Re: Re: Home Automation Integration and touchscreen front end

[Ben McCormack <yahoogroup@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Paul. I have the PJCComfort plugin up and running. I can query the
comfort version. It is configured to run over ethernet to my UCM.



On 6 Jan 2009, at  19:32, Paul Gale wrote:

> Did you get the PJCComfort plugin? How did you configure it? Yes you
> should get real time status reports from Comfort into HS. It's a
> while since I looked at it but from memory you won't see anything
> until you view the HS device pages or setup some action to occur
> when maybe a PIR is triggered etc. What were you expecting to see?
>
> Paul.
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On
>> Behalf
>> Of Ben McCormack
>> Sent: 06 January 2009 18:54
>> To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
>> Subject: Re: [ukha_d] Re: Home Automation Integration and
touchscreen
>> front end
>>
>> OK
>>
>> I have now spent as couple of evenings trying to get homeseer and
>> Comfort to do something slightly useful and I am getting no where.
>>
>> I have installed Homeseer and the Comfort plugin.
>>
>> I get the homeseer to query Comfort and retrieve the version
>> information but not much else.
>>
>> Maybe I have got it all wrong but I was expecting to be able to
see
>> 'real time' zone status etc. Have I got it totally wrong?
>>
>> Ben
>>
>>
>> On 5 Jan 2009, at  14:34, Gareth Cook wrote:
>>
>>> I'm the opposite - and the support for the plugin is , well,
p155
>>> poor.
>>>
>>> Paul - time to re-invent your modified plugin ? :-)
>>>
>>> Yup. that's the one. I've found it to be extremely relaible
(touch
>>> wood).
>>>
>>> Paul G
>>>
>>> ________________________________
>>>
>>> From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx on behalf of Ben McCormack
>>> Sent: Mon 05/01/2009 13:31
>>> To: UKHA Group
>>> Subject: [ukha_d] Re: Home Automation Integration and
touchscreen
>>> front
>>> end
>>>
>>> Guys - Are you using the pjcComfort2 plugin to connect Comfort
to
>>> homeseer?
>>>
>>> --- In ukha_d@xxxxxxx, "Paul Gordon"
<paul@...> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Indeed, Gareth's experience does generally differ from my
own, but
>>> I've
>>>> always attributed that to the fact that Gareth generally
is
>>> "pushing the
>>>> envelope" rather further than I do...
>>>>
>>>> :-)
>>>>
>>>> Paul G.
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On
>>> Behalf
>>>> Of Gareth Cook
>>>> Sent: 04 January 2009 19:21
>>>> To: UKHA Group
>>>> Subject: Fw: [ukha_d] Home Automation Integration and
touchscreen
>>> front
>>>> end
>>>>
>>>> Paul and myself chat often as we have almost the same
installation
>>> with
>>>> Comfort, CBUS, Homeseer, and Sonos.
>>>>
>>>> I would like to say that the PC component is as flakey as
a box of
>>>> cornflakes - always has been and I've been running
Homeseer for
>>> several
>>>> years.
>>>>
>>>> The Comfort plugin is ok, but has a temper now and again -
and the
>>> Sonos
>>>>
>>>> plugin is not stable at all. If you dont mind checking
your system
>>> every
>>>>
>>>> now and again, you'll be fine. I too, like Paul, have CBUS
buttons
>>>> activating Sonos stuff and the like - and we have to use
Homeseer
>> as
>>>> that's the only route between Sonos and Comfort - but it's
often
>> not
>>>> functioning because one of the 2 plugins has died on its
arse.
>>>>
>>>> I plan to reinstall (for the umpteen time) and try to keep
to a
>>> stable
>>>> revision of everything (ie one but last of the Comfort
plugin) but
>>> both
>>>> plugins really requires some extensive QA work - stability
is
>>> severely
>>>> lacking. Even Comfort has it's moments, but CBUS has never
ever
>> gone
>>>> wrong.
>>>>
>>>> G.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Ben,
>>>>
>>>> I agree with pretty much all those choices, with the
exception of
>>>> Smartfit... - the good thing about it is there is a
dedicated UCM
>> to
>>>> integrate smartfit & comfort, but the downside is that
smartfit is
>> a
>>>> pretty dumb system, and is only suitable for certain
Central
>> Heating
>>>> designs. The newer Hometronic system is far better in most
>> respects,
>>>> although there isn't a dedicated UCM for it unfortunately.
I
>> believe
>>>> Cytech were (are?) attempting to make an arrangement with
>>> Honeywell with
>>>> a view to developing a Hometronic UCM, but I've heard
nothing on
>>> this
>>>> for the last 2 years or so, so I guess that idea never got
off the
>>>> ground (shame). Hometronic is, as you've noticed,
significantly
>> more
>>>> expensive, especially if you have lots of radiators all
needing the
>>>> hometronic control valves on them, although I guess you
*could*
>>>> implement it in phases to reduce the initial impact.
>>>>
>>>> In case you hadn't sussed, it *is* actually possible to
implement a
>>>> degree of integration between Hometronic & Comfort,
using some of
>>> the
>>>> Hometronic modules that provide digital input/outputs that
can
>>> then be
>>>> connected to Comfort outputs/inputs to signal discrete
states, and
>>>> enable Comfort to control Hometronic (i.e comfort could
have a
>>> number of
>>>> outputs connected to Hometronic, each signal line could
then be
>>>> programmed in Hometronic to set a particular
"lifestyle" so for
>>> instance
>>>> Comfort would be able to turn off all heating when set to
away
>>> mode...)
>>>>
>>>> I already have almost all the components of the system
that you've
>>>> specified (Comfort, CBUS, SONOS, Homeseer) and I actually
settled
>> on
>>>> Hometronic for my heating as well, and even went as far as
getting
>> a
>>>> quote for a system. Unforseen circumstances have
repeatedly forced
>>> me to
>>>> put it on hold unfortunately, so I still haven't got round
to
>>> purchasing
>>>> it, although I do still intend to when circumstances
allow.
>>>>
>>>> If you haven't already experimented with Homeseer, its
worth
>>> pointing
>>>> out that there is just about to be a new component
launched for it
>>> which
>>>> is specifically designed for easy implementation of
touchscreens.
>>>> "Homeseer Touch" is in beta at the moment, and
I've been playing
>>> with it
>>>> for a couple of months. It is pretty simple &
straightforward, and
>>>> integrates seamlessly with Homeseer. It's still a bit
rough around
>>> the
>>>> edges, but I believe in time it will be an extremely
capable
>>> system, and
>>>> almost a no-brainer for anyone who already runs Homeseer.
>>>>
>>>> Using this combination of components I've been able to
achieve some
>>>> additional integration that actually isn't possible if any
of them
>>> are
>>>> omitted. For instance I can have CBUS buttons control
SONOS zones
>> so
>>>> that my "room off" button that I have on all my
CBUS keypads can
>>> also
>>>> stop the SONOS zone playing in that room as well, which
makes for a
>>>> nicer overall experience. This particular function uses
Homeseer to
>>>> bridge several systems via their respective plugins
(signals go:
>>> CBUS
>>>> --> Comfort --> Homeseer --> SONOS)
>>>>
>>>> If you'd like any further info about my experiences, then
just
>>> holler.
>>>>
>>>> HTH
>>>>
>>>> Paul G.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On
>>> Behalf
>>>>> Of Ben McCormack
>>>>> Sent: 04 January 2009 16:16
>>>>> To: UKHA Group
>>>>> Subject: [ukha_d] Home Automation Integration and
touchscreen
>>> front
>>>> end
>>>>>
>>>>> All
>>>>>
>>>>> As I am suer many of you are aware we have recently
moved into a
>>> new
>>>>> house that needs renovation. This has given me the
chance to
>>> automate
>>>>> the house. I have tried to use best of breed in each
area where
>>>>> possible and integrate systems as well.
>>>>>
>>>>> I have arrived at the following scheme
>>>>>
>>>>> Lighting : Cbus
>>>>> Alarm : Comfort
>>>>> Heating : Smartfit
>>>>> Temp Monitoing : 1-Wire using HA7Net. This is based on
recent
>>>>> discussions.
>>>>> All the media in the house will be supplied from my
Mac Mini
>>> Server
>>>>> and Sonos.
>>>>>
>>>>> cbus and Comfort are linked
>>>>> Comfort and Smartfit are linked
>>>>>
>>>>> So I have Lighting, Heating and Alarm integrated. So
far Comfort
>>> will
>>>>> be my main interface so I can use Comfort keypads or
the DECT
>>> phones
>>>>> in the house to control things.
>>>>>
>>>>> Now I have added 1-Wire I am starting to think how to
integrate
>>> that
>>>>> and make intelligent decisions based on room
temperature and also
>>>>> provide temp logging and graphing.
>>>>>
>>>>> There is one area that I don't think I have worked out
yet and
>>> that is
>>>>> the overall control mechanism. I guess ideally I would
like a
>>> couple
>>>>> of wireless touch-screens that could display
information about
>> the
>>>>> house and allow me to control various functions.
>>>>>
>>>>> I can see that homeseer could be used as an interface.
It has
>>> plugins
>>>>> for most of my components.
>>>>>
>>>>> Are there any other options I could look at?
>>>>>
>>>>> Ben
>>>>>
>>>>> ------------------------------------
>>>>>
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Release Date:
>>>>> 03/01/2009 14:14
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>>>>
>>>>
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>
>
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