Re: Moose Z1100 Keypad Protocol

[mpm <mpmillard@xxxxxxx>]

On Jun 11, 12:12?am, ben...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> I have a Moose Z1100 security system. The system is getting a little
> flaky on me - keypad alarm occasionally goes off for no reason.
> Anyway, I plan on replacing the system with one of my own design, but
> I want to keep the Moose keypads. Does anyone know the serial protocol
> between the keypad and the main controller?
>
> BRW

It's RS-485 multidrop.
Don't ask.  I actually had to build a "keypad" for a Z-2000 once,
which is very similar to the Arrowhead / Moose / GE.   Basically, I
had to insert data on the bus (from some other home automation equip.)
without user intervention.  At the time, you could get this kind of
support from the manufactuer (if you threw enough money at them...
which we did.)

BUT.  It won't help you because (unfortunately) there were many
protocols.  Even if I still had the files there's a good chance it
would not match your particular panel revision.  A major change
occured with the advent of zone extenders, (4, and then 6) and of
course the 10-16-64 direct zone support in their upload program.

The password for that is "Shamrock" by the way, ....I remember that
much.

But as for info that might actually help you??:

There are (4) wires on the keypad.  2 are for power, one is for clock,
one is for data.
Easy to check the power.  Turn up keypad lights and see if the voltage
drags much lower than about 11 volts.  If it does, you should check
for loose connections, corrosion, basically anything that might be
causing higher resistance.  Use a volt meter, obviously.  You can
check it with the lights dimmed, but the idea is to see it worst-case
(I am assuming an alpha keypad here of course...) .  Running new or
larger wires can help, but might be impractical in finished
construction.

More probable:  The clock and/or data lines have a problem.
Again, check for tight connections, but unless you have access to an
oscilliscope, you really cant check much past that.  I will say that
RS485 is a farily robust interface.  But it is not impervious to
interference and electrical noise.  Motors, refrigerators, SCR-type
dimmers for household lights, even X-10 home automation gear can
generate objectionable noise.  If you have these, you may find
disabling them one by one will help isolate the problem.  Again, start
with those near the keypads, or keypad wire runs (assuming you know
where those are).

How many keypads do you have?  Are they alphanumeric, or just the
number ones?

If more than one keypad, there's a good chance you can narrow the
problem down.
Try removing them one at a time and see if the problem subsides.
If it does, you know at least that much.  It still might not tell you
where the noise and/or level problem is coming from, but it's a
start.  Check the longest run first.

Also, if you think this is DC-power related, set all the "alert"
levels on the keypads to their minimum setting and see if that helps.

Finally, you can probably Ebay a Z1100 / keypad...??

I want to say the data transfer was 9600 baud, but it might have been
less than that.
You will spend hours deciphering this, assuming you have a good
storage scope or better yet, a protocol anlyzer.  But then, if you had
that, you wouldn't have posted in the first place??

Good luck, whatever you decide.
-mpm