Elk New user - Long time ISY user

[silverton38]

I have finally dived in to buying an Elk. I am a long time loyal ISY user so it makes sense for me to do this.

I have been trying to do my homework before it arrives. I do have a couple of questions.

Do I need to set up port forwarding and a dynamic DNS to have access to the Elk (feels like the old days)? 

I do have the ISY portal is that in anyway assist with dynamic DNS or Elk access?

I ordered my Elk with only the ethernet interface not the C1M1. If I do buy a C1M1; how much is the Telegaurd fee?

I am sure I will have a lot more questions when I start to set it up.

[Bumbershoot]

31 minutes ago, silverton38 said:

I have finally dived in to buying an Elk. I am a long time loyal ISY user so it makes sense for me to do this.

I have been trying to do my homework before it arrives. I do have a couple of questions.

Do I need to set up port forwarding and a dynamic DNS to have access to the Elk (feels like the old days)? 

I do have the ISY portal is that in anyway assist with dynamic DNS or Elk access?

I ordered my Elk with only the ethernet interface not the C1M1. If I do buy a C1M1; how much is the Telegaurd fee?

I am sure I will have a lot more questions when I start to set it up.

Since you have the ISY Portal, then there's no need for dynamic DNS or port forwarding.  The "ISY Web Access" tool on the portal web page gives you remote access, though I believe it's limited to arming and disarming, to your Elk, if it's properly set up to integrate with your ISY.  Additionally, both Agave and MobilLinc allow romote control of your Elk if you connect those apps through the portal.

I can't help you with C1M1.

[Scottmichaelj]

Who do you plan to use for monitoring? If you are going to Alarm Relay which most of the forum uses I would suggest to just use the XEP and get their LTE backup.

[silverton38]

I received my Elk and there are a lot of little issues.

Make sure you buy the Elk from an authorized dealer - AMAZON, or anyone selling ELK on it, is not an authorized dealer. You must really be careful. I almost made this mistake but purchased from an authorized dealer because they were closer (I only discovered afterwards that they were authorized ===>Smarthome-Products.com)

The ethernet connection was a good day of fun (sarcastic). I also noticed that no one responds to me on their forums and they did not give me any support over the phone. They told me to go back to my purchaser. I was disappointed that they do not even have email support.

I will probably hold off on an official install and experiment for some time; due to my concerns. Once I have a working model I will move on to full installation and the ISY integration.

I will keep updating; please respond if you have any advice for 

 

[silverton38]

On 10/14/2018 at 1:04 PM, Scottmichaelj said:

Who do you plan to use for monitoring? If you are going to Alarm Relay which most of the forum uses I would suggest to just use the XEP and get their LTE backup.

I am going to use Alarm Relay as you suggest.

[apostolakisl]

If you have the ISY Elk module, you will gain access to most all of Elk through ISY.  The portal gives you full access to ISY (without port forwarding) and thus access to Elk features on ISY.  You may want something like Agave then to allow control of the whole thing from your Android phone.  You will not be able to program your Elk through ISY, only control the ISY supported features, which as I mentioned, are almost all of them.

[Scottmichaelj]

Theres also Mobilinc and Mobilinc Connect portal which work well with Elk and the Elk ISY module too. Plus now you have Siri integration on iOS via Shortcuts if your an Apple guy which the ISY portal does not have.

[silverton38]

I have now got two zones working a motion and a magnet stripe in a test environment right beside my real alarm.

It is all mounted and opened up and looks kind of cool. I am working with Alarm Relay on Monday to set up monitoring on my test system. I have figured out the zones of the basic setup. I personally chose to set the zones up as normally closed and not use resistors. The alarm that it will eventually replace only has resistors at the panel; which is useless and I do not want to make changes at the unit. If I was a thief and I was going to short out an alarm system I would just include a 2.2Ohm resistor in my short.

Here are my next steps

- Setup up Alarm Relay (13.99 for internet monitoring)

- Setup a wireless zone for testing

- Buy the Elk Module on my ISY and integrate the two units

I will keep you updated.

 

 

 

[apostolakisl]

2 hours ago, silverton38 said:

I have now got two zones working a motion and a magnet stripe in a test environment right beside my real alarm.

It is all mounted and opened up and looks kind of cool. I am working with Alarm Relay on Monday to set up monitoring on my test system. I have figured out the zones of the basic setup. I personally chose to set the zones up as normally closed and not use resistors. The alarm that it will eventually replace only has resistors at the panel; which is useless and I do not want to make changes at the unit. If I was a thief and I was going to short out an alarm system I would just include a 2.2Ohm resistor in my short.

Here are my next steps

- Setup up Alarm Relay (13.99 for internet monitoring)

- Setup a wireless zone for testing

- Buy the Elk Module on my ISY and integrate the two units

I will keep you updated.

 

 

 

If you were a thief and tried to circumvent a zone by adding a resistor, you would have to have advanced knowledge of the system.  You would have to cut the original resistor out of the loop simultaneous to closing the loop with your new resistor.  You would also need to know what ohm resistor since different brands use different values.  If you didn't know precisely where the resistor was in the loop and added your new resistor without removing the installed one, you would create an alarm condition for elk.  Also, some installs will put two resistors in the loop that together add up to the correct resistance, making things even more complex.  Also, eol resistors aren't just about foiling a clever thief, they also diagnose "trouble" conditions where something has been damaged.

Using eol resistors is a best practices approach.  But it is often not done and for the most part doesn't impact the level of security in a home.  Intruders who are that knowledgeable are probably going to have bigger fish to fry.  However, the eol resistor is still helpful in the event of a misplaced nail or other damage.

[silverton38]

I can definatley see the value for damaged lines.

 

[silverton38]

I seem to have run in to some roadblocks on the ISY/ELK integration. I have purchased the module and I have installed it. I have enabled the ELK's non-secure port and put in the settings in the ISY. The ISY connects to the ELK. It shows armed or disarmed status and it shows me all my zones. It does not respond to requests to set alarms (Stay or Away).

On the ELK; I imported one zone (my ALL OFF SCENE). I created a rule to turn off all lights after arming away. It does not work?

Can anyone assist?

 

 

[dbuss]

12 minutes ago, silverton38 said:

I seem to have run in to some roadblocks on the ISY/ELK integration. I have purchased the module and I have installed it. I have enabled the ELK's non-secure port and put in the settings in the ISY. The ISY connects to the ELK. It shows armed or disarmed status and it shows me all my zones. It does not respond to requests to set alarms (Stay or Away).

On the ELK; I imported one zone (my ALL OFF SCENE). I created a rule to turn off all lights after arming away. It does not work?

Can anyone assist?

 

 

Are you by chance logged into your Elk RP software at the same time you are trying to send requests to your Elk via your ISY? Elk RP must be disconnected before you can make changes via your ISY.

[kzboray]

@silverton38

Do you by chance have more than on keypad and can you see both in AC? I ask because I ran into a similar problem a few months back with ELK integration with the ISY. It has always worked perfectly for me but I updated the ELK firmware and ElkRP2 to the most recent version a few months back and lost the ability to ARM the system via AC. I can still DISARM, but I cannot ARM nor can I see more than the first keypad. 

I was lead to believe this was some fault in the way I had set things up, but since it used to work and now I have full access except for ARMING and keypads over the first one I doubt that's the answer. Something has changed and I don't have the motivation to track it down. If you are having the same problems then maybe strength in numbers.

[silverton38]

11 hours ago, dbuss said:

Are you by chance logged into your Elk RP software at the same time you are trying to send requests to your Elk via your ISY? Elk RP must be disconnected before you can make changes via your ISY.

I have just tried again and for sure my ISY is the only device communicating with it. It will not arm or disarm but it does give me a live status.

[silverton38]

10 hours ago, kzboray said:

@silverton38

Do you by chance have more than on keypad and can you see both in AC? I ask because I ran into a similar problem a few months back with ELK integration with the ISY. It has always worked perfectly for me but I updated the ELK firmware and ElkRP2 to the most recent version a few months back and lost the ability to ARM the system via AC. I can still DISARM, but I cannot ARM nor can I see more than the first keypad. 

I was lead to believe this was some fault in the way I had set things up, but since it used to work and now I have full access except for ARMING and keypads over the first one I doubt that's the answer. Something has changed and I don't have the motivation to track it down. If you are having the same problems then maybe strength in numbers.

I just tested disarming and it worked as per above. You are right I can just not arm? I have only one keypad but I do have a wireless unit on the same port as the keypad.

The second problem is getting my Elk to shutoff lighting in the ISY. That to me is more important and it is not working. Does anyone know what I might have done wrong?

For the record I am running 5.0.13 with Zwave on an ISY PRO/IR.

[apostolakisl]

I'm running 5.2.10 Elk firmware and 5.0.13 ISY firmware and everything works correctly.  Elk XEP firmware is 2.0.34   I have 5 keypads and several other expansion boards.

If memory serves me, I had to downgrade from 5.3.10 firmware because Elk would randomly reboot with it.  But I do not recall ever having a failure to fully link ISY and Elk with any firmware I have ever had on anything.

[Scottmichaelj]

I have only one keypad but I do have a wireless unit on the same port as the keypad.

Make sure that you have done a proper enroll and that the address for the transmitter and keypad are on different addresses. Also check the end of line jumpers.

[kzboray]

@silverton38 

I suspect you are having the same communications issues I have been having with multiple ELK's and the ISY's, since it only effects access to keypads over the first one and disables the ability to arm the system via AC I haven't really pursued it. There are some very good people on this forum that often have good suggestion and I recommend you see if any suggestions they make might help.

 

As far as controlling lights you will need to create a program in AC. 

Something like:

Alarm Stay Inside Lights Check - [ID 0014][Parent 0013]

If
        Elk Area 'Area 1' 'Armed State' is Armed Stay
 
Then
        Set 'All Inside Lights' Off (This is a scene with all inside house lights in it)
 
Else
   - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')
 

The above turns off any lights that are still on when the alarm is set to STAY mode. You can also select individual lights as opposed to a scene and control them the same way. If you're trying to control lights that only the ELK is aware of then you would need to create a rule under automation in ELKRP2.

[silverton38]

I figured out how to get ELK rules  to work. You have to send to device a couple of times before it sticks. I have everything working now between the ISY and the ELK except Arming. It seems to be a problem with others as well. Does anyone have any idea how I can get ELK arming working on the ISY?

If I ever go live I will probably use ISY programs over Elk rules. I am documenting the experience and I need to try everything; find out if works or report that it does not.

P.S. They need to do some work on their software; I doubt they have updated it for years.

 

[silverton38]

My disarm works and I did try arming in a program which did not work.

[DennisC]

I have 3 Elk Keypads at one house and 2 Elk Keypads at a vacation home. Both Elk systems are running control version 5.0.24.0 and Elk RP version 2.0.24. My ISY is running v 5.0.13D.

I can see all keypads and can arm/disarm from the ISY.

[silverton38]

1 hour ago, DennisC said:

I have 3 Elk Keypads at one house and 2 Elk Keypads at a vacation home. Both Elk systems are running control version 5.0.24.0 and Elk RP version 2.0.24. My ISY is running v 5.0.13D.

I can see all keypads and can arm/disarm from the ISY.

Do you have any idea what can cause my ISY to do this?

I have new unit an it is running 

M1G Control 5.0.36

M1XEP version 2.0.42

My ISY 5.0.13D.

 

 

 

 

[DennisC]

Try posting a screenshot of your configuration pages, blocking out sensitive information. There are several people here that are very helpful and are running this set up, including an Elk dealer.

[CoolToys]

Anyone have any idea why I don't have the ability to "refresh topology" from the ISY?  

Firmware 4.7.3

I have tried non-secure with port 2101, secure with 2601.  Save highlights and appears to save, but I don't see how to insure it actually connects.

The wiki file only covers the 99i and says it must be non-secure, but I noticed above here someone posted how to use a secure connect at 2601, which is obviously preferable.

 

[Scottmichaelj]

Anyone have any idea why I don't have the ability to "refresh topology" from the ISY?  
Firmware 4.7.3
I have tried non-secure with port 2101, secure with 2601.  Save highlights and appears to save, but I don't see how to insure it actually connects.
The wiki file only covers the 99i and says it must be non-secure, but I noticed above here someone posted how to use a secure connect at 2601, which is obviously preferable.
 

Unfortunately 2601 cannot be used since Windows 10 update and the new secure protocols. Your ISY and Elk are internal so security shouldnt be too much of a worry.