home theater remote, Thermostat, Alarm system Newbie Advice

Community Playground General Discussions
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Hi All,

I have been searching the forums for weeks now and can’t seem to either find the right info or complete info for what I’m looking for. I just got my MCV Vera2 about a week ago to start expanding my existing network of three light switches and a Harmony 890 non pro. not realizing my 890 wouldn’t work with vera i now need a new remote plus advice on other ways to expand my network. with my vera i also ordered some kwikset locks and more light switches and a couple appliance modules.

here is a list of what i would like to do with my system and hopefully somebody out there can tell me if its possible and what the best equipment to buy would be.

  1. I would like a new remote to function much like the same way my harmony 890 did before Vera. ie. control the lights when activity button is pressed and be able to control lights individually and set scenes. I was looking at the Monster AVL300 since they can be found all day on amazon for about 80$ but was also interested in the nevo q50 since they can be found for around 400 instead of just going to a 890 pro.

  2. I currently have three thermostats in my house and want to switch them for z-wave ones. I would like to be able to also add additional temp sensors (hopefully 3 in 1’s) and be able to average the temps of both the thermostats and extra sensors to be able to control the on/off/auto of the thermostat. I want to know if this can even be done and which thermostats support this and are supported by vera. I was just going to jump in and buy one WDTC-20 and a HSM100 and try to figure it out but since i need three thermostats i figured it best to ask first.

  3. Has anything new developed on the Ademco alarm system integration. My house has an Ademco vista 20p series that was in the house when i bought it. I would like to be able to use all the existing door, window and motion sensors and alarm and have it controllable and be able to see the status of the sensors with vera. maybe add scenes to lock the kwikset locks and turn off the lights when armed and turn on lights and unarm when the lock is unlocked via the kwikset keypad. So the question is can this be done with the current system or can i just as easily swap out the alarm control pad with one that is supported like the DSC panel and still use all the existing door/window/motion sensors.

  4. lastly can someone briefly explain the benefits and possible uses for rs-232 besides controlling devices such as tv/dvd/dvr via IR.

Thank you so much for any help or advice, or maybe just a point in the right direction.

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Do you have an iphone?

I would highly recommend sqremote…

It works with vera, and they sell a “puck” for wifi>ir control.

Even if you dont have an iphone… you could buy an ipod touch or ipad as well.

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I do have an iPhone and have been trying both “trial” versions of SQRemote and iVera for out of the house status and control. Thats another question i guess i left out is which of those two are people using and what do you like better about each one.

But for Home Theater purpose and for the sake of my girlfriend being able to just watch TV I really like physical buttons so i dont have to look down to search for shows or fast forward the dvr. ive used my iPhone for control of my samsung web connected tv in another room in the house and i just really dont like the touch interface for tv watching.

Another thing I forgot to mention is I use a PS3 for blu-ray so a remote / IR to Bluetooth solution would be preferred. does the AVL300 work with the logitech PS3 Adapter?

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AV Control is one, as you’ve pointed out.

The next obvious one in the Home Automation space is an Alarm Panel. A number of these support RS-232 based interfaces for bi-directional control purposes.

These are usually done through a Vendor-specific adapter, and provide notification of Events within the system, and reception of Commands to control it. Of course, each Vendor/Device needs a driver, or Plugin, to talk to these devices in a manner they understand.

There are other devices out there, like Thermostats, a Furnace or two, measurement devices (temp gauges, Mag Strip reader etc) that can supply data over RS-232 also, or can convert it to RS-232 “at the last minute” before you see it (and connect it to Vera)

These all speak a different “language” of Serial, so each one needs to have a Plugin written for it to make it work with Vera, or any HA Controller.

The advantage in this type of [Serial or Ethernet] control, as compared to IR, is the feedback these device return indicating Status for any Command requested. More advanced ones can tell you “up front” when something changes, like water reaching a certain level, users pressing certain buttons (etc)

RS-232 has been around a long time, so a lot of different (often whacky) devices can be interfaced with it.

Wired things, like RS-232/RS-485/Ethernet etc, IMHO also tend to have more reliable communications.

5

As someone who has a Monster remote, two pucks and a wife who is on my mind with all of this stuff let me share my experiences (at least as far as IR goes).

The Monster took me FOREVER to get setup on Vera but once I got it figured out, it worked great. It will not trigger Vera scenes but you can set up scenes…of sorts, in the Monster software. It’s ok and has taken some trial and error to get working the way I like.

The Puck is a neat toy but not quite ready to be a primary remote and Vera doesn’t really fully support it. It can trigger Vera scenes but you can’t (yet) create scenes in Vera that include it. I would love to be able to create a scene (for example) that would turn on and shut the A/V off when I hit a switch. I know that sounds goofy but how great would it be to hit a switch as you walk past the TV to the kitchen to get a drink and have your system fire up? I’ve personally found that it’s not super reliable, a macro/scene will work (with a lot of tweaking) 9 out of 10 times, which isn’t bad for a toy but if you’re depending on it, it can be frustrating.

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guessed: Thanks for the info. sounds like any alarm system will use some sort of rs-232 with a custom plugin like the one for the DSC panel. thats way over my head trying to write plugins. any luck in me swapping out my ademco panel for a dsc which already has a plugin written for it and still using all the door/window/motion sensors?

mbairhead: i think were trying to accomplish something similar. I want to be able to plug a power strip into an appliance module with all my AV gear connected and when i start an activity on my remote like “watch TV” it turn on the whole power strip and then turns it off when shutting down thus eliminating “vampire power”. i hear the avl300 uses the same software as the logitech and controls z wave similarly ie cant run vera scenes but can turn off or dim select lights when starting a scene like watch dvd. does all that sounds about right and possible?

all of my AV gear is in the open so i dont use IR repeaters or extenders so i dont think i really have a use for the “puck” at least that i can see at this point. Also at the cost of an AVL300 (~80$) and a “puck” (~$200) do you think i would be better off spending a little more and just going with the Nevo Q50 (~$400) seeing as it seems to be much more compatible with vera. or do you think i would be better off saving 300$ and just getting an AVL300.

One last question that has been preventing me from pulling the trigger on an AVL300, what buttons do you use for directional navigation. Ive got a DirecTV DVR and need the arrow buttons to navigate channels and menus. those buttons seem to be missing on the AVL300 and i heard some people use the FWD RWD buttons but i use those for skipping comercials and the like so what buttons do you use??

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It’s actually the same software with minor verbiage differences. Yes, you can create scenes like that but I’ve found that they are SUPER annoying. Sometimes you watch DVDs in the middle of the day so having lights come on is just irritating. I’ve just created scenes like “Watch TV at night” and “Snack Break” which just works the lights (for the most part).

all of my AV gear is in the open so i dont use IR repeaters or extenders so i dont think i really have a use for the "puck" at least that i can see at this point. Also at the cost of an AVL300 (~80$) and a "puck" (~$200) do you think i would be better off spending a little more and just going with the Nevo Q50 (~$400) seeing as it seems to be much more compatible with vera. or do you think i would be better off saving 300$ and just getting an AVL300.
I honestly didn't spend much time looking at the Nevo remotes. My wife would have manually inserted a bullet in my head if I spent that much money on another remote. I'm very happy with my Monster and when the Puck is fully supported it will be a nice addition. Being able to confirm the TV is off from anywhere, setting the TV up as an alarm clock with the volume slowly going up in the morning, having my TV switch to the security cam when the door bell is rung are all on my "to-do" list.
One last question that has been preventing me from pulling the trigger on an AVL300, what buttons do you use for directional navigation. Ive got a DirecTV DVR and need the arrow buttons to navigate channels and menus. those buttons seem to be missing on the AVL300 and i heard some people use the FWD RWD buttons but i use those for skipping comercials and the like so what buttons do you use??
I have Fios but navigation has been fine. For the Fios remote it uses the center "Select" joystick to move through the guide one channel at a time and the "- channel +" button flips pages on the guide. Same with the DVR functions as well as the On Demand menus. My wife grumbled about it first but now that's the remote she reaches for. I'll be buying another for the upstairs soon.
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let me see if ive got this straight since we live in a world without many physical storefronts left i have only seen the AVL300 in pictures. the center select button actually acts like a joystick and moves side to side and up down acting as all 5 left, right, up, down and Select buttons like you would find on the harmony? That sounds pretty nice.

Im also now interested in having my TV switch to the security cam when the door bell is rung…im guessing this is not yet supported but is supposed to be at some time. wouldnt you need another piece of hardware beside the puck to feed the video feed into the TV. Please keep me and the forum updated on this as im sure im not the only one interested in that.

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[quote=“Willard311, post:8, topic:167059”]Im also now interested in having my TV switch to the security cam when the door bell is rung…im guessing this is not yet supported but is supposed to be at some time. wouldnt you need another piece of hardware beside the puck to feed the video feed into the TV. Please keep me and the forum updated on this as im sure im not the only one interested in that.[/quote]Depending on the camera hardware you have, like for instance if you had a DVR based camera system that provided a conventional video output also then you could already automate this from a press of a doorbell. Also if you have a Panasonic Camera and compatible Panasonic TV then this is certainly possible so long as vera can execute the scenes fast enough before the person at the door disappears :slight_smile:

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are there any dvr based camera systems that play nicely with Vera so that for example if a door sensor is tripped it could be controlled to turn the lights on and take a picture or would that all be based on the “puck” controlling the DVR camera through a vera scene controlling the lights and door sensor?

11

I don’t know of any specific DVR, but all it needs to have to make just as compatible as any regular IP camera is an image URL and I’d imagine thats fairly common?!

For the scene control to switch the TV input, yes IR control is easiest! …It could be done either by means of the puck, a GC100… or the cheapest option is a USB-UIRT. You could also control the video switching externally to the TV with an AV receiver like the Onkyo’s that have the IP control (courtesy of our local plugin wizard here) or a Matrix switch.

For the rest of the control, Vera can be programed to turn on a light and archive a picture as standard (albeit to the mios servers).

If you want a door bell to trigger all of this then there was a post here:
http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php?topic=3010.0

12

So your best bet here is to work with an Alarm installer. They’ll know whether your existing sensors are re-usable with a new Control Panel.

That said, the “wired” Window/Door sensors in my place are just regular magnetic reed switches, commonly in use across a lot of Panel vendors. My Motion sensors are GE, and my Vendor swapped out my Alarm panel a few yrs ago (from a GE to my Paradox) and the only thing they changed was the wiring at the Control board, and the Keypads at the entryways.

If you have wireless sensors, or very special devices, then a swap-out becomes more complex since these typically aren’t compatible across vendors.

The GE Caddx and Paradox Alarm panels are the most functionally complete, and most actively developed, Alarm Plugins for Vera right now:

http://code.mios.com/trac/mios_caddxnx584
http://code.mios.com/trac/mios_paradox-alarm
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I’ve tried several different ways to get this to work (automatically switch to security cam) and right now the best is a motion sensor. My front porch is covered so I haven’t had any issues with it yet but it gives Vera JUUUUUUST enough time to switch the input using my puck. Just hitting my tv input on my remote is of course the fastest and most reliable but if that’s all we were after, we wouldn’t be using Vera :wink:

I am thinking about buying one of these soon though. It looks like it will do both TV and remote viewing…for a LOT of money. I’m open to other ideas though, if anyone has seen a better solution for several wireless cams that are both local and IP.