09.21.2007 — CEDIA EXPO, September 2007—Motorized drapery and window-covering systems now can be integrated easily with switches and accessories and can connect with 3rd-party home and building-control systems through an RS232 port straight onto a 485 network through the IQ/485 Network Interface Card from MechoShade Systems.

Network Interface Card
MechoShade Systems’ President and Chief Operating Officer Jan Berman said, “The IQ/485 Network Interface Card enables reliable, two-way communication for scalable daylighting control for room, zone and scene management.”

The IQ/485 Network Interface Card provides for the automation and remote control of window-shade systems and allows single-point control through a 3rd- party controller, home computer or building management system. It also supports independent, group and master controls, without the complexity of hard wiring or fear of ground loops. Web-based remote control also is possible through an Ethernet connection.

Accessory ports for photosensors and a hard-wired IR (infrared) eye offer wireless, remote control of window coverings. The IQ/485 Network Interface Card is compatible with radio transmitter sensors, timers, schedulers and A/V controllers produced by Crestron, Vantage/Legrand, Lutron, Control4 and others.

A variety of MechoShade Systems products also can be seamlessly integrated by the bus. The IQ/SMC (a single-motor controller), for example, wires directly into the bus or connects through the network interface card. ElectroShades, when connected to four-motor IQ/MLCs (multiple-load controllers) also work together through the bus. Up to two IQ/MLCs can be daisy chained to each of five output ports for WindowManagement control.

Input and output bus ports can accommodate more than a half-million motors. The nominal range of the IQ/485 bus is 4,000 ft., but the bus’s mesh architecture extends that.

For more information on IQ/485 Network Interface Card, call 718-729-2020, or visit http://www.mechoshade.com.