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swanie2000
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Joined: March 17 2006
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| Posted: March 17 2006 at 22:04 | IP Logged
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Hello,
My evaluation time has run out, and I never figured out how to do a timed event or macro, or anything for that matter. I was able to get it to work with my house full of INSTEON SwitchLinc’s, but found the interface hard to understand. I haven't deleted it off my hard drive yet, and I was wondering if PH was going to support the JDS Stargate Home automation controller? I have a stargate, along with a Caddx wireless alarm system that talks to the stargate. I also have a couple of RS485 thermostats that also talk to the stargate. I would be interested in having a dedicated PC running next to the stargate, to run PH. Then I can have PH do a lot that the stargate is doing now. My biggest concern is I would like to be able to see the alarm status in PH, so I can act on it with IF/THEN logic. For example, if both garage doors are closed, then turn off the light. Thanks for any input.
Swanie
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UpstateMike
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Joined: February 18 2006
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| Posted: March 18 2006 at 09:51 | IP Logged
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Swanie-
I am also planning to connect my Stargate to PowerHome. I just moved PowerHome from my desktop PC to a dedicated box in preparation for testing this. My plan is to just send ASCII messages between PowerHome and com3 on Stargate. (I'm going to use com2 for a Caddx panel).
I want to use this approach so I can still run WinEVM on Stargate's com1 without shutting down the link to PowerHome. I tried using Homeseer and the JDS plugin but I didn't like the fact that I had to shut down Homeseer any time I wanted to tweek my Stargate schedule. I also have a lot going on in Stargate and the amount of traffic hitting Homeseer from Stargate seemed to blow it's mind.
Not sure when I will get around to trying this but maybe in the next week or so.
Edited by UpstateMike
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swanie2000
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| Posted: March 18 2006 at 21:46 | IP Logged
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Yea, I am breaking down and giving into the idea of a dedicated box, upstairs in the closet with the stargate. I don't like the idea much, but it has enough advantages to warrant the change.
Today, I just picked up a PCI card that has 4 rs232 serial ports on it. That gives me 5 rs232 ports to play with. I was thinking of trying HomeSeer, as they have plug-ins for all the hardware I have now. If PH will be supporting the caddx & stargate in the future, I may swing back over to them. My need is simple. All my alarm sensors act as wireless digital inputs to the stargate. With my caddx alarm panel, I have a lot of room to grow when it comes to adding a wireless digital input. The stargate it's self has many digital inputs on board, so I really do not want to replace that piece of hardware either. PH is supposed to be totally awesome, but frankly, I didn't see it with the little bit of time I actually had to mess with it, prior to it expiring. Wish I had more time to decide.
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dhoward
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Joined: June 29 2001
Location: United States
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| Posted: March 19 2006 at 03:25 | IP Logged
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Swanie,
If you're interested in an evaluation extension, just email me your reg number and I'll get you taken care of.
I would like to support as many external devices as I can. However, support for the Stargate and the Caddx would probably be a few months off after Ive added support for other promised devices. I could probably get something setup for you pretty quick using the built in COM support within PowerHome though. I would need to have access to the protocol and an idea of what you're looking for.
Dave.
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swanie2000
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| Posted: March 19 2006 at 05:04 | IP Logged
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dhoward wrote:
Swanie,
If you're interested in an evaluation extension, just email me your reg number and I'll get you taken care of.
I would like to support as many external devices as I can. However, support for the Stargate and the Caddx would probably be a few months off after Ive added support for other promised devices. I could probably get something setup for you pretty quick using the built in COM support within PowerHome though. I would need to have access to the protocol and an idea of what you're looking for.
Dave.
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Hello Dhoward,
I got to looking at your post, and the way you wrote your post, it sounds like your are the same guy who wrote Powerhouse? I then went and open up the help/about screen in powerhouse, and sure enough, there was your name.
That really took me by surprise. I am not used to support from the very top. Usually you buy something, and either it works for you, or not, and that’s it, end of story. I see you have over 1300 post, so it leaves me to believe you have been here, supporting your software for quite some time.
Currently, I have HomeSeer on my box, playing around with it. This software is not terribly user friendly either. PLUS, I doubt I will see support from the top from HomeSeer. Your little post knocked me off the fence, and I think rather than extending my evaluation period, I will just buy your software, and help support you and Power Home.
As for the stargate support, the more I thought about it, the more I wonder if I need it at all. I am pretty sure PH will be able to handle phone/voice mail stuff, PH should be able to do all the IF/THEN/ELSE logic, It already has pretty good support for INSTEON, and as long as something can be figured out for communicating with my alarm panel, the only thing left is my RS485 thermostats. I would be willing to bet, and RS485 to RS232 converter would make talking to the thermostats about the same as talking to the alarm? Maybe power home already supports the thermostats; I haven't gotten very far with it to find out.
Thanks for the offer to extend my testing time, but I think I am just going to buy your program, read everything I can find on this board, and keep my fingers crossed that I can make it all work, with a little help from the top. 
Swanie
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UpstateMike
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Joined: February 18 2006
Location: United States
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| Posted: March 19 2006 at 12:30 | IP Logged
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Swanie-
Not sure where you saw the phone/voicemail support in PowerHome? That is one of the functions that I am depending on Stargate for.
I'm not sure what your situation is but I expect I will need to hang on to my Stargate for quite awhile because I use a lot of stuff that Powerhome will not be able to take over any time soon. This would include:
Digital Inputs- I use all 80 available with Stargate and the I/O products supported by PowerHome don't scale that high.
RS485 Thermostats- I use 3 RCS thermostats to control my furnaces and 5 additional ones as local temp monitors. I use thermostats instead of temp sensors because I want the temp displayed locally as well as having it fed to the automation system.
I depend heavily on having certain announcements spoken over the all-page of my Panasonic phone system (doorbell alert, mail alert, etc.) This requires Stargate to pick up an extension line, dial 33*, and speak the message through the phone port. I'm not sure how I would do this with PowerHome.
I use the RCS RS485 LED and LCD keypads pretty extensively and I don't think they can be easily ported over for direct PowerHome Control.
Just these key elements are enough to make me believe that I will need to hold on to the Stargate for the foreseeable future and that is why I am going to explore the ASCII integration path I mentioned above.
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dhoward
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| Posted: March 19 2006 at 13:32 | IP Logged
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Swanie,
WOW, I thank you for the vote of confidence...I only hope I can live up to the expectations  .
I wouldn't give up completely on the Stargate. As Mike states, it has a number of Digital I/O which would be great to be controlled by PowerHome. Essentially, we should be able to eventually use the Stargate as an "intelligent" controller interface to PowerHome. The closest thing right now is the CPU-XA/Ocelot or the K8000. Since PowerHome DOES include native Digital I/O and Analog I/O support, it would be only natural to get an interface going (assuming they do have a documented protocol for communication available...I havent checked yet).
Anyways, Ive added the Stargate and the Caddx to the "to-do" list. I'll take a peek at any protocol shortly and hopefully we'll have something going soon.
Dave.
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swanie2000
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| Posted: March 19 2006 at 14:47 | IP Logged
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Hello UpstateMike,
Yea, your right, I must have read about the phone & voicemail support on another product. But I would imagine if I need a computer to run power home in the closet, it will only be a matter of time before someone wants to install a phone modem, and send commands to it with power home.
Personally, I do not use the phone abilities of stargate, as I have come to the conclusion that the phone board on the stargate just sucks! I have long since given up on it. Therefore, I really am in no hurry to see it working on Power home, but someday?
As for Stargat support, I would like to see that come online, but since I do not use any of the I/O hardware ports, I feel I can wait on that as well. I mainly use the stargate to control x10 stuff, and my thermostats. My alarm input to the stargate feeds me plenty of wireless digital inputs, so the stargate can be programmed to react to different triggers the alarm board sends to it.
It appears that (with a little help from the top) power home will be able to read the alarms serial port, and if it can, then power home will be able to react to the different inputs coming from the alarm, and be able to take over the Stargate’s job.
Currently, I have just replaced my entire house full of x10 SwitchLinc’s, with the new INSTEON SwitchLinc’s V2, and stargate does not support INSTEON. I hear there is something in the works, but it will be another hardware item I have to buy.
One of the nice thing about the stargate was it didn't need a computer to run. But since I am going to install a computer in my closet anyway, I might just as well have it do everything it can. It appears that Power home is capable of quite a bit, and it is actively supported, which I really like.
The stargate support has tapered down to a crawl, and I wonder how long it will be supported. They have already come out with a new version of the stargate, so my old stargate version will be put on the back burner, and most likely forgotten about.
Sorry for the long post...
Swanie
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UpstateMike
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Joined: February 18 2006
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| Posted: March 19 2006 at 15:14 | IP Logged
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I am definitely in a different place than you are so you might have more options than me. I don't use the SG sound board for answering machine type stuff but I could not live without the ability to page over my phone system as mentioned above.
I also use a lot of hardware I/O but I don't care if that is via an alarm panel or Ocelot or Stargate. The key is the number of inputs as I use a lot.
We both seem to depend on the RS485 port on stargate for thermostats and I also have my keypads there.
At the end of the day you could probably replicate your system using an ELK M1 Gold as your controller because it will support the thermostats and wireless inputs you need. I can't go that route because of my need for phone paging and RS485 keypads. I think you will see an ELK interface before you see a Stargate one.
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Topic: PowerHome & JDS Stargate
