Share your keypad function 'F' keys
- Thread starter Neurorad
- Start date
mustangcoupe
Senior Member
run irrigation sequence
Lagerhead
Active Member
F5 is for emergencies -- first press, turn on all outside lights; second press (within 90 seconds), turn on inside lights; third press, activate burglar alarm. This one is always illuminated.
F6 in the bedroom is for retiring at night -- turn off certain interior evening lights, outside lights if on, and set back thermostats.
Other buttons control the attic ventilation (also blinks when running) or trigger announcement or display of temperatures and status conditions. One blinks if the HVAC system is turned off or power fails.
Garage door open is indicated in the bedroom keypad with a blue LED that I installed in the keypad open space and is connected to the keypad output.
F6 in the bedroom is for retiring at night -- turn off certain interior evening lights, outside lights if on, and set back thermostats.
Other buttons control the attic ventilation (also blinks when running) or trigger announcement or display of temperatures and status conditions. One blinks if the HVAC system is turned off or power fails.
Garage door open is indicated in the bedroom keypad with a blue LED that I installed in the keypad open space and is connected to the keypad output.
tmbrown97
Senior Member
For stuff you very rarely need (like turning the water back on) it's quite simple to have a task and get to the tasks through the keypad... my wife figured this out pretty quickly for watering the lawn... Might be able to save the key.
So far I've only really got 1 programmed:
F4 - Quiet Mode (turns off voices and chimes for 2 hours so I can leave without waking my wife but it self resets).
Planned:
F3 - Garage Status - If it's on, at least one garage door is open - on keypress it closes whichever one.
F2 - Can't remember... maybe this discussion will spark an idea!
F1 - Emergency - Would like to make a toggle... press once to wake it up; 2nd time triggers Police; 3rd time triggers Medical; 4th time Fire; 5th time would reset back to nothing. Not sure I know how to do this yet - haven't looked into the rules close enough.
If I did have more F keys, I'd just make more emergency buttons accessible - but thinking about Kids - that could be dangerous too.
My only catch with the quiet mode is that when it turns voices and chimes back on, it chirps - and tends to scare the hell out of us if we forgot why... it's generally when my wife is home alone taking a shower or we're both in a room together - and it's the same chime as an opening door or window... the first few times we thought someone was breaking in. I'd love to know if anyone's gotten around that...
So far I've only really got 1 programmed:
F4 - Quiet Mode (turns off voices and chimes for 2 hours so I can leave without waking my wife but it self resets).
Planned:
F3 - Garage Status - If it's on, at least one garage door is open - on keypress it closes whichever one.
F2 - Can't remember... maybe this discussion will spark an idea!
F1 - Emergency - Would like to make a toggle... press once to wake it up; 2nd time triggers Police; 3rd time triggers Medical; 4th time Fire; 5th time would reset back to nothing. Not sure I know how to do this yet - haven't looked into the rules close enough.
If I did have more F keys, I'd just make more emergency buttons accessible - but thinking about Kids - that could be dangerous too.
My only catch with the quiet mode is that when it turns voices and chimes back on, it chirps - and tends to scare the hell out of us if we forgot why... it's generally when my wife is home alone taking a shower or we're both in a room together - and it's the same chime as an opening door or window... the first few times we thought someone was breaking in. I'd love to know if anyone's gotten around that...
ToddB...
I had the same problem with the Chime...I turned it off at night when the alarm was set and back on at 8am in the AM after I left for work. Same problem, at 8am and wife still in bed thinks someone came in the house. So, I kept the chime off w/ alarm at night but made a rule that when she woke up after 7am and disarmed the house, the chime would turn on at the same time.
WHENEVER House (area1) ARM STATE BECOMES DISARMED
AND TIME OF DAY IS LATER THAN 7:00AM
THEN SET CHIME TO DING ONLY (area 1)
I leave for work at 6:00am and arm the house, she rarely gets up before 7am to disarm. When she does the ding is off all day, so I can change the time.
I had the same problem with the Chime...I turned it off at night when the alarm was set and back on at 8am in the AM after I left for work. Same problem, at 8am and wife still in bed thinks someone came in the house. So, I kept the chime off w/ alarm at night but made a rule that when she woke up after 7am and disarmed the house, the chime would turn on at the same time.
WHENEVER House (area1) ARM STATE BECOMES DISARMED
AND TIME OF DAY IS LATER THAN 7:00AM
THEN SET CHIME TO DING ONLY (area 1)
I leave for work at 6:00am and arm the house, she rarely gets up before 7am to disarm. When she does the ding is off all day, so I can change the time.
aartech
Member
Same problem here, had asked Elk to change the behavior when the chime came back on, but probably got lost in the shuffle of feature requests. Maybe it's time to bring it up again to see if they can add an option perhaps. Meanwhile, we actually no longer use the chimes but rather turn voice on/off at night and use voice announcements on a couple key doors instead.
aartech
Member
I like this idea with the extra LED.. we use an F button in the bedroom on a M1KP to indicate if the garage is open. But at the front entrance, my wife preferred the look of the M1KP3 with the closed door.. but you don't see the function key flashing. So we have a rule that announces 'garage door open' every 30 minutes as a reminder.
tmbrown97
Senior Member
Old post, I know... but I finally remembered what my last function button was supposed to be! I don't know what triggered it... I was just walking around the house...
F2 was going to be a "Gate Open" indicator... and possibly flash if the garage man-door is open if I can figure out how to pull it off, since I leave that open once in a blue-moon. I haven't looked at the rules closely enough to see if this can be done yet.
Outdoor motion sensors are expensive... it's really cheap to have something chime if someone opens the side gate - since 90+% of the time that's how someone would get in the back (why jump a fence if you don't have to?). If it happens at night, grab your shotgun or maybe chirp a siren (that could be the action tied to the button). If it happens during the day, there's your warning to make sure you have clothes on - the pool guy or the gardner is coming around.
Luckily for the crooks - my fence is attached to a failing retaining wall, so every few months the gate gets harder and harder to close so I haven't hooked it up yet - but I'm all wired to do so and have the weatherproof wide-gap sensor to do the trick. It's brown and wouldn't be noticeable to anyone who didn't know it was there so they'd have no idea they'd be better off jumping the fence.
F2 was going to be a "Gate Open" indicator... and possibly flash if the garage man-door is open if I can figure out how to pull it off, since I leave that open once in a blue-moon. I haven't looked at the rules closely enough to see if this can be done yet.
Outdoor motion sensors are expensive... it's really cheap to have something chime if someone opens the side gate - since 90+% of the time that's how someone would get in the back (why jump a fence if you don't have to?). If it happens at night, grab your shotgun or maybe chirp a siren (that could be the action tied to the button). If it happens during the day, there's your warning to make sure you have clothes on - the pool guy or the gardner is coming around.
Luckily for the crooks - my fence is attached to a failing retaining wall, so every few months the gate gets harder and harder to close so I haven't hooked it up yet - but I'm all wired to do so and have the weatherproof wide-gap sensor to do the trick. It's brown and wouldn't be noticeable to anyone who didn't know it was there so they'd have no idea they'd be better off jumping the fence.
tmbrown97
Senior Member
hehe - my wife and I fought the brightness one a little bit... she's so picky she puts clothes on the alarm clock display (aggravates the hell out of me cuz I can't see the time) just because it's too bright. With the keypad, I told her that's the way it is - and she doesn't know how to change it, only I do... eventually she stopped complaining.
Neurorad
Senior Member
If I must turn down the brightness of the LCD screen (and the buttons), I guess I could use any keypad anyway, with the local external output to an LED indicator.
The covered keypad, it seems, wouldn't solve the LCD brightness issue in the MBR.
Turning down the screen brightness wouldn't affect the local output, would it?
The covered keypad, it seems, wouldn't solve the LCD brightness issue in the MBR.
Turning down the screen brightness wouldn't affect the local output, would it?
