Security system working with mControl via NPort

~ Stephen Makonin

So yesterday and today I spent time installing the NPort 5250A Serial to IP Server and hooking it up to my DSC security system. After the hardware was setup, I enabled the “DSC PS” driver in mControl Service Manager and configured it with the right IP address and port. Then I added a new device in mControl Editor. Once done, I was able to arm/disarm the security system without issue. What I like about mControl is that once the hard work of installing the hardware is done, there is no struggle on the automation software side; only add or change some settings/configurations  and it just works! Next task is to get the NPort to talk RS485 to my ION6200 power meters and write the corresponding mControl driver.

In the next couple of weeks I will be posting more information on:

  • how to create a meter enclosure for your smart/revenue meter;
  • how to start writing mControl drivers;
  • a project page on how to create you own Arduino power meter reader (the APMR project), that uses a real-time clock (RTC) and RS485/MODBUS.

One thing to note is that I am trying to get the “DSC PS” driver in mControl modified. My security system has 4 partitions and the driver, in its current form,  only support 2.

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Published by Stephen Makonin

Dr. Stephen Makonin is an Adjunct Professor in Engineering Science and the Principal Investigator of the Computational Sustainability Lab at Simon Fraser University (SFU). He received his PhD in Computing Science at Simon Fraser University in 2014 in the area of computational sustainability. He has been a software engineer for over 24 years working for various local/international industry clients. Stephen is a registered Professional Engineering (PEng) with Engineers and Geoscientists BC and a Senior Member of the IEEE. His research interests include computational sustainability and the understanding of socioeconomic issues that pertain to technological advancement. Stephen is an expert in data engineering, software engineering, and a world-renowned researcher in non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM) and disaggregation. Stephen is currently the Vice-Chair of the IEEE Signal Processing Society Vancouver Chapter and sits on the IEEE DataPort Advisory Committee. He currently serves as the Editor in Chief of the IEEE DataPort Metadata Review Board, and as an Editorial Board Member of Nature's Scientific Data journal.

2 thoughts on “Security system working with mControl via NPort”

  1. Pingback: Wiring and Arduino Update | Eco-Sustainability and the Smart Home
  2. Pingback: Mcontrol security | Acticore

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