Hey guys, I’m about to get a nice little smartthings setup. I wish to use DSCalarmSmartthings to interface with my alarm. Could anyone who got this to work make a guide? Specifically the part of putting the smartthings shield, the rs232, Arduino mega, and the it-100 together? I can upload basic libraries and Arduino code, but I have no idea about this whole pin thing (in the readme.md) Yes, I do have an arduino mega protoshield. Thanks, me.
Cart:
SmartHub
IT-100
Arduino MEGA
mega protoshield
Smartthings shield
Rs232 shield
A dsc alarm system.
My trusty custom build pc.
The interwebz.
Hey Nick. I’ve been meaning to update my write up of this and also to upload my latest changes to the code. Mine is based on that repo you linked with some changes to add a couple features and to make each sensor show up as its own device (not in repo yet). I’ll try to update my repo this weekend (https://github.com/obycode/DSCAlarmSmartThings). Good luck with your setup!
Okay thank you. I’ll try out that version of dscalarmsmartthings! Thanks! ALSO, do you happen to have pics of how to put it together? I still have no idea how to do the whole protoshield thing.
Just finished updating my GitHub - https://github.com/obycode/DSCAlarmSmartThings. This version is quite different from the old one, as it creates a virtual device for each alarm zone so each shows up individually in SmartThings. Feel free to ask me any questions if I didn’t explain anything.
@isriam, evl3 ($90) is more expensive than an IT100 ($65) and the added functionalities it brings are marginal if you connect it to SmartThings. Basically, one wants to be able to arm/disarm his/her DSC alarm panel and see its sensors’ status through SmartThings. In brief, the IT100 does all this for less.
@isriam, if your main goal is to be independent of ST, than EVL3 may be a good choice although one may argue that the IT-100 can be also used with other hubs as well.
On my side, I’m not interested in having AlarmServer running on a PC (or other devices) for the DCS integration. I’d rather rely on some HW boards than relying on a PC for security purposes. Raspberry PI could be a good option.
i’m using rpi because it gives me a 24/7 linux server and the same features as arduno shields and whatnot.
really, dsc -> st isn’t very good, and requires a lot of hard work. i’ve moved almost everything i own off of ST because of how flaky its been.
i use ST hello home features to set arm away with @ethomasii code when everyone leaves and i use hello home to arm my system at 930pm every night in stay mode. thats the extent. all of my doors have DSC contacts, but i cannot rely on ST to do anything special with them because the system is so flaky (ST).
dont forget the evl3 gives you home monitoring for 8.50 a month and an insurance home security certificate. that will pay for it quickly.
In that first picture, you see the contact, motion, and glass sensors that represent the zones of my alarm (ignore the temperature ones), and the little house icon that says ready is the alarm itself. Then the second shot shows the alarm details with current status, button to arm away or stay, toggle the chime, refresh, and trigger a panic alarm.
Oh, just remembered one very important note I forgot to add to the wiki (added now). Make sure your serial cable is a null modem cable (or get a null modem adapter). A straight through serial cable will not work. I wasted about a week figuring that out
A system status tile where system messages appear (ex. wireless batteries are weak, panel AC trouble, system bell trouble, general system tamper, keybus fault, telephone line trouble, keypad lockout, etc.). I added this tile to have a better sense of what’s going on with my DSC alarm panel. I had to modify the Arduino microcode to do so. At the same time when I made these changes, I increased the baud rate to 19200 for faster panel responses within ST. I’m not sure that you can do the same with Envisalink as it’s a more generic integration than the DSC IT-100.
All related sensors appear along with the arm/disarm/chime/alarm buttons with labels, so that you have a quick view on what’s going with your DSC alarm.
You have then several options for your DSC integration with ST: the AlarmServer route, the obycode’s device and my device. I’m sure that there are other integration options out there!.
Very nice Yves. I like the system status tile. I’m going to need to add that to my setup too. I hadn’t seen your arduinoAlarmController.groovy before. Didn’t realize I was duplicating work somebody else had already done.
