Re: Doorbells!

[Kevin Hawkins <lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Dan..

danward79 wrote:
> I would be able to test my ideas if only I could get the serial bridge
> working.... hint, hint Patrick! ;-)
>
I have just had an email from Patrick who is in the Australian outback
somewhere - with very little chance of internet access for the next few
weeks....(sends apologies)  so looks like it may have to wait a bit.
OTOH what features do you need from a serial bridge Dan - have you much
network traffic on the xAP side that would need some filtering ?   I
could probably knock up a really simple app for you - assuming you're
Windows based .  Would you be using checksums on the RS232 serial data
and what speed would you intend to run at.
> Would yoi be
> I have found it quite hard to locate any detailed info on electronics
> projects which involve xAP, I have found a few, or are there just not
> many writeups on the web?
>
There are Lehanes switches and lcd displays,  my C-Bus gateway based on
a  Rabbit core (although source code is not available but originated
from Patricks C libraries), and maybe Ian's relay controller. There is
also the xAP Netiom as a commercial product which is a great enabler for
hobbyists not wanting to roll their own embedded device....good for
interfacing to all manner of things

Within my controller I have 'hacked' up some rudimentary control options
e.g. binary inputs/outputs , pulse counters and I intend pulse width
timers (that I will use for electricity consumption). The binary inputs
and outputs send BSC messages , just like the Netiom, and although I
don't (yet) have my doorbell connected to them I do  have a number of
devices attached  to either this or the Netioms, although not all are
coded yet.

external & internal PIR's
exterior break beam detectors
driveway car sensor
utility meters (gas , electric, water) *
boiler display and control *
heating pumps and zone valves
TOM10 10 channel temp sensor * - reports as 10 xAP Text BSC devices
Quasar 4 Ch temp boards (Netiom serial port) - reports as a raw stream
serial device currently - still to do ;-)
Switches for C-Bus *
Relays controlled from C-Bus *
Water level sensor (problem valley roof gutter)
Daylight sensor
Serially controlled video/audio matrix switcher
Serially controlled AV amp
Alarm panel



Netioms require a partnership with  a controller application for 'logic'
handling to  (like Girder, HomSeer, xAP Desktop, xAP FloorpPlan, BSC
Mapper, Charmed Quark, MisterHouse etc) so in my xAP embedded controller
I have concentrated on supporting devices (marked with a * above)  that
benefit from standalone logic handling or have unusual I/O  , and hence
don't rely on any software controller.  I have switches that control
C-Bus, and loads that are controlled via C-Bus so speed and reliability
were essential. I have inbuilt BSC mapping, within the controller to
assist endpoint connections (like an old fashioned switchboard
operator). The pulse width counters and nearly all serial based I/O
benefits from embedded support as the data needs reformatting to be
useful. The boiler for example has a 7 segment LED that I needed to
convert the 7 inputs to one BSC level device based on a state matrix.

I eventually hope to add support for the Meteor CID unit , and also
maybe X10 to the embedded controller. there is a port for an X10 mains
interface on the board already. However as in all these things there
just isn't enough time, and you tend to focus on things you want to work
in your own setup (so X10 for example is a way down the list). I want
to  add HomeVision support too but again I've veered away from that
dependence in my own setup a bit now, but it would be useful, as an I/O
device with x10 and also to be able to leverage the 'scheduler' and
script engine.

I don't know whether anyone would like to assist in any of these tasks -
as the Rabbit core is easily programmable in ANSI C and the hardware
boards are fairly low cost and have a lot of onboard I/ O ??  My main
priority is getting things working for me , and moving from that to
making the device useful to others is a huge step that is likely to
remain a long way off still.

I'm playing with trying to get a core set of xAP applications running on
my NAS file server which runs XP embedded - currently xAPTel runs there
(the CID application) and also BSC Mapper and I am finding it very solid
- using new builds of these applications that have removed a memory leak
the previous versions could exhibit.

Kevin


> Looking forward to some interesting responces!
>
> Cheers
>
> Dan
>
>