Make ISY send text out Elk M1XSP Expander?

[DDomnick]

I have a pretty extensive HA setup in 8500+ sq.ft. home that includes Elk M1 Gold, 8 Lutron 3000 series Grafik Eyes for major lighting supplemented by about a dozen Insteon modules.

 

System has been running happily along for over a decade with few changes, but the addition of a few Amazon Echo's and lifelong dream of total voice control has pulled me back in for some major upgrades.  I bought my first ISY-994i a couple days ago and am amazed at how much it brings to the party.  I already have the Insteon's moved off the Elk and under voice control, and now testing / honing my ISY programming skillz.  Did some basic research on the added features of the Elk module and dropped another C-note on that license yesterday but alas, one of the main reasons I purchased it looks to be missing.  Hope someone with more knowledge can enlighten me or confirm my fear:

 

So the Elk-to-Lutron interface is via a special (and expensive) RS-232 interface connected to an Elk M1XSP serial expander.  I had to define over 60 text strings on the Elk (example: ^MA01345678^M) that defines which scene to select and on which Grafik Eye.  A typical command in Elk looks like:

 

WHENEVER <<event>> THEN SEND THE FOLLOWING TEXT "^MA01345678^M" THROUGH PORT 3

 

...which selects Scene 0 (All Loads Off) and sets that on units 1,3,4,5,6,7, and 8.  Clunky, but it worked for triggered and timed lighting events reliably.  

 

The question I have is: Can the ISY to Elk module force Elk to send text strings out one of it's attached M1XSP serial ports somehow that I am missing?

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

Dan

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi Dan,

 

I am so very sorry as I very much doubt it. The reason is: whatever cannot be extracted from Topology, cannot be acted upon. This said, I will ask the guru.

 

In the meantime, if all you need to do is to send ascii strings to something on the network, then you can use the Network Module (which is included in ISY Portal) in conjunction with something like Global Cache (convert TCP to serial). More information here:

http://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=Main_Page#Networking

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[MWareman]

Another possibility to consider is using phantom 'outputs' on the Elk (triggered by the ISY) to drive automation rules on Elk to control the Lutron equipment. It would take 60 as you say, but but it's a valid way of triggering the Elk rule from the ISY, without having to get into the serial commands from ISY.