Re: Doorbells!

["danward79" <xpl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi,

Thanks for your responce.

I thought you would be interested to know.  I have had more success
with the Serial Bridge now.

The DOS window now shows the xAP msg's I am sending.  They still do
not show on the viewer, but the heart beat does, so I am assuming it
has something to do with the msg I am sending, that is making the hub
reject it?

I think my initial problem was that I did not realise there is a Basic
Serial Transport Wrapper, I needed to use.

Am I right in thinking as long as I comply with this I can send bsc
type msg's?

--- In xap_automation@xxxxxxx, Kevin Hawkins <lists@...> wrote:
>
> 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.

My xAP Network traffic at the moment is fairly low, so I would not
need any filtering.  I was intending to run at 9600 baud, and I would
prefer not to use checksums.

With regard to filtering I would actually prefer absolutely no
filtering from Serial to eithernet direction, but going the otherway
may be useful.

> > 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
> >
> >
>
Thanks for the ideas above I will have a look at them if I get a
chance today.

Cheers

Dan