Elk M1XZW - is there really no polling?

[IVB]

You have two way status to the M1 with the RZCOP except for scene switching from a light switch.

just for archival purposes, this is NOT true. The only way you'll get 2way status is if you use Leviton devices. The Elk does *not* do polling, which is the only way to determine current status of a non-leviton zWave device.

Had I known the above caveat, there's no way I would have spent the $200 on this.

 

[Monk]

You have two way status to the M1 with the RZCOP except for scene switching from a light switch.

just for archival purposes, this is NOT true. The only way you'll get 2way status is if you use Leviton devices. The Elk does *not* do polling, which is the only way to determine current status of a non-leviton zWave device.

Had I known the above caveat, there's no way I would have spent the $200 on this.

This blows. Same here - my M1xsp and VRC0P aren't even out of the box yet and they don't work.
But before I freak out, can anyone point to where it has been confirmed that the Leviton switches are the ONLY switches that will report status to the VRC0P (and hence, the M1 knowing and reporting the on - off - dim status)?

My dimmer switches are ACT ZDW120's

 

[icellama21]

Hmm, I wonder if it is possible to use a thin-client like machine to "send" the appropriate status confirmations? The software would poll a device after it receives a command and broadcast the status. If someone has access to an open radio platform this could be a good project. Alternatively the status could be injected directly into the RZCOP --> M1XSP serial connection.

 

[123]

I understand that if a switch does not announce changes to its state (when controlled locally) then the M1 would be unaware of the switch's new state. The claimed solution is to have the M1 periodically poll the switch to determine its true state.

This means the switch implements status upon demand but not status upon state-change. So the mechanism to provide status is present but the ability to automatically broadcast it has been left out. How many more pennies would it have required to include this feature???

Having the ability to query the device's status is better than none at all (like old, 1-way, X10 switches). But, gosh, why implement a 1.5-way device when 2-way is so eminently feasible?

I can't fault ELK for not implementing any polling for lighting. I suspect it was a prudent engineering decision to avoid taxing the M1's resources with multi-protocol management and processing overhead. But it certainly does reduce the M1's ability to maintain an accurate 'state-snapshot' of 1.5-way switches.

 

[electron]

There were actually some patent/licensing issues which prevented manufacturers from implementing true 2-way status, it wasn't a money issue as far as I know. I don't know what the latest on that situation is tho.

 

[IVB]

The way the CQC zWave driver works is that at the device level, you can setup whether you want to poll or not, and if so, how many seconds between polling. I believe status-on-request is part of the protocol. I seriously doubt status-on-request is part of any patent, I would think Leviton's status-upon-manual-change would be a patent.

Status-on-request is a very simple way to have 1.999way status as there's only whatever latency you specify between a manual change and the controller knowing.

Please consider this a squeak to have polling added to the RZCOP driver, as in my humble opinion, it's an incomplete and relatively useless integration without it.

 

[IVB]

You have two way status to the M1 with the RZCOP except for scene switching from a light switch.

just for archival purposes, this is NOT true. The only way you'll get 2way status is if you use Leviton devices. The Elk does *not* do polling, which is the only way to determine current status of a non-leviton zWave device.

Had I known the above caveat, there's no way I would have spent the $200 on this.

This blows. Same here - my M1xsp and VRC0P aren't even out of the box yet and they don't work.
But before I freak out, can anyone point to where it has been confirmed that the Leviton switches are the ONLY switches that will report status to the VRC0P (and hence, the M1 knowing and reporting the on - off - dim status)?

My dimmer switches are ACT ZDW120's

I have some ACT appliance modules and they too won't report manual changes. I don't see how anything about Leviton RF would, as they're the only ones I know of that have "active notification" implemented (tell the controller about manual changes).

 

[Monk]

OK - so those of you with CQC or other PC based additions can "Poll" to see light status - does CQC poll the device directly, and if so, by what means? Does it then matter if I have the RZC0P or an M1XZW?

I have maybe 600 bucks invested in switches so far and I do want the Elk to be able to know the status of lights - or at least I thought I did... Leviton switches are nicer... what to do oh what todo.

 

[IVB]

The current CQC "production" zWave driver only works with the older Intermatic USB Stick (can't remember the model #). But, it does do polling. There is a beta version of the RZCOP driver, but it doesn't (yet) do polling.

Mikla, who's doing the RZCOP driver for CQC, mentioned here about how he's looking to enhance the driver. I PM'ed him, he's going to look into adding polling

 

[HighTest]

An alternative to the remote is possible for much cheaper, if you have an easily portable computer like a laptop. I use the ControlThink Think Essentials application. See http://www.controlthink.com/thinkessentials/

I use the Think Essentials, not the Professional Edition, and I'm able to setup the Z-wave network. The current pricing, which is about $50.00 includes a great USB Z-wave adapter that has the ControlThink branding but is manufactured by Wayne-Dalton. The USB adpater is firmware upgradeable and also works fantastically with my Windows Vista x64 edition computer. It supports the 4x (40Kbps) devices as well as being able to support the earlier 1x (9.6kbps) Z-wave devices.

I went this route, as I wanted the primary operation of all the lighting to occur from the M1G. A remote can be picked up and used, but I am also trying to reduce confusion for the family by not having dozens of remotes around for all the various AV equipment, let alone more for lighting.

How does the Elk control that USB stick?

Been away for a little while, sorry for the late reply. The USB stick is not used by the Elk control at all. What it does do is provide you a way to setup your Z-wave network with the stick as a "primary" control. If you already own a portable primary remote, then it's redundant. But if you already own a laptop, the USB and ControlThink software is cheaper than an VRCPG-SG for example. Once you have your Z-wave network setup, then you can have the Elk M1G control it with the Leviton serial interface.

That's all that it's for (the USB dongle that is).

Sorry if my post made the impression that the USB works directly with the M1G.

Once my Z-wave network is setup I need to add it to the seria interface and then I use the LumenLink software Johnnynine wrote, see his post here: http://www.cocoontech.com/forums/index.php...st&p=100524

 

[IVB]

OK - so those of you with CQC or other PC based additions can "Poll" to see light status - does CQC poll the device directly, and if so, by what means? Does it then matter if I have the RZC0P or an M1XZW?

I have maybe 600 bucks invested in switches so far and I do want the Elk to be able to know the status of lights - or at least I thought I did... Leviton switches are nicer... what to do oh what todo.

FYI, the latest version of J9AE now supports polling of non-ViziaRF devices if you have a ViziaRF controller.

Neither CQC nor Elk have that capability (yet), though.

 

[Monk]

OK - so those of you with CQC or other PC based additions can "Poll" to see light status - does CQC poll the device directly, and if so, by what means? Does it then matter if I have the RZC0P or an M1XZW?

I have maybe 600 bucks invested in switches so far and I do want the Elk to be able to know the status of lights - or at least I thought I did... Leviton switches are nicer... what to do oh what todo.

FYI, the latest version of J9AE now supports polling of non-ViziaRF devices if you have a ViziaRF controller.

Neither CQC nor Elk have that capability (yet), though.

Interesting indeed - thanks for pointing that out.