Hi,
My first post on this forum… First of all a big thanks for all the impressive work on creating and developing this valuable plugin.
I have a Vera 3 on UI5 latest version, and a Powermax Complete on the latest FW with a GSM module and a dual port RS232 unit. I bought it with the PowerLink module but after finding Vera I quickly sent it back and got the RS232 module instead.
I managed to set up things with the plugin easily enough and all devices including my 2 wired Zones showed up nicely. Powermax enrolled Vera automatically and the plugin runs in Powermax mode and the detectors all work as expected.
By the way, having tested the Visonic App, this is sooooo much more responsive and better in every way.
Initially however, I did run into some problems with the plugin stopping due to too many comms errors. I thought my Deltaco USB (UC-232C9) might have been at fault and tested another device but never got that one to work. Then I read somewhere that my adapter was in fact FTDI and after making a new and short Cat6 eth cable and reinstalling the plugin and restarting the Powermax (disconnecting power) I have had no more of that sort of trouble.
However, there is still something weird going on which I want to know if anyone else has experienced…
I have only done a couple of days testing but this is what I have noticed…
As long as the alarm panel is in Home state (disarmed) things work fine. All detectors state is reported correctly and I can use e.g. a door sensor as a trigger to turn on a light…
But when the panel is in Armed away or Armed Home (Armed Stay as per the Plugin) the communication somehow stops, although not instantly. A few times the alarm panel reported BBA comms not working (typically something I noticed in the morning). But most other times there is no indication of trouble, I just don’t get any info in the plugin. The plugin sais that Powermax is in “unknown mode” and nothing that happens with the Powermax is reflected in the plugin.
To fix this, all I need to do is to go into Powermax Installer menu and out again, after which the panel shows “Downloading” and everything is back to normal. So no need to reload in the Vera, it just kicks back into life when the Alarm panel is reset.
So, short story is, in Disarmed state it all works but in Armed Away or Armed Home it stops reading things correctly after a while.
I guess to investigate this in detail I need to get the log files and such, but that has to wait until I’m back home, and for me to figure out how.
Right now I’m just reaching out to see if anyone recognizes the problem. Since communication seems to be ok, and actually seems to be continuing (tried looking at some log files and Powermax.txt in browser), perhaps there’s something with the alarm panel that I have set up incorrectly??
All ideas are welcome!