Re: Comfort vs HomeVision

[Nigel Orr <Nigel.Orr@xxxxxxx>]

At 10:49 25/08/00 +0100, you wrote:

I've not used HV at all (I just use Comfort), but I can maybe suggest some=
=20
ideas...

>the system is in Away mode for example. Comfort could also ask HV to
>switch appliances on as requested to give that 'lived in look'.

If they are X10 appliances, Comfort can control them itself, would you
want=
=20
to use HV just so something with a good visual interface knows the state
of=
=20
all the appliances?  Comfort's web InterfACE would probably do the job,
but=
=20
then you would need a PC on to control it.  It's got various timer
programs=
=20
to make the place looked 'lived in'

Don't you need a PC to set up HomeVision though?  Comfort doesn't, and
I've=
=20
found that with the help of the setup worksheet that is supplied, it's
dead=
=20
easy to do all the setup from the keypad.  That's not to say that CSX=20
doesn't have advantages though, but until I get it running under Linux=20
(haven't tried the new version yet), I'll stick to the keypad- I don't=20
fancy having to run Win 95/98/00 just for one application at home.

>  1. Use X10 signals to send messages between the two devices (not
keen)

No comment,  :-)

>  2. Use RS232 to send messages( better, not sure on range )

10-15m tops, can HV cope with Comfort's (seemingly fairly simple) RS232=20
protocol though?  It can probably send the necessary messages, but might=20
not be able to act on messages received?  I'm not sure.

>  3. Use the zone I/O lines of Comfort to connect to the I/O lines of
>HomeVision (even less keen)

Sounds like a waste of I/O lines on both, but it should work.

>( I had thought about using RS485, but according to Andrew Roberts the
>RS485 interface in Comfort is purely for internal use.)

This is purely speculation, but I would not be surprised if the 485=20
protocols were very similar to the RS-232 ones, with some extra control or=
=20
handshaking bits to identify the source and destination of messages.  That=
=20
_is_ just speculation, but it looks from the spec like there's nothing
much=
=20
that the UCM kit won't allow you to do which you can do with other devices=
=20
(keypads, previous CSX software etc) on the RS485 bus.

>Is this overkill, should I plump for one or other device?  I feel that
>both devices could compliment one another rather well.

I'm not sure what HV has that Comfort hasn't, apart from what seems like a=
=20
good visual display and a higher level programming language (more like=20
C/Basic).  Comfort's big plus points to me are the talking menus,
control=20
from any phone, brilliant phone integration, very reliable, very=20
expandable, well supported.

>Which should I purchase first! (can hardly afford one, let alone both
at
>the moment!)

I've used Comfort for over a year now, it's fab, wouldn't be without=20
it.  I've got 16 in's and 16 out's (but it can go to 64 with an extra box-=
=20
I think HV is 24, expandable to 64 in the same box?), not managed to use=20
them all yet (most of the in's have gone, the out's are being taken=20
slowly...), there's not much to say about it except 'it just works', but I=
=20
presume HV is found to be similarly reliable.

You can easily start with the CPU (with 8 in's and 8 out's), a battery and=
=20
a keypad (total around =A3430, and add the rest when you want to or when=20
funds permit.  HV's starting kit is the same, around =A3450?

>Can probably sell Comfort to the Wife easier, due to obvious benefits
of
>security ( We currently have a cheap wireless job from Wickes that has
>just packed up!  Could try and fix it, but that may not be in my
>interest!!

Ditto, we had a wireless alarm, apparently installed by the less than=20
competent, until I got Comfort...

>  :) Apparently a capacitor has failed causing the keypad to
>eat batteries in 2 weeks.  Response want =A347 to fix it, or =A349 to
>replace it!!!!!!! ( Any ideas which capacitors are most likely to give
>this fault - electrolytic?

Probably, could also be a little tantalum failed short circuit, or a bad=20
solder joint, or it could even be nothing to do with a capacitor, just a=20
plausible sounding technical explanation.  There is probably a circuit
that=
=20
puts it in sleep mode when no keys are being pressed, so when a key is=20
pressed, it draws some current and wakes up, so maybe a leaky cap is=20
drawing the current so it's staying on all the time?

Just a guess, if you have a milliammeter you could see how much current is=
=20
being drawn by the battery when the keypad is in use and when it's been=20
left for a while.

>However, I would be tempted to use it's home control features, which no
>doubt the wife will hate! ( She hates technology/gadgets! ) This will
>make it very difficult to justify HV :(

Comfort is maybe a bit more brain-stretching to configure (though the=20
configuration as supplied is adequate to just use it as an alarm), but
it=20
seems to be easy for non-technical folk to use.

My wife isn't keen on 'automation' per se, and I can understand why, but=20
being able to turn on the water heating when we're on our way home from
a=20
long day's walking was a big selling point, and she's keen on the idea
of=20
the light coming on dimly if folk are up and about during the night, and=20
the a/v distribution meets with approval too!

She's not even slightly interested in changing anything about the
settings/=
=20
programming/ engineer menu, but I suspect the consistency of the interface=
=20
(almost identical whether controlling from a local phone, mobile, or=20
keypad) is a bonus.  I wouldn't want a system that I could only control=20
from in front of a TV or monitor, I suspect it just wouldn't get used.

I'm determined to make the house seem as normal as possible, thinking of=20
the plight of visitors or potential purchasers, but with genuinely
useful=20
things done automatically (like curtains, a/v distribution etc), and=20
Comfort fits in well with that.

If I was doing it all again, but knowing what I know now, I'd still go for=
=20
Comfort, with the PC interface, particularly if I needed an replacement=20
alarm system at the same time.  Maybe someone who started with HV would
say=
=20
the same about it?

HTH,

Nigel


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