I’ve updated mine too, should hopefully work now…
i’d actually tried it before in the past but i couldn’t get it to work back then, this was before the app did all the auto-device creation and what not - lots has changed since then so i wonder if i unintentionally fixed it along the way…especially now that the app and all the devices have the correct namespace now…
I got 1 door that always seems to show open until I refresh it. Any ideas?
weird, like it shows open, but as soon as you click the device and go into it, it’s closed?
might just be smartthings bugging out…
yea i dont know what it is. i’ll test it more. i opened and closed the door and it appears to be reporting correctly for now. i open/close the app and check and its working properly.
basically it showed open, i’d refresh and look at recently and it would show closed, then the door would mark closed. it caused shm to fail arming because it said patio door open. anyway i’ll keep watching it. love github integration now also 
could be that smartthings api just missed an update somehow from alarmserver
its clear that it’s working most of the time, though, which makes me think it’s not a code problem from my end, and rather some kinda funkiness on the ST end
Just started out in SmartThings, and I have an existing Bosch alarm system (with 30 zones - doors, windows, etc).
Based on what I have read here, it might be worth replacing the Bosch panel with a DSC + EVL4, and using the code to integrate with ST. This way I would use the existing sensors.
Does this sound right? seems odd to change panels from Bosch to DSC, but I can’t see much in the way of Bosch integration here.
Sound right? What DSC panel should I select?
dsc 1864 is the standard although you might want to make sure your contact sensors work on the dsc first. i’m not much of a home security professional, which is why i’m doing smartthings
most hard-wired devices would probably work regardless of the manufacturer…bosch actually makes some decent motion detectors, the tritech ones…was considering them but i actually went with honeywell dual tec (For hardwired) they matched a bit better with the other motions i have. again that’s only fore wired.
it’s wireless devices that are usually specific to the manufacturer, so if you have any of those then it’s more of an issue…you need wireless devices specific to the panel brand 95% of the time. DSC PC series is most definitely that way though. But they do make those really slim sensors for door/window contacts for DSC and you can buy em in big packs on ebay which is nice.
Getting my shopping list together… So far, I’ll be switching to an all new panel (DSC1864), new keypad (would like 1 wired and at least 1 wireless), the EVL-3 (does the 4 matter?), but here’s my newbie question: What do you run the AlarmServer on? I’ve seen threads mention that this is done on a Raspberry Pi, some mention the Shield.
Sorry for the simple questions, I’m trying to keep up with the discussion without actually having any of the equipment or even live in the new house yet.
well shield requires a different adapter to the dsc, the serial adapter. i don’t care for that method because i wanted internet access directly to my dsc and evl-3 or 4 provide that. i dont want smartthings to be the only method i can access and manage my alarm.
the dsc1864 kit comes with a wired keypad that controls wireless zones. you can then add more wired keypads if you want. most homes have 2 wired keypads already. the keypads actually manage the wireless zones like doors and motion sensors.
i run my alarmserver on a linux vm on my nas. you can run it on any linux box, even windows, as long as it supports python 2.7
@isriam motivated me and I got my evl-4 and raspberry pi 3 in the mail today.
Quick question. Do I have to reconfigure each of my 30 zones again or will the evl-4 and alarm server automatically know what zones I have and if the alarm is delayed on versus instant, etc.
Thanks. Excited to tackle this.
Just set alarmserver.cfg to match what your dsc zones are and you’re done. I have 10 zones that are contact sensors so that’s all I have in my config file. The only problem I ever have is my Linux box rebooting and then it won’t reconnect to evl3. A reboot of the evl fixes it and I’m good.
I also have type 26 coded dsc zones and they set system to ready even if they are open. It lets me arm even if the master bedroom door is open.
Thanks for info. Seems fairly straightforward.
i just run alarmsever on my main linux server which also kind of acts as a home router and file sharing and some other stuff, it’s just a computer I built, nothing too special. it’s on a UPS so it’s got some power fault protection, not a bad idea in any case even with a pi…
@DITPL if you’re going for dsc pc1864 (again, v4.6 or above!) and want a wireless keypad, then you shouldn’t get a bundle that comes with a RFK5564 (or RFK5500) like I did (and honestly I sort of regret that. my work to make this app as complete as a real control panel is largely in part of this…) if you get an RFK keypad - you cannot ever use 2-way wireless devices (keypads), you can’t ever add on a TR5164-433 since you can only ever have one wireless receiver on a DSC panel so the RFK5564 takes over as wireless receiver and you’re out of luck for anything else. The RFK5564 and RFK5500 are basically a PK5500 with a wireless receiver built into the keypad. 5564 is 64 wireless zones, and RFK5500 is only 32 wireless zones, but otherwise they’re similar, and you don’t want either if you plan on using wireless keypads. You need a separate wireless transceiver (which does receiving and transmitting)
You must get a plain PK5500 as your main wired keypad (v1.3 or above…i think? And then you get a TR5164-433 and hide it away somewhere, only then can you use wireless keypads. The TR5164-433 also covers normal 1-way wireless devices that the RFK55xx’s supports, so it’s all you need for covering all things dsc wireless. You need to make sure the PK5500 is the latest version though - they definitely had multiple revisions. And then you’d use WT5500s for the wireless keypads. the XX5500 devices (other than the WT) all have been around longer so you do need to be careful with the versions. One nice thing about the RFK5564’s is that you know they’re up to date, as things which support more than 32 wireless devices are fairly new to the DSC powerseries…likewise with the TR5164 which is one of the newest things you can get from the DSC powerseries and it literally is what requires a v4.6 panel - a large part of the v4.6 update is support for the 2-way stuff like the TR5164… though it’s technically not even 64 zones it’s 60 wireless zones and 4 “zones” get reserved for the wireless keypads…which,…I think 4 is the max amount of wireless keypads you can have…as far as I know you sadly cannot upgrade the DSC board to a newer version later, you just need to buy the latest you can, and in this case it must be >=4.6
I got an EVL-4. EVL-3 vs EVL-4 only really matters if the network device (switch/router) you plug your EVL into doesn’t support 10mbit networking. If you believe it - some apple network devices don’t - they only support 100mbit and a 1000mbit on the lan ports. So yeah…that’s not personally my situation, I try to use decent network equipment that properly handles 10/100/1000, but, i opted for the evl-4 just because it’s the newest, and I don’t mind a 100mbit connection for future proofing given most of my network is already gigabit and who knows how much longer until more manufacturers start doing weird things to 10mbit support…
@Phobiac If you already have an existing DSC system setup and working - adding the EVL shouldn’t break anything at all. It should just work really. It basically acts like another keypad device, so it’s just like any other alarm panel on your system. It won’t mess with your zone type definitions or anything like that.
On the other hand, you will have to specify names for your zones in the alarmserver.cfg, as it uses those names to create the smartthings devices for you.
Let us know if you have any trouble getting things going. I think the oauth setup is probably the hardest part for me, and I’m working to simplify that soon…If you’ve got python working (and on linux that’s pretty easy) then alarmserver is pretty straight forward. Plus with the github integration working now on both my repo and isriam’s mirror- adding the device handlers and the smartapp is super easy now.
Jordan - great post, thank you.
So I would need:
This would hopefully allow me to use the existing Bosch 20 PIR / door senors with the DSC, and then hook up to ST.
Missing anything?
that sounds about right although your first link seems like it’s a duplicate of the 2nd one? also need to make sure its v4.6 like i said before but i can’t see from the link since its the wrong one
also you may or may not need to replace the siren/bell ? depends if your existing one is compatible i guess.
also this is all assuming you plan on using a WT5500 later ? otherwise there’s no reason to get the TR5164 + PK5500 and you could just get the RFK5564 instead
i have the rfk5564 and it reaches all over my home, so i didn’t need any other wireless controller.
also i replaced my siren only because it was an ugly yellow from being so old, so it was kinda nice to get a new one.
Thank you! Open to any suggestions on getting something to run the Alarm Server.
what kind of os do you have that can sit around and run 24/7? i’m pretty sure you can run it on anything that python 2.7 supports. i ran it on windows for a long time before i bought a raspberry pi. now i’m using it on a qnap nas.
can you provide a little more detail on that? I have a QNAP NAS so this might be a good option.