My Fibaro controlled alarm (Part 1) - The Issues

One of my first things that I wanted to achieve with my foray into Home Automation, was to get an alarm system that was setup and could compare to what I had been quoted for by existing alarm suppliers.  I had already decided on using z-wave technologies, and probably the Fibaro HC/HC2 centre with various other z-wave sensors (The reasons for using zwave technologies and Fibaro, I will cover in another post)

So for me the basics had to be:

1. Motion controllers for the specific rooms that I need to protect
2. Door/Window sensors again for those areas
3. A working siren as part of the alarm
4. A way to arm / disarm that was as simple but secure, that could be worked by both my wife and son.  This need to be portable or keypad based.

Importantly, I wanted to start basic, so no location based features etc.

I had decided on using the Fibaro HC2 centre as I felt long term I may need to use the LUA scripting but initially I didn't want to and, although at almost double the price, didn't want to be caught out either.

In discussing what I wanted to achieve, I spoke to my suppliers (Vesternet, who have been great so far!) and came up with a list of components which included the HC2, motion controllers, window/door sensors, a siren (Everspring SE812)  and a key-fob for easy arming/disarming.  I installed the motion controllers and window/door sensors, added the siren and key-fob to the HC2 and went about trying to get these all working together...ah, not so easy.

The issues that I have come across:

Where is the Alarm?

There is no "Alarm function in HC2" - Yes there is an "Alarm Panel" that allows you to start piecing things together but don't be fooled, it's far from complete (in my humble view or misjudge experience to date!).
There are things that can be started, but they cannot be stopped (like a siren...see next point).  The answer that I got on the forums was "sorry action on disarm is still not implemented". Huh?!

Siren

A siren is not an alarm - this may just be my simplistic (or ridiculously stupid) view of the world, but understanding that a siren is not the central part of an alarm was important to me and a bit of a "doh" moment.  All it is, is noise! and a switch, on and off...that's it.  Treat is as such, and use a light as a test! (so that you don't end up a bad neighbour)

Dogs and motion..(and believing promotional video's!)

Sensors and dogs, even small ones, make life very challenging.  One of the reasons for choosing the Fibaro sensors was a promotional video (how stupid can I be, right??!).  Look at this video at position 1:09 "Intelligent object recognition allows to distinguish a small pet from a person"

Um, no.  The support I got was "Please modificate parametr 1."  Parameter 1 is the sensitivity of the motion controller...there is no intelligence at all involved, and pets don't perform well to different sensitivity parameters...actually neither does the postman. (post falling through a letter box, as an example!)

Dead nodes

Why does that device have a big cross through it!?

Yes, this is no "Apple" system that just works.  Technically you need to get to understand why things can't communicate properly and why they may not be able to be controlled.  This is far from a "man in the street" or the non-technical wife/husband system to use because it just works.  Today it needs care, love and attention, all of which will hold it back.

Updating devices

This is easy with devices that are not battery controlled, you just change a parameter save and...update.  Not so easy for battery controlled though!  When battling the dog issues above (and postman) I have to resort to:

Change parameter...hit reconfigure device (and save for good measure), get device (from the location where I got it just right for detecting me) and move it close to the HC2, open and triple click and check that it updates in the interface, down to room and put back up (and try and get location correct!), then test...and it doesn't work.  

Feels a bit like I also need to rub my tummy in a clockwise directions while standing on one leg, all the time while not breathing out...!

Script blocks

Sounds good, actually even looks good as well...but, I think it should be renamed to "very simple blocks" as they only really allow very limited functionality.  But I have, I believe, eventually been able to put together a working alarm out of the simple blocks...no LUA code (as yet)

So, in part 2...how I put my alarm together and what I did do to overcome some of the issues above.