X-10 and DSC Security System

Hi everyone,

I have a quote for a DSC PC1832 alarm system. I currently have an
X-10 system, mostly home-brew, where I collect events on my PC via an
ACT TI-103 powerline interface.

One of the options that DSC offers is a 5580TC X-10 interface. The
thing I can't figure out from the documentation available online is,
exactly what X-10 events is this module aware of. What I want is to
be able to detect state changes in the alarm system (i.e., arm,
disarm, motion detect, etc.) and feed those back to my PC via the X-10
interface. It's not clear from the documentation if this is possible.

This seems like it should be a pretty simple question for anyone who
has been down this path. Thanks, as always.

Richard S wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I have a quote for a DSC PC1832 alarm system. I currently have an
> X-10 system, mostly home-brew, where I collect events on my PC via an
> ACT TI-103 powerline interface.
>
> One of the options that DSC offers is a 5580TC X-10 interface. The
> thing I can't figure out from the documentation available online is,
> exactly what X-10 events is this module aware of. What I want is to
> be able to detect state changes in the alarm system (i.e., arm,
> disarm, motion detect, etc.) and feed those back to my PC via the X-10
> interface. It's not clear from the documentation if this is possible.
>
> This seems like it should be a pretty simple question for anyone who
> has been down this path. Thanks, as always.


The DSC interface to the X-10 is pretty well "one way". It's used to
turn lights "on" on a schedule or in an alarm. I've got a couple of
installations where we turn on hall lights during the entry delay, and
allow the customer to call the house to activate exterior lights before
they drive up. The button fob transmitter also works to accomplish this
but I won't program it to disarm the system because it's too easy for
someone to lose their keys. I think you'll find that you'll need the
Escort interface as well to give you the maximum benefit of the DSC
"X-10 interface". If you want a more robust solution, I'd go with the
ELK M1-Gold. This interfaces with your PC and allows you to do a whole
lot more than the DSC equipment.