from the AMX UI.

Any suggestions? Being able to monitor the alarm status and to be able to initiate a panic from AMX would be primary concerns.

Thaks.

mpullin

Are you sure about Ademco Vista not being able to do a panic alarm from the TP? I was under the impression you could emulate any sequence of key pushes you wanted.

TurnipTruck

mpullin wrote:

Are you sure about Ademco Vista not being able to do a panic alarm from the TP? I was under the impression you could emulate any sequence of key pushes you wanted.

Well there is no specific panic button on the UI. There could be a numerical sequence of some sort to initiate panic, but I am currently unaware of it.

mpullin

In my experience, the AMX Module for the Honeywell Controller is not very good. I would download the protocol from Honeywell and just use that. You can use the "Key Stroke Command" structure to emulate button pushes. Send a 'C' for 1 + *, 'D' for * + #, etc. I'd attach the protocol document but I can't seem to find it on this computer, sorry

glr-fti

I've had no problem with Apex Destiny 6100 or HAI Omni Pro II.

vining

I like HAI as well but in comparison to other systems they are a bitmore money because they can do alot just on there own. Conditional logic, received and send strings, built in astronomic tim clock, interior and exterior temp, comm t-stats. These things come in handy when you're not doing an AMX processor but you still want some integration w/ lights and HVAC, etc.

funkyskier

Dan,
I have integrated with the Napco Gemini many times. AMX has a module, but it is firmware dependant. You will usually need to work with someone within the security company to make sure you have the right firmware. While it is possible to arm, disarm, etc. we make it a policy to only monitor what the security system is doing due to liability. A common practice for us is to send an eMail or text messages if the alarm is disarmed or set off. One minor problem with the napco gemini is that it dosnt prioritize messages, so there can be a bit off a delay between the event and the report.

GSLogic

I have six different security panels on the shelf from writing modules over the years and the one that I installed in my house, is the ELK M1. It is the easiest panel to use all the way around. Get tech support too!

http://www.elkproducts.com/

vining

GSLogic wrote:

ELK M1. It is the easiest panel to use all the way around. Get tech support too!

I've never used them but they to offer advanced capabilties similiar to HAI with various add on parts and pieces. My personal feeling is that the more capabilities your individual componants have the more tools, flexability and options you have to choose from the better. For instance the HAI OMNI IIe & Omni Pro II both have multiple configurable serial ports as well as Ethernet jack and the abiltiy to program hundreds lines of condidtional logic.

GSLogic

I also like HAI. I had the Omni ProII installed in my home for two years, for me it would come in second because of these issues:

1. The protocol is not as easy as Elk?s protocol.
2. You need to send a ping every 2 minutes or you get logged out.
3. You can't just view one zone change at a time; you have to query the complete string of all zones. We use zone motion feedback for late night lighting.
4. Easy PC interface programming.
5. You can write ASCII strings and send them to the AMX for triggering.
6. If you use the HAI thermostats, the temperature feedback is not super accurate. With Elk you can use different thermostats.

I should get a free one after this hard sell.