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Re: Wil I be able to use a Z-Wave controller



On Fri, 12 Oct 2007 13:11:11 GMT, Dave Houston wrote:
> Neil Cherry <njc@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>>Jason Sharpee also found this:
>>
>>http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/ibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?section=22201&minisite=10024
>
> Thanks for that URL. The PDF "Specifying a Vizia RF system" says
> more-or-less the same things I've been saying for a few years (since Z-Wave
> was introduced). They say you need a node every 30' "typically" while I've
> said 20-25' for reliability, especially in in an unfriendly RF environment.

This seems reasonable for whole house automation (one every 25 ft) as
it would be one in every room. But for the Christmas lights folks they
may have some trouble. My computer is on the far side and the displays
would be towards to front of my home.

One thing I found out is that in addition the the device module you
must have a Master (Leviton calls it a Primary) Remote to group the
devices. The RS232 interface is not a master device. So I now need to
get a Remote. I intend to go cheap and not get the nice Leviton unit
but one of the other ugly units. The RS232 documentation suggests it
should work. I've found one for about $45. I'll find out later if
Z-Wave will operate without the Remote once the group has been setup.

PS, pardon the terminology, I'm not up to speed on the correct terms
fo Z-Wave.

--
Linux Home Automation         Neil Cherry       ncherry@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.linuxha.com/                         Main site
http://linuxha.blogspot.com/                    My HA Blog
Author of:    	Linux Smart Homes For Dummies


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