Z-Wave Motion Detector

[zippy]

Has anyone used the Z-wave motion detector? Does it work good?

[mbreeden]

Zippy:

I have one but I have not installed it because all the problems I am having with my Homepro (ACT) USB controller. Once I get that fixed, I will move on too the Motion detector.

-Mike

[Laldaas]

I would like to get some of these however they are a little expensive.

[cactsbob]

I use Hawkeyes with the w800. I have my cm11 disabled. As mentioned earlier the z-wave motion detectors are expensive. What is the advantage of z-wave motion sensors over my configuration?

I have 30+ z-wave modules & I don't have any x10 modules that are using the power line. I just haven't seen an advantage to paying so much for the z-wave modules.

[cactsbob]

I've got 10 x-10 motion sensors scattered inside and outside of the house that work ok. I recently bought one z-wave motion sensor just to check it out. It was expensive but I've found it to be much more reliable. The x10 sensors sometimes report motion but then don't followup and report when the motion has stopped. I'm not sure if this has to do with signal collisions or what but it happens alot. I've got scripts to compensate for this but I prefer things cleaner. The z-wave sensor *always* reports motion on and motion off reliably. Although it is physically bigger than the x-10 sensor it is nicer to look at and less obvious since it is all white with no logos or text printed on it. It's also easier to adjust because it comes with mounting hardware that lets to you move the sensor up and down and side to side after you've installed it. It also has a switch inside that lets you adjust it's sensitivity from low to medium to high. You can even adjust it's field of vision from wide to narrow by rotating the "lens". Some features that I haven't tried are it's ability to monitor receive notification when the battery is low and receive notification when the sensor housing has been opened. I love this little overpriced sensor! I'm planning to replace my x10 sensors with z-wave sensors inside. I'm hopin' that they'll come out with a weather-proof version so that I can replace the outdoor ones as well.

-RTG

Thanks RTG. Your description makes the extra cost of the z-wave motion sensor make more sense. I have really had good performance from my Hawkeyes. But, the extra features of the z-wave motion detector make me want one too. I think I'll order one.

Also the extra reliability of this PIR makes it more acceptable as a security device. I have pets & I hesitate to add motion detectors for alarm sensors. I am currently working on a DSC Power 832 series plugin for HS2. This plugin allows adding non DSC connected sensors as security sensors through HS2. These added sensors have the ability to trigger the DSC Panic alarm the same as any wired or wireless DSC sensor. The z-wave motion sensor is worth testing for this.

[Guest]

I have a European ZTH200 remote controller. As far as I can see, I can not make associations with this controller. so, how do I use this ZIR010 Z-wave motion sensor?

Regards,

Richard

[Jim'll]

Homeseer can make the associations goto setup, interface then in z wave interface box click manage there is an option to create associations.

[Jim'll]

I have a European ZTH200 remote. I have just recieved some Z-wave motion sensors. When I try and add them to my remote it says "unsupported device inl."????

Anybody else using these in the UK or Europe?

*Update* Despite this error when adding to the remote and despite the fact that the sensor does not show on the remote it has been added. When you copy the remote into HS it appears there :-)

[zippy]

So I just got my Zwave motion sensors but I think I got the wrong thing. See I was thinking I could set up a virtual divice and when the motion sensor was tripped it could send an update to the virtal device to update on/off status.


From what the instructions say it will either turn the lights on or off in the group it is in, or send alarm to the group it is in, or some binary thing which I don't understand.

I don't want it to turn othere zwave devices on or off, I just want to update a virtual device with it and then create the events I want to happen when it is tripped.

Do I just not understand right?

[Jim'll]

So I just got my Zwave motion sensors but I think I got the wrong thing. See I was thinking I could set up a virtual divice and when the motion sensor was tripped it could send an update to the virtal device to update on/off status.


From what the instructions say it will either turn the lights on or off in the group it is in, or send alarm to the group it is in, or some binary thing which I don't understand.

I don't want it to turn othere zwave devices on or off, I just want to update a virtual device with it and then create the events I want to happen when it is tripped.

Do I just not understand right?

They should do what you want. When you add the sensor to the remote and then to homeseer. the sensor will update its status to HS. you can then trigger events off this status change..

[Chris Walker]

So I just got my Zwave motion sensors but I think I got the wrong thing. See I was thinking I could set up a virtual divice and when the motion sensor was tripped it could send an update to the virtal device to update on/off status.


From what the instructions say it will either turn the lights on or off in the group it is in, or send alarm to the group it is in, or some binary thing which I don't understand.

I don't want it to turn othere zwave devices on or off, I just want to update a virtual device with it and then create the events I want to happen when it is tripped.

Do I just not understand right?

Out of the box, I believe that ACT's PIR works like a virtual switch. To make it act as a live status motion sensor, you'll need to set it to be in "binary sensor" mode (as you mentioned, the "binary thing which [may be hard to] understand" state). You can do this by sending it a configuration option, which is listed in the instructions. I know that the newer ACT remotes can set these parameters.

It is a bit of a technical operation, but once you take care of ACT's setup operation, you should be good to go.

Chris

[Jim'll]

How do you set the sensor to binnary mode? I have a ZTH200 (european remote) And I can see nothing that can change the sensors mode there is also nothing in the remotes manual about this either??

[NutsyHome]

The key is to Associate the PIR with HomeSeer. (Not my great idea, I saw it in another thread around here!)

Add the PIR device to your remote, then update the computer's Z-Wave controller. (Then, I have to restart the computer to get Z-Wave active again).

Click the PIR's entry in the Status screen (so you can edit it), then click the Associate button. Here's the key: Somewhat soon after clicking Associate, trigger the PIR and/or press it's internal button. After that, you'll see a message just below the button that says it was successfull. Be sure to click Save.

Now, the PIR status (Motion/No Motion) will be actively updated with HomeSeer, and you can trigger events or otherwise use that status like any other.

Config Parameter 18 defines how long the PIR waits before timing out on activity. So if it's set for 10 (minutes), then every "Motion" status will be active for at least ten minutes.

I have two operating, both are in regular (factory default) "Lighting" mode. They trigger the associated lights, and report status to Homeseer

PS - My next Great Quest is getting Tamper and Low Battery messages into Homeseer - anyone have ideas on that?

[Jim'll]

I have three off these things and two are working great.
The third one I just can't get going. I follow the instructions to the letter and associate it with HS.
It then works for about 10 minutes then it stops updating HS????
Any ideas I can only asume that this one is faulty???

[NutsyHome]

I have three off these things and two are working great.
The third one I just can't get going. I follow the instructions to the letter and associate it with HS.
It then works for about 10 minutes then it stops updating HS????
Any ideas I can only asume that this one is faulty???

I had one that seemed to do what you're seeing.

I 'Reset' the PIR (deleted from the handheld), then re-added it to the Group, and updated the Homeseer ZWave interface (after deleting the previous Homeseer unit that mapped to that PIR). After that, Association and regular operation went forward smoothly.