Make/Model	Device Version	Connection Type
GE NetworX NX-8E	N/A	Serial

Description:

This driver supports the NetworX NX-8E controller via it’s onboard serial interface. The NetworX NX-8 with the NX-584 serial expansion board should also work, but has not been tested. These security controllers go by various names. The hardware was original manufactured by Caddx, who was purchased by Interlogix, who was then purchased by General Electric.

The panel natively supports up to 16 hardwired zones in 8 partitions and can be expanded to 192 hardwired zones. The board can be configured for UL commercial installations and a different version of the board supports commercial fire. The hardwire itself is relatively inexpensive, but it is geared more towards professional installation. Installing and configuring this panel can be challenging, but it provides a cost effective route to a commercial grade security solution for the truly determined. The board supports a large number of features, many of which can trip up an installation if mis-configured. If you are planning a complete installation from scratch and this is your first security installation, you’ll want to evaluate carefully how much time you want to invest versus the cost of a slightly more user-friendly installation.

It is necessary to configure the system through either the keypad or the DL900 software (supplied by GE) to get the system working. The CQC driver does not support any configuration of the system. It is strongly recommended that you use the DL900 software using the “direct connect” serial functionality to configure the panel as this uses the same serial interface. Some tips on getting the DL900 software working consistently are below. You should be working with a fully functional security system before you try getting the system to talk to CQC, but read this documentation to glean some tips on how best to configure everything to work with the driver when you reach the appropriate point..

Quirks and Limitations:

The driver does not currently support the X-10, auxiliary input or auxiliary output interface modules. There are many, many, many status bits that the driver currently doesn’t support passing back through the automation system.

The system only uses the serial interface. The TCP/IP interface module is not supported.

Connection Details

The driver by default expects the panel is configured to communicate and 38400 baud. The setup procedure below describes where this is configured in the panel itself. Also be sure to configure the DL900 software to this same baud rate and ASCII protocol once you make these changes.

The GE InterlogiX NX-8E security panel is an automation capable panel that supports serial communications via an onboard RS-232 connection. The cable from the board to a standard 9-PIN serial connection is not included with NX-8E and must be ordered separately. The connector on the board is not a usual 9 pin connector and it’s not easy to get a homemade cable working. Order the cable and test communications with the GE supplied DL-900 software to insure proper communication with the panel.  The older GE InterlogiX NX-8 security panel supports RS-232 communication with the addition of an NX-584 expansion board. Slight differences in configuring  the NX-8 versus the NX-8E are outlined in the table below.

The security panel must be configured to allow serial control for either the CQC driver or the DL-900 software to connect to the device. The panel is configured by setting bits in what the GE documentation refers to as “locations” and “segments.”  The following table gives instructions for what needs to be configured in each location:

Settings for NX-8		Settings for NX-8E
Location	Segment	Location	Segment	Bit(s)	Action
N/A	N/A	207	1	1	NX-8E Only: Set to enable the serial port
1		208	1		Set to set 38400 baud (be sure to update the DL900 software as well)
0	1	209	1	1	Set to enable ASCII protocol (be sure to update the DL900 software as well)
2	1	210	1	6	Set to enable zone snapshot transition broadcast messages
2	1	210	1	8	Set to enable partition snapshot transition broadcast messages
2	1	210	1	1 – 5, 7	Clear to disable other transition broadcast messages
2	2	210	2	1 – 8	Clear to disable other transition broadcast messages
3	1	211	1	2, 4 - 8	Set all bits except 1,3 (enables command/request functions for automation)
N/A	N/A	211	2	1 – 8	NX-8E Only: Set all bits (enables command/request functions for automation)
3	2	N/A	N/A	1 – 3	NX-8 Only: Set 1-3, clear 4-8 (enables command/request functions for automation)
3	3	211	3	1 - 8	Set all bits (enables command/request functions for automation)
3	4	211	4	4 - 8	Set all bits except 1,2,3 (enables command/request functions for automation)
4	1	212	1	N/A	This is the LCD keypad address. The default is 192 for the first keypad in partition 1. Fields in the driver related to zone names will not be created if this location does not point to a valid LCD keypad.

The driver potentially creates a large number of fields based on the configuration of the panel. At connection time, the driver examines all of the zones starting at 192 (48 for the NX-8) and works backwards. Individual zones are configured to belong to one or more partitions. The CQC driver relies on this to determine what zones are active and need to have fields created to monitor. To keep the number of fields to a minimum, configure the zones in the panel so that they are not part of any partition and keep all of the zones in sequence (without any large gaps of unused zones). To do this via the DL-900 software, go to the “Control Panel” menu and choose the “Main” command. The control panel’s main configuration dialog will open. Click the “Zones” tab. Select the highest available zone from the popup list of zone numbers. Uncheck all of the partition boxes here. Repeat for each additional unused zone working backwards until you hit a zone that is actually used. You can also set the zone names in this dialog, which are the values that are returned in the ZoneNamesX fields. When you’re done, remember to send the changes back to the panel using the appropriate commands either in the “Send” menu at this dialog or the “Download” menu in the main DL-900 window.

Because the driver needs to examine all zones to either check their partition status or get their name, there’s a large number of commands that run. The driver may take up to a minute to reach its connected state within CQC.

If particular commands are failing while others are succeeding, check location 211 (location 3 for NX-8) and make sure the appropriate command/request enables are configured properly.

The driver has a tremendous amount of console debug output. If your having trouble with something, try running the driver under a session in the CML Driver IDE with the debug option switched on. Use the driver harness to send commands and monitor what’s going on. This will often highlight what the panel is doing in response to commands you send it.

Notes on Driver Behavior with the NX-8/NX-584: The driver configures itself based on the settings selected at installation time to work differently with the NX8 panel. The NX-8E logic will disable transition status messages during setup and some commands to improve performance, in part because of the large number of zones potentially involved. The commands to change the transition states on the NX8 fail for some reason and are skipped by the driver in NX-8 mode. Also, the NX-8 driver does not respond to Nak messages sent from the panel even if the “require acknowledgement” bit is set (the panel responds to these acknowledgements with another Nak, resulting in a vicious communications circle).  

Driver Fields

This section lists the fields that the driver makes available, their types, minimum and maximum values, etc...  In some instances, a portion of the name has been omitted and replaced by an ‘X’ signifying either a zone or partition number. In these instances the driver creates one or more fields as required.

Name	Type	R/W	Description/Limits
Alarm	Boolean	R	Indicates whether one or more partitions are in an alarm state.
AllPartitionsSelected	Boolean	R	Indicates whether all  eight partitions are currently selected (See PartitionSelectX fields)
Chime	Boolean	R	Indicates whether any partition currently has the ‘Chime’ function enabled.
Command	String	W	This write-only value allows commands to be sent to the controller to arm the system, disarm the system, etc. A list of commands is given below. When a command requiring a PIN is executed, the current PIN and any selected partitions in PartitionSelectedX fields are cleared.
KeypadText	String	R	This is a text string generated based on the state of the controller for display in a keypad-style template. It provdes strings like “Ready to Arm” and “Exit Now” or other values at appropriate times based on the state information returned from the controller.
PartitionArmedX	Boolean	R	Indicates a partition is currently armed.
PartitionAlarmedX	Boolean	R	Indicates a partition is currently in alarm.
PartitionReadyX	Boolean	R	Indicates a partition is ready to arm.
PartitionSelectedX	Boolean	R/W	Indicates whether a given partition is selected for a command. This doesn’t correspond to a function in the panel; the driver uses these settings to determine what partitions to act on when commands are sent using the “Command” variable.
PIN	String	RW	This is the current PIN number to use for keypad operations. Some NX-8 users have reported problems using the master PIN to perform keypad commands via the serial connection; if some commands requiring a PIN appear to not function try setting up a separate user and PIN for use here.
Ready	Boolean	R	Indicates whether all partitions are currently ready to arm.
Trouble	Boolean	R	Indicates if one or more zones have their trouble flag set (indicates low battery conditions, lost connection or similar problems for wireless zones). The ZoneTroubleX fields can be used to determine which zone is having a problem.
ZoneBypassedX	Boolean	R	Indicates whether the zone indicated by X is bypassed.
ZoneFaultX	Boolean	R	Indicates if a particular zone is faulted (tripped).
ZoneNameX	String	R	Gives the name of zone X. These fields are only created if the panel is capable of returning zone names; some  configurations without LCD keypads may not provide this information. If these fields are not appearing and you believe they should be, verify that the panel has the keypad address configured properly in the LCD keypad address location. This is location 212 for the NX-8E, or location 4 on the NX-584.
ZoneTroubleX	Boolean	R	Indicates the trouble state of the zone indicated by X.

 

Commands

This section lists the values that can pass sent through the “Command” field in order to trigger actions at the security panel.

Value	Description
ARMAWAY	Arms all partitions in “Away” mode (provides exit delay). Requires that the PIN field contain a valid PIN.
ARMSTAY	Arms all partitions in “Stay” mode (bypasses zones configured as interior and does not provide an exit delay.) Requires that the PIN field contain a valid PIN.
BYPASSALL	If no zones are bypassed, sets the bypass flag for all faulted zones. If one or more zones are already bypassed, clears the bypass flag for all zones. System must be in a disarmed state
CANCEL	Sends the “Cancel alarm” signal to the monitoring station if configured in the panel and supported by the monitoring station. Requires that the PIN field contain a valid PIN.
CHIME	Toggles the chime for all partitions.
DISARM	Disarms all partitions. Requires that the PIN field contain a valid PIN.
EXIT	Arms all partitions in “Away” mode (provides exit delay.) Does not require a PIN. Quick arm functionality must be enabled for the partitions (see location 23 segment 1 in panel documentation; similar locations for other partitions.)
SMOKERESET	Sends the smoke reset function to the panel.
FIREPANIC	Sends the fire panic signal to the monitoring station if configured in the panel and supported by the monitoring station. Use with some degree of confirmation; the keypads require this button be held for 3 seconds to avoid false keypresses.
MEDICALPANIC	Sends the medical panic signal to the monitoring station if configured in the panel and supported by the monitoring station. Use with some degree of confirmation; the keypads require this button be held for 3 seconds to avoid false keypresses.
PARTITIONARMAWAY	Arms partitions in “Away” mode (provides exit delay) for partitions selected via the PartitionSelectedX fields. Requires that the PIN field contain a valid PIN.
PARTITIONARMSTAY	Arms partitions in “Stay” mode (bypasses zones configured as interior and does not provide an exit delay) for partitions selected via the PartitionSelectedX fields. Requires that the PIN field contain a valid PIN.
PARTITIONDISARM	Disarms the partitions selected via the PartitionSelectedX fields. Requires that the PIN field contain a valid PIN.
POLICEPANIC	Sends the police panic signal to the monitoring station if configured in the panel and supported by the monitoring station. Use with some degree of confirmation; the keypads require this button be held for 3 seconds to avoid false keypresses.
SETCLOCK	Sets the panel clock time to the computer’s time.
SILENCE	Silences the keypad sounder. Requires that the PIN field contain a valid PIN.
SMOKERESET	Sends the smoke reset function to the panel.
STAY	Arms all partitions in “Stay” mode (bypasses zones configured as interior and does not provide an exit delay.) Does not require a PIN. Quick arm functionality must be enabled for the partitions (for partition 1 see location 23 segment 1 in panel documentation; similar locations for other partitions.)

One Partition Versus Multiple Partitions:

The driver has some support for manipulating multiple partitions. In many installations, only a single partition is required. Partitions are only needed when there is a need to arm and disarm portions of the system independently. Within a partition, zones can still be configured as “interior” zone types so that they are automatically bypassed for “stay” versus “away” styles of arming. Partitions would be useful for scenarios where a separate structure such as a guest house, office or shop building might need to be controlled independently of the main house.

When building a CQC template for a single partition configuration, most of the partition related fields and commands can be ignored. Simply use the ARMAWAY, ARMSTAY and DISARM commands to control the system. If one-touch arming is configured, use EXIT and STAY commands to arm the system. A basic template that supported this model would have a keypad-style display to allow the PIN field to be built up, a text field showing the KeypadText field, plus buttons used to send arm, disarm and other commands.

For multiple partitions, different strategies can be employed. A single template can be configured to use the PartitionSelectedX fields so that the user can select various partitions and arm/disarm them independently using the PARTITIONARMAWAY, PARTITIONARMSTAY and PARTITIONDISARM commands. Alternatively, individual templates can be created that are designed to only control a specific partition. These interfaces should set the PartitionSelectedX fields appropriately immediately before running a specific command. This would allow a template to be setup in a guest house in such a way that the template can be used to control the partition for only the guest house, but not the main house.

DL-900 Tips:

The DL-900 software can be a little difficult to learn, but it’s a big help in programming a NetworX system. Don’t give up and revert back to doing everything via the keypad. It’s worth the effort to get to know this utility. Read all the information available under the “Help” menu for the software.

You will need to create a “customer” record for your installation before you do much of anything. Do not use the “Set default accounts” command in the “Program” menu to make this a default account as this locks out the upload/download functionality. Default accounts are more like templates for installers who have a common configuration they use to setup multiple installations.

The DL-900 software requires a master login/password plus a user login/password when it starts. The default values for the login are “CADDX” and “1234”. You can disable these passwords by going to the “Setup” command in the “Program” menu and unchecking the “Require master access” and “Require password” settings.

The serial port settings are configured via the “Direct connect settings” command in the “Program” menu. Make sure you set these to the values setup in the panel. The values used by the CQC driver are 38400 baud and ASCII protocol. You must configure these settings and enable the serial port via a keypad before you can use the DL900 software.

The DL-900 software requires that most of the command/request enables be set in order to function. If you get errors while trying to read/write the panel configuration, use a keypad to make sure that the commands are all enabled in segment 211.

Similarly, the DL-900 isn’t especially tolerant of unexpected messages coming from the panel during programming. If you’ve enabled the transition messages in segment 210, the DL-900 software might give errors while reading or writing the panel. One way to minimize this is to make sure the system is quiet while programming (avoid having people walking around tripping motion detectors or similar) as this generates zone transition messages. To avoid problems, you can also temporarily disable transition broadcast messages by clearing all the bits in location 210.

Panel Tips:

To enter programming mode at a keypad to configure locations and segments, enter “*8” and enter the programming code. The default factory programming code is “9713” (you should change this). The keypad will then prompt for which device on the panel bus to program. The controller is always device zero, so hit “0#”. Enter the location number followed by the “#” key to program a location. Each segment will be displayed and can be manipulated using the number keys on the keypad. PRESS ‘*” TO SAVE YOUR CHANGES AND ADVANCE TO ADDITIONAL SEGMENTS. Use the ‘Exit’ key to ‘back out’ to different steps of the programming process.

The default factory user code to arm/disarm the system is “1234”. You should change this. Obviously. In the DL-900 software, choose “Main” from the “Control Panel” menu and click the “Codes” tab to configure codes for various users.

If you don’t connect a normally closed tamper switch to jumper J7 on the controller board, make sure Location 37 segment 3 is not enabled (it is enabled by default). If this segment is enabled and a tamper switch is not installed (and closed), a siren alarm occurs whenever you power up the panel. If you want to install a tamper switch, do it at the end of all your other setup once you know all your zones are working as expected.

On the NX-216E hardwired zone expanders, either connect a the “TAM” terminal to a normally closed tamper switch (connect the other end to a “COM” terminal), or connected “TAM” directly to “COM” with a wire. If you have the NX-216E in the same enclosure as the panel board, it’s redundant to have a separate switch wired for this board. The NX-216E tamper connections are for use when the expansion board is remotely mounted in it’s own enclosure.

Disclaimer:

Your security and fire system is an important part of protecting your possessions and even your life. Make sure you understand the implications of connecting it to any automation system, especially advanced systems that can be controlled remotely via the Internet. Make sure you change the default factory programming and user codes, and make sure access to your automation system is secure. Wireless networks that have access to your automation environment also allow outsiders to potentially access anything on the network unless they are properly secured.

Adding additional complexity to your security and fire protection systems only increases the risks of system malfunction, false alarms, or other consequences. Improper configuration of the security system, the automation system or this driver may cause similar issues. The driver itself may have problems that make the system less secure or less reliable. Make sure you understand these risks and the need for proper security before interfacing any protection panel to any automation system.

This driver and documentation are provided “as-is” and the user assumes all risk with respect to its installation and use.