Feedback on Sirens, which to pick

[macombweare]

@Ron

I don’t think that is fair. This is a very well written DH, one of the best I have seen. It’s inadequacy lies in your wanting to treat it like a switch which I can see going either way.

Im sorry did not mean it to come out as unfair. I just merely stated the facts. I wasnt sure which siren to get with the concern that i may not be able to disarm it as soon as i need to. i was made to think i can disarm it with no problem and as easy as telling alexa to disarm it…worse, looks like the DH developer even made it known there was a needed capability switch that they ignored to implement?

anyways, ive moved on, i agree im happy with it too… only thing i might get a powered siren next time assuming this happens again without the siren being disarmed and the battery drains…

thank you again @ron for helping me out with the updated DH

@Ron

I don’t understand this part because discovery alone doesn’t work unless you grant permission to access your switches. So even with switch capability it wouldn’t just work. When you tried to add the permission to access this switch you would have noticed it wasn’t in the list of available devices to grant permission to. Same issue really but it never would have just worked on it’s own after discovery. Just pointing that out in a friendly way, unless I am missing something here

i may be new to smartthings but i did figure out how to have alexa discover devices as i usually have and from there Alexa would be able to turn them on or off… the siren was not on the list because it did not have the capability switch? otherwise more for me learn with automation…and im willing to learn its cool

anyways lets move on.

[Ron]

@krlaframboise

The SmartThings Alexa SmartApp is one of the few SmartApps that has an option for granting access to all devices. If that’s enabled, asking alexa to discover new devices automatically picks up new devices without having to do anything extra.

See, I was missing something, haha. I didn’t know it could do that. I have mine selecting because I have a LOT of switches, virtual switches and devices I don’t want controlled by Alexa like a Garage Door opener.

@macombweare Sorry to have doubted your description of expected behavior. I didn’t realize Alexa App had that feature.

@macombweare

anyways lets move on.

Agreed, we should be all good now. I have selected my Siren as well so soon I will be playing around with this DH and it’s behavior.

[joewom (Joe)]

Yes Alexa and sirens I have had also not had much luck but this morning I opened a window for something and all three sirens went off. I told GH to turn off panic and they all shut off instantly. GH has some quirks but I am migrating more to GH. I have 3 with one more coming. I will still use the 3 echos 1 tap and 5 dots I have just because they are handy for simple light turn offs and music and I buy allot off amazon. But GH as proven yesterday with my daughters homework and with most home automation is just better IMO.

[Ron]

@joewom

But GH as proven yesterday with my daughters homework and with most home automation is just better IMO.

Google Home is MUCH better at answering questions and searching the internet because it has access to …well…Google. Amazon Echo uses Bing, end of story there.

I have both in my kitchen and GH is even better at controlling my lights sometimes but maybe because I only authorized the lights close so it’s has 4 lights while my Echo’s controls a large number of devices and switches so more to sift through.

I am curious how did you link your alarm to GH. Does it treat it like a switch as Echo does or did it have the smarts to connect to an alarm system ? It seems to me if it treats it like a switch then it should work the same as Echo so I don’t understand why it worked better in your case.

[joewom (Joe)]

I dunno. Alexa never saw my sirens. I have 3 areotec. But I had them grouped in rooms and when I said to GH turn on living room the siren when on too. So I created a room called panic in GH and works like a charm. Alexa can’t find my sirens. Let me double check right now. It does see them but it does nothing with them. I dunno why. GH you just have to nickname everything because if you say living room light the whole room is turning on or off which ever you asked. And I just love when it doesn’t here a room and I get ok turning on 64 lights. Of course that lights and fans.

[mictha1 (Mike T)]

Sorry about the tardiness, I didn’t check this yesterday! @macombweare, I’m glad everything worked out, and considering the response from everyone, we’ll work with @krlaframboise to add back the Switch functionality =) @Ron, we always appreciate feedback, keep it coming!

Also, I got loudness data back (@Ron & @marktheknife) - the Siren measured 90dB, 100dB, and 110dB at 1" from the speaker.

Mike

[krlaframboise (Kevin)]

@mictha1

we’ll work with @krlaframboise to add back the Switch functionality =) @Ron, we always appreciate feedback, keep it coming!

I’ve added the switch capability and published the new version.

[OBSOLETE] Dome Siren (Official)

THIS HANDLER IS OBSOLETE! A new handler was written for this device, but if you decide to use it with an existing device then you MUST remove the device, delete this handler, install/publish the new handler, and add the device again. Information on the new handler can be found here: IMPORTANT: The new version of the handler doesn’t have the delayed alarm related features so if you’re happy with the functionality in this handler then you should continue using it.         This is the Official device handler for the Dome Siren (Model: DMS01) [image]   [image]   [image] [image]   [image] Alarm Features: 5 Sounds 3 Volumes Optional LED Customizable Duration (30 Seconds - Until Battery is Depleted) Optional Alarm Delay with Optional Beeping (Off, 15 Seconds - 90 Se…

[Ron]

@krlaframboise I just made a small alteration to your DH you might want to consider. You are using the multiAttributeTile but only placing one attribute in it so far. I added Battery level by adding the following to the mutli-tile.
> …

                                        attributeState "chime", 
					label:'Chime!', 
					action: "off", 
					icon:"st.Entertainment.entertainment2", 					
					backgroundColor: "#cc99cc"
			}

               tileAttribute ("device.battery", key: "SECONDARY_CONTROL") {
                  attributeState "battery", label:'Battery: ${currentValue}%', unit:"%"
               }

	}

Looks like this now

[makrupka]

Thomas, you wrote that you own a PS15Z Module. May I ask which DTH you use for it and whether it works reliably? I own a Monoprice 15903 which looks exactly the same and I’m wondering if they are actually identical. The DTH I’m using, which was coded by another community member, does not work 100% for me.

[tohm (Thomas Ohm)]

It’s been a while since I installed that device but I’m sure that I used the Generic DTH that came up on Smartthings. I don’t use any community member DTH on my ST setup. I use that appliance module to power the siren of my alarm still to this day and its been super reliable. Probably one of the most reliable modules I have on my ST system.