If you rely on your M1 or M1 Gold panel for security and automation, you probably already appreciate the units' easy integration with industry standard systems and components for easy upgrades and expansion. The M1 Lighting & Thermostat Interface is a three-in-one interface/expander that adapts the M1 and M1 Gold to various lighting control products and communicating thermostats. It also acts as a serial port expander. The M1 and M1 Gold are sold separately. Operating from the M1 or M1 Gold's data bus, the M1 Lighting & Thermostat Interface adapts the M1 unit to various lighting control products that use serial communications. You can also control your communicating thermostat through your M1 or M1 Gold, since this interface adapts HVAC communicating thermostats from RCS, Aprilaire and HAI to the M1 cross platform control. Expand your M1 or M1 Gold's RS-232 serial ports. As a serial port expander, the M1 Lighting & Thermostat Interface expands the communication ports for multiple connections to equipment that communicates using serial ASCII commands, such as your PC, through a PowerLinc Serial Interface (sold separately). Jumpers on the M1 Lighting & Thermostat Interface select the appropriate application, connection, and protocol, so hands-on control is not necessary. Best of all, the M1 Lighting & Thermostat Interface operates from the 4-wire (RS-485) M1 Keypad data bus, allowing RS-232 ports to be located long distances from the control. The M1 Gold supports up to seven of these interfaces, while the M1 supports one. The unit comes complete with cable and a black surface-mountable housing. Additional features include an on- board EOL bus termination jumper, flash memory for firmware updating, and an LED diagnostic indicator.