Start off by saying I’m not sure if this is the right place to post this question. Please move if necessary.
I have been setting up OH2 with various bindings and I would like to find a way to include my existing security system somehow. The house came with a 2-Gig security system with wired contacts at the doors, glass-break sensors, and a wireless control panel. Is there a device or system that can piggy-back on the existing system and provide status updates to OH? Maybe something that can hook into my wireless network or existing z-wave mesh?
I have integrated my Abus secvest system by accessing the web interface as there is no binding around.
With this I can switch / read almost all I need.
Would this be an option?
Not being familiar with Abus I can’t say if this would work or not. I’d really like to keep it all within OH and I’m hoping there’s something out there that it has a binding for.
Sadly, if it were easy to reverse-engineer the radio protocol used by your alarm system and read or change events, a thief could do the same!
Some alarm systems have wired contacts for external bells, fire alarms, serial interfaces for maintenance, or alarm monitoring companies.
I’d suggest checking if your alarm system supports a wired interface as they are easier to integrate with. With wired interface, you can then install something like a FIBARO Universal Binary Sensor, or even just a relay (probably 12v) connected to a standard door sensor: http://manuals.fibaro.com/binary-sensor/
This only senses one or two ON / OFF channels, but could alert you remotely (say) if a wired external bell was turned on.
Worst case, is there a LED on the panel that you could connect a voltage sensor to, or even a light sensor? There are even audio sensors that listen for the BEEP of a smoke alarm to alert another system.
I have tinkered around with level shifters to sense the voltage on the inputs to a wired alarm in the past (think a Raspberry Pi plus custom electronics) but that’s a LOT more complex!
My system did not allow for much tinkering, but had a telephone connection to communicate to an Alarm center. I think most systems have such an interface.
I used that interface to connect to openhab.
The link is alarm -> voip -> asterisk (alarm sia module)-> mqtt-> openhab.
Though it seems like a lot of steps, it has been working reliably for the last 3years
Thanks for the input James!
I had no intention of trying to intercept the wireless signals for the controller; I had to do that once professionally and would rather not do it in my free time
As for the Fibaro device: it seems promising. Do I understand correctly that I would need one of these for each of my contact closures?
Marcel: I’ve looked into that as well but two problem come from that. 1: we don’t have a land line and I’d like to keep it that way. 2: the user manual for my system says it won’t work with VOIP (for some strange reason).
It looks like one simple option might be using a WiFi enabled Arduino to send a JSON payload to the HTTP binding. Shouldn’t be that difficult for someone who know’s what they’re doing but I’m more of a hardware person… Time to start reading!
You don’t need a landline, I have none. Asterisk is basically your pbx, it does not require a landline.
I do use a free VOIP service though, this allows me to have my alarm call me (via the same script that generates the mqtt). It informs me of the type and room of the alarm.
Some VOIPs don’t have enough bandwith to pass a modem signal. Mine is based on dialtones (ademco / SIA) which pass through well enough on my local network. As they can’t guarantee the working, some alarm manaufactures exclude them out of precausion
