[OBSOLETE: NEWER VERSION AVAILABLE] Konnected Security 2.0 - Connect Wired Alarm System Sensors and Siren to SmartThings - big update and new name!

Hi. New to this conversation and first time home owner. The house came with a security system and its components are wireless (door and window sensors, motion, etc). Reading about this solution to integrate the existing home security system into ST is what I hope to complete.

Question: if my system is using wireless sensors, will this solution work? If not, what options are out there for a non technical person?

Nope, you can’t use wireless. Konnected requires a circuit to be open and closed on it’s own platform [NodeMCU], not remotely.

What you could do is look into ST_Anything, you can run an RF receiver on it, and listen for when your sensors trigger, then using the ST_Anything library, connect them into SmartThings - you’ll be one of the first to do it if you get it working. However, describing yourself as non technical, I’d stick to off the shelf products.

Good luck.

@G00se - That looks like the keypad - is there another box with the actual alarm panel anywhere or is it all self-contained within that unit? I have a Safewatch 3000 and am using Alarmdecoder’s AD2PI device.

I think that’s the main panel.

Thank you for the information. I believe what I shared in the photo is the main unit. Has anyone found success with getting the individual wireless components to be seen by ST hub? ie: bypass the main board altogether and have the ST hub become the receiver.

Is the ST_Anything that solution?

Here you go …

Hi Again, I have been playing with my newly setup system and so far the it is working perfectly… Really pleased with it so far. I really like the added functionality of smartthings to trigger useful routines when motion is detected, making the alarm more useful that just an alarm…

I have noticed one potential flaw that i would like to know if it can currently be worked around (with other equipment or otherwise) and if not I might have a dig in the code and see what I can come up with…

Basically if the power gets cut to the house I am covered because the bell box has a backup battery and triggers itself anyway on power loss. However, if the would-be thieves just cut the internet to the house then because the groovy code needs the cloud to run, the siren would never get triggered.

I would like to develop a way for the nodemcu/lua code to become ‘armed’ (i.e know which sensors should be set to what, and if they change, turn on the siren). This would help most people who will be using the battery backup of the original alarm to power the nodemcu during a powercut, where most likely the internet connection will go down, it is at this point the house is not protected as the siren can not be triggered. I appreciate it may still never be possible to arm/disarm or turn off the siren in this state - but it seems better than a completely unprotected house.

Also this system is just as vulnerable as any wireless alarm system to jamming, something the professional products claim to protect against. Where if they can stop the nodemcu communicating with the router in the house (no need to cut anything) they can stop the siren triggering - Having the nodemcu code be state aware may be a way to solve these issues.

How hard is it to piggy back this onto existing hardwired alarm, and leave the existing alarm functional? Would be nice to have all my hard wired sensors in smart things even if existing alarm is used for monitoring and such.

I have one of those fire alarms with only the two wires that the instructions say are not compatible with konnected. Is there any way to connect up that fire alarm or any future plans for compatibility? Thanks. Otherwise everything is working great!

I’ve got just about everything up and running finally after a significant lag from project start to finish. I’ve got a few wires in my old alarm panel I cannot identify, and also I have a strobe mounted on an outside eve that I cannot figure out how to connect and how it gets power (I can’t activate it). Here is the model and specs:

http://www.reverenet.com/wba/Assets/Brand_REV/SpecDocs/RSTA.pdf

The siren in my home is a two-wire setup. I do not see a similar wire that would go back to the strobe, but there was a red and a black wire going from, with a each wire going to either a “bell” and a “siren” contact on my old panel. Any idea how the strobe could be getting power? Could it be linked somehow through the panel to the power going to the alarm?

Any guidance from someone with a similar problem would be appreciated.

Has anyone seen something like this before? As far as I’ve traced the wire with the coil in it, it seems to go up into the wall somewhere… I’m not sure to where, or to what, but there are smoke detectors in that area. When I pull back the smoke detector, I do not see any similar voltage wires in the boxes. There are two other smoke detectors in my home; this photo is from the basement near my alarm panel, and then one on each other floor.

Jason, the first picture looks like a transformer for a HVAC or a wired doorbell.
Your smoke detectors look like they operate on household 120V AC current.

EDIT: Regarding your strobe – the datasheet you linked indicates that it works on 12V DC power, so I would think that there are a pair of wires (red/black probably) that run from the siren terminal on your alarm panel to the strobe. You should be able to just move this to be controlled by the Konnectd relay just like the siren.

Richard, I recently learned about this interface module from System Sensor which sounds like it can work with some of the older System Sensor 2-wire models that are pretty popular with alarm systems. This interface module can be installed near your alarm wiring to power the smoke detectors and provide a relay contact for the Konnected board. See: https://www.systemsensor.com/en-us/Pages/COSMOD2W.aspx

I have not tried this nor have heard any confirmed reports of anyone trying it, so I would suggest reaching out to System Sensor customer support first before making a purchasing decision.

Hi Matt,

At this time we don’t have plans but develop local state on the NodeMCU. To mitigate some of the power/internet access problems that you mentioned, I recently published this article which goes over some power and internet backup solutions: https://docs.konnected.io/security-alarm-system/faq/backup-battery-and-wifi

That’s exactly right for the doorbell. Makes perfect sense too. Thanks! As for the strobe, the wires for my siren are 12 gauge and the only wires I think could go to the strobe are more like 16 gauge (or typical low volt wires like the rest of my sensors). Does it being a 12v strobe mean it needs a thicker 12 gauge wire like my siren? Could the low gauge wires be for the strobe?

Yes I think the 16 gauge wire is plenty thick enough for a 12v strobe. 12VDC is considered low voltage.

Anyone know of any professional installers for this system insouther calif - riverside county

Right now we don’t have any relationships with local professional installers, although this is something I’d like to work on developing. If anyone here is a licensed installer and would like to pilot a reseller/installer program, please contact me.

I use this

There is a US version, I just can’t remember who makes it.

It’s great as it’s just plug and play into the NodeMCU dev board.

Sorry for the many posts today. The door chime control panel replacements are great, but is there any possibility a text to speech speaker might be possible in the near future? E.g., “front door open” etc.

Also, is there a door chime that works as a contact sensor? To let you know when the doorbell has been rung by notification through the ST app? Nothing too fancy.