Re: Comfort and Homevision link-up

["Andrew Roberts - Comfort" <andrew@xxxxxxx>]

>   >I am just about to embark on wiring my new house for homevision
>   >and comfort >   >and I have a query for those of you who
have done this
already.
>   >My problem >   >is that I want to use the a mixture of
inputs from
homevision
>   >and comfort >   >for my PIR's and door contacts to do both
my motion
sensing for
>   >automated >   >lights and security system. Seeing as
homevision does
not have
>   >9/12v dc to >   >power my PIR's I will have to use the 12v
outputs
which comfort
>   >provides to >   >power the PIR's. I reckon altogether I
will have 24
separate inputs
>   >available (16 from hv and 8 from comfort) to mix and match. I
>   >think I will >   >need about 13 PIR's first of all, and
six door
contacts.. Can I
>   >power all >   >of these PIR's from comfort ?

>While I can only use 8 inputs to
>   >comfort, I could still use the power from comfort to supply the
other 5
>   >PIR's ? Or is there a limit to the load on the 12v outputs from
Comfort
limiting the
>   >number of PIR's I can power. What I am trying to do is avoid
having to
>   >purchase additional power supplies for this.

Dear Eamon,
Yes, up to a certain current output. Add together the current draw of all
devices on the system, if it is greater than about 800mA you should
consider
adding a PSU, they cost around £60.
See the installation manual for info on this.
>   >
>   >  Secondly, can I common outputs from a single PIR to both
comfort and
>   >homevision ?. Ideally, I would like to have door contacts wired
>   >to comfort
>   >for the security aspect of things, but it may be better to wire
these
to
>   >hv, as they do not require power. Any ideas or advice on how
>   >anyone mixed
>   >and matched these would be appreciated.
Another way to achieve this is to use our 12v outputs to follow the PIR and
connect to the HV inputs. Each zone would need to use an On response
(switching the output On) and the Off Response (switching the ouput off).
See Response 1 and 2 as an example on Table 33 in the Prog Book.
>   >
>   > Finally, what is the idea of having a resistor on the end of
>   >contacts for PIR's etc, I thought a simple N/O N/C contact would
be all
that was
>   >required.
The resistor method is optional, but it does provide 4 states of operation
on 2-wires,
Open, Closed, Short and Cable Break. As it is a security system, this is
very good for providing tamper and zone information without having to use
another 2 cores, so you can use 4 cores for the zone and that leaves 4
cores
to either supply other zones or to add an IR transmitter for eg into the
PIR.

Also, having been spoilt by homevision, anyone have any
>   >suggestions on good guides to programming comfort, the manuals
>   >are pretty unfriendly, or maybe my mind is just getting lazy?
>Thanks,
>Eamon

I'm sorry they seem unfriendly. Comfort Manuals have been really aimed at
the installer who has 'some' prior knowledge and may have been on our
training course. If you look on your CD from CSXpress, you will find PDF
manuals in the Manuals(Acrobat) folder for Training - Step by Step
Guide(A4_Trainman.PDF) and Applications (Appman.PDF) which are good
starting
points.
See this manual in the Brochures Folder: prodtrn.PDF it highlights common
'actions' which you should concentrate on learning.

Basically, everything Comfort does revolves around a Response (Macro) and
where to trigger it from, Zone Trigger, Alarm Type, Mode Change, Time
Program or Manual Home Control Menu button. These responses are the main
subject of the AppMan, so spend as much time in there understanding how the
actions are used. Practice making your own and trigger it from a zone On
Response.
Analyse the existing Responses and how they do what they do, look at the
action book to see what resources you have available to construct your
Responses with..

Are you on the Comfort technical egroup? This is the ideal place to ask
these questions, we can easily miss Comfort-specific content on this group
due to the amount of other material.
Here it is: http://www.comfort.org.uk/index8.html

Regards
Andrew
Comfort Home Controls
http://www.comfort.org.uk/