Re: SK8000 Home Security System (Now Comfort)

["paul gordon" <paul_gordon@xxxxxxx>]

Ray,

Wow! - Thanks! - I think you covered just about everything....

OK, I'm convinced, I'm going to order one very soon (payday!!!) - but
I'll take your advice and call Andrew Roberts at ISCAM first methinks
- If that memory upgrade you mentioned is only a few weeks away, I'll
wait for that & order one with it already fited..

Again, Ta very much for the input - much appreciated.

Paul Gordon.


>From: Raymond <Reb.barnett@xxxxxxx>
>Reply-To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
>To: "'ukha_d@xxxxxxx'" <ukha_d@xxxxxxx>
>Subject: [ukha_d] Re: SK8000 Home Security System
>Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1999 11:43:37 +0100
>
>Hi Paul,
>
>Sorry, I'm guilty of promising to write reports but never quite
getting
>around to it. Blame a busy few weeks at work (end of year processing
for
>all our systems which didn't go quite as smoothly as it ought to
have)
>and the fact that my Comfort project is likely to be ongoing for a
few
>months yet (which is good, not bad). I'll spend some time now not
>advertising the system but saying what has worked well for me, and
what
>hasn't.
>
>The summary is that Comfort is wonderful and does everything I want.
To
>put that into context I'll tell you what I wanted:
>
>We had an alarm system left by the previous owners. It was ancient,
>could be defeated by pulling it's 3-pin plug out of the wall, and
had a
>huge blind spot that would allow someone to walk in the back door and
>steal the alarm, if they were so inclined. Consequently we didnt'
have
>much faith in it, so I wanted to replace it. The replacement had to
be
>capable of the following:
>It had to let me wire in the sensors from the old alarm system,
keeping
>my cabling to a minimum.
>It had to have a phone dialer, to alert me if it goes off.
>At the time, I was getting interested in automation, so an X10
interface
>was handy.
>It needed to support either easily utilised outputs to a PC, or some
on
>board intelligence, to allow the system to control devices
>intelligently.
>
>Consequently I examined conventional alarms with a view to
interfacing
>them to a PC, home automation devices such as the SK8000, and almost
at
>last minute, Comfort. Comfort seemed ideal since it it was a
>professional conventional alarm system that has been crossed with a
home
>automation controller. Additional plus points are that Comfort comes
>with a very clever answerphone, allowing me to replace our hateful BT
>device; it is British supplied (good from the support and 'will it
work
>here' factor, not mention patriotism); BABT approved so I had no
worries
>about whether it will work with the phone. The other advantage of
>Comfort's alarm/automation integration is that the automation side of
>things intrinsically has access to the status of the house - whether
we
>are in or out, and we only have to operate one interface to tell the
>house that we are in or out.
>
>Fitting Comfort was a breeze. The old box had a manual and all the
wires
>were labelled so it was simply a case of disconnecting and replacing
one
>box with another. All the existing sensors wired in fine. A point to
>note is that Comfort supports something called double end of line
>resistors on the sensors. What this means is that using just two
wires
>to a sensor (plus two for power) the system can detect whether
someone
>has opened the sensor's case (tamper), triggered the sensor, or cut
or
>shorted the sensor wire. To achieve this all you have to do is fit
two
>resistors in the sensor whilst you are wiring it up. It was very easy
>and makes the system extremely secure. Wiring up the rest of the
system
>was equally easy and the manuals that come with Comfort are extremely
>comprehensive and well written - the advantage of a well supported UK
>product (ever bought a PC device from a far-east supplier?).
>
>What took me a little longer was putting in the additional cables to
>support more sensors, the Kompad and the phone line. Comfort prefers
to
>be wired in line with the phone line, and hence I had to run a cable
>(cat5 with a spare for later ;-) ) from an upstairs bedroom down the
>cupboard Comfort is in. Trickier than I thought. Two cores carry the
>line down from the BT master socket to Comfort, and two back up to a
new
>master socket I installed (again very easy) from which all the phone
>extensions run. This means Comfort can dial out to report alarms and
you
>can control Comfort from internal phones and by dialling in. A plus
>point is that the doorbell can be configured to ring the internal
phones
>which instantly means you get a remote door chime (if you have a
>cordless phone). Comfort also monitors the phone line voltage to
detect
>line cut, but our phone service doesn't seem too reliable since we've
>had a couple of early morning wake-up calls thanks to this.
Fortunately
>you can turn off line monitoring.
>I still haven't got around to connecting up the doorstation so I
can't
>say how well it works in practice...
>
>Comfort can be programmed either by typing in numeric codes from the
>Kompad or phone, or by using a computer package and downloading the
>programming via serial type cable. So far I've only programmed using
the
>Kompad/phone which works fine, so long as you write down your
programme
>first (worksheet is provided) and think carefully about what the
>programme will do. Late night programming with a beer (and wife whose
>patience was running low) caused me to stick an infinite loop in a
bit
>of code that crashed Comfort. Fortunately you recover the situation
by
>pushing a reset button inside Comfort!
>
>The programming language is very powerful and supports loops,
parameters
>and branching. The only thing it doesn't do that I'd like is some
>support for variables: rather than hard code dim lights for 5 cycles,
>dim for X cycles. It would make programming more efficient and make
>thermostatic control a little more friendly (the user could then
easily
>change the set point). Comfort supports digital (12v) outputs, as
well
>as IR outputs (untried by me), as well as both 12v digital inputs
(using
>the standard alarm zone inputs) and 5v analogue inputs. I plan,
though
>I've yet to order the parts, to connect mains rated relays to some
>outputs in order to automate some lights that don't require dimming
>control (on the basis that a relay is somewhat cheaper than an X10
>unit).
>
>It's also worth remembering that just about every aspect of Comfort
is
>customisable. Parameters cover some things, such as number of dial
out
>retries, entry and exit delays. Zone behaviour is configurable (i.e.
>whether it causes an instant alarm, alarm at night, alarm when away
>etc). Zones can trigger programmes - for example we have ours set so
>that when at night, and the alarm hasn't been triggered, movement on
the
>landing followed by movement in the hall disarms the system - maybe
>slightly relaxed on total security, but it's handy when
friends/family
>stay over and they get up before you. Comfort has 15 or so different
>alarm types (power fail, phone fail, intruder, entry, answerphone
etc)
>all of which are configurable as to whether they activate the siren,
>strobe, trigger a dial out, play an alert tone etc.
>
>The only real problems I've had have been with X10. This is still
>ongoing so I can't say what the problem is and perhaps it's not fair
to
>mention it. The past week though the X10 control has been
intermittent -
>TW7223 not recieving commands from Comfort - come back later and it's
>working fine again. Andrew at ISCAM has given me some things to check
>though so I'm confident it'll be OK again soon.
>The answerphone doesn't play quite loud enough on the Kompad
relative to
>the other announcements. Bizarre since call monitoring over the
Kompad
>is loud enough to wake me up, and the volume is fine over a local
phone.
>Answerphone messages aren't always clear (over compressed) when
played
>back over mobile phones but this is also something that Andrew is
>helping with.
>It would be nice if Comfort could read in CLI codes when people ring.
>Most people don't leave a message on the answerphone but I'd still
like
>to know who they were (usually my Mum!).
>My final criticism was to have been that Comfort only supports 128
>programmes (of 6 steps), of which many are allocated to alarm
>functionality. However Andrew tells me an upgrade is due imminently
to
>double memory, taking the system to 256 programmes. The good news is
>that my system can be upgraded simply by swapping two chips over - if
>only my PC was as easy.
>This means though that I will be ordering the Windows package to
assist
>with programming the system, since I plan to add more features to the
>automation side:
>
>	Wire the existing house thermostat into a Comfort input.
>	Wire the existing thermostat control via relay into boiler's
>thermostat input.
>	Wire Comfort output via relay to replace boiler's time
>controller.
>	Comfort supports time programmes so the heating will be set to
>come on at the appropriate times, and switch off when we go out. Hot
>water will only come on when movement is detected and stays on for
>30mins after (pseudo hot water on demand system).
>	Additional lights controlled via X10.
>	Keyfob remote control to allow me to put the car in the garage
>without triggering the alarm. The keyfob and reciever are available
>from
>Maplin, run off 12v and have a 12v output, so wires straight into
>Comfort.
>	Programme more scenes to control lighting (and maybe play with
>the IR control). I might integrate this with either X10 switches in a
>couple of rooms or a multi-channel RF remote. I've been trying to
think
>of a foolproof scheme for the system to work out which room we are in
>and thus what lights should be set on. Can't think of how to do this
>when more than one person is involved though - can you get IR sensors
>that detect the presence of a person, and not movement (perhaps by
>comparing the IR emissions of a target part of the room with the
>emissions of a reference part of the room?).
>
>I ought to do some work now, so I hope this helps. If I've missed
>anything feel free to ask me. I can also recommend speaking to or
>emailing Andrew Roberts at ISCAM (www.iscam.com) since he knows
pretty
>much all there is about Comfort. If you're looking for primarily an
>alarm system that also does automation then I don't know of a better
>product.
>
>
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From:	paul_gordon@xxxxxxx [SMTP:paul_gordon@xxxxxxx]
>> Sent:	19 April 1999 22:44
>> To:	REB.Barnett@xxxxxxx
>> Subject:	[ukha_d] Re: SK8000 Home Security System
>>
>> Hi Ray,
>>
>> As I'm now getting pretty close to purchasing a security system
(The
>> Wife is urging me to get on with it - I'm just waiting for
payday!!),
>> I was wondering if you had anything further to report about your
>> Comfort system?...
>>
>> I think I'm pretty much set on this system anyway, - I haven't
seen
>> anything else that looks nearly as good (and it's English!), and
your
>> first couple of reports have all been quite positive, so unless
>> you've suddenly run into any "showstoppers" I reckon
I'll be
ordering
>> one at the end of the month...
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>> Paul Gordon.
>>
>>
>>
>> >From: Raymond <Reb.barnett@xxxxxxx>
>> >Reply-To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
>> >To: "'ukha_d@xxxxxxx'" <ukha_d@xxxxxxx>
>> >Subject: [ukha_d] Re: SK8000 Home Security System
>> >Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1999 09:40:32 +0100
>> >
>> >You reminded me that I promised to write something of my
experiences
>> >with the Comfort security system.
>> >
>> >The alarm itself works wonderfully, and if you have existing
wired
>> alarm
>> >sensors then it's a breeze to install. What's been slowing me
up
is
>> the
>> >fact that adding additional wiring to my decorated house
without
>> causing
>> >too much damage is proving quite slow. However I have now got
all
bar
>> >two components fitted (unfortunately they're two quite fun
>> components:
>> >the door phone and the light sensor).
>> >
>> >To summarise: the alarm works wonderfully although the
settings
for
>> the
>> >telephone dial out (dials out to tell you of alarm condition,
>> >answerphone message etc) are a bit complex and took my a while
to
get
>> >setup well. The X10 control is fantastic since appropriate
lights
now
>> >come on and off depending upon whether we're in or not
(subject
to
>> the
>> >fact the system doesn't yet know whether it is light or dark).
>> Probably
>> >the acid test is that my wife is actively using the system and
>> thinks it
>> >works well. Of course, she might just be being nice given that
she
>> >doesn't have much choice since the lights now have no local
>> control...
>> >
>> >I've a free weekend for a change so I'll write a more detailed
>> account
>> >and hopefully get it up on the web next week...
>> >
>> >Ray.
>> >
>> >> -----Original Message-----
>> >> From:	eddie@xxxxxxx
>> >> [SMTP:eddie@xxxxxxx]
>> >> Sent:	08 April 1999 21:52
>> >> To:	REB.Barnett@xxxxxxx
>> >> Subject:	[ukha_d] SK8000 Home Security System
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Hi,
>> >>    I'm in the market for a new security system following
the
death
>> of
>> >> my old one. Since I've already put a toe in the X10 water
 - I
was
>> >> thinking about the SK8000 system that Laser sell. Does
anyone
have
>> any
>> >> experience with this system? I'd appreciate any comments
anyone
>> might
>> >> have. Thanks
>> >>
>> >> ================================================
>> >> Eddie McDowell <eddie@xxxxxxx>
>> >> Gourock
>> >> Scotland
>> >>
>> >>
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>> >
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