Use a dumb siren plus smart plug with STHM?

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I made a post asking for help with this last night. I deleted that post so i could organize my thoughts better and give you the current info on what i have tried. So what i am trying to do is use a Dumb siren for the alarm/siren in the Home Monitor system. I have a Innr zigbee smart plug to control the siren. Im still pretty new to this and Im sure a lot of what i have tried was very wrong. I could really use some help.

The first problem was of course the smart plug did not show up in Home Monitoring in the siren tab. It simply said no sirens found.

So i tried to simple change the device type in the IDE to Zigbee siren. This did make the smart plug show up as a siren and it let me add it to the response and set the delay and alarm duration. However when the system was triggered the switch would not turn on and so the siren would not sound.

So at this point i did a little googlin and thought i had found the solution. I used the zigbee switch device (that the switch seemed to be using normally) as a starting point and added a few bits i found to the code that supposedly added the capabilities i wanted to the device. I added the following

to the list of capabilities

capability “alarm”

and to the end of the code i added

def siren() { on() }

def strobe() { on() }

def both() { on() }

I set this device handler to my smart plug and gave it a try. This made the smart plug show up as an alarm, but again when added to my HM it would not turn on when the alarm was triggered.

At this point i again thought i had a solution. I have used virtual switches to solve similar problems so i figured id just do that. I Couldn’t find a virtual alarm that was already ready to go so i tried to make one. Long story short i made it and it shows up in smartthings as a device, it list no functions and it always shows offline.

I have no idea how to make this work the I’d like it to though im sure its not that hard and I’m doin something wrong. So if anyone has any help I would be appreciate the hell right out of it. Thanks guys/gals.

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OK, first things first. :sunglasses:

You can’t add capabilities to a physical device just by changing the code. If the device doesn’t support those capabilities natively, Nothing will happen when you execute the code. It’s like taking a microwave oven and trying to turn it into a refrigerator by writing the word “refrigerator“ on the front. It doesn’t change what the device itself does.

Next, in both This and your original post you said “smart home monitor.“ Smart home monitor (SHM) is a feature in the classic app, but because the classic app is going away, SHM is also going away.

The security feature in the new V3 app is “smartthings home monitor.” (STHM). It’s similar, but it’s a completely different set of code and there are some differences.

So are you trying to do something with SHM from the classic app? Or with STHM in the new V3 app? If it’s SHM, there’s not much point in that, because it’s going to go away in about a week. If it’s STHM, then we can probably help.

Third, what country are you in? It does make a difference.

OK, let’s get those three things cleared up, and then we should be able to move forward.

(One more small point: this is a very busy forum with people who have all different kinds of set ups. So to be honest, most people just ignore topics that have very general titles like “I need help.“ You will get the most responses with a precise topic title, preferably one that includes the specific model number of the device you are working with, or the specific name of the feature. That will attract the attention of people who either have that same set up, or are interested in it.

I’ve changed your title to be more specific, and that should help you get more responses. )

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Thanks for offering some assistance. I understand i couldn’t add capabilities to a device i did think i would be able to change how the device works and the way i understood what i read the things i added were supposed to simple identify the device as and alarm and tell it what to do when it got the corresponding commands, not really adding any capabilities so much as changing recognized commands. Again i have no idea what im doing thats just how i understood it. lol

Also i am using the new app as far as i know and it is called smartthings home monitoring in the app.

I am in the US.

Thanks again for the assistance.

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Your smart pocketsocket is still just an on/off device. So a strobe command isn’t going to make any sense to that device even if you have a dumb siren plugged into it which can strobe. All you are going to be able to do is either send an on or an off command to the INNR plug. ( what’s the model number?)

Have you confirmed that your dumb siren will start making noise if you just turn on the pocket socket? Some will, some won’t.

The easiest way to test it is to have the dumb siren making noise and then remove it from the socket.

Then without changing anything on the dumb siren, plug it back in again. Does it go back to making noise?

If not, then you’re not going to be able to go any further.

If it does go back to making noise just because you plugged it in again, then we’re ready for the next test. :sunglasses:

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i use those monoprice zwave dual outlet with a custom device handler with a dumb siren horn using a 12v/1A adapter. the monoprice dual outlet (one switched and one always on) is currently $24, but it does go on sale - i was able to get them at $8 each free shipping. while the mp outlet is auto paired by ST, i switched to the custom device handler to ‘rebrand’ the outlet as a siren and therefore ST sees it as a siren and lets you add it to your alarm siren.

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Yes none of this is a problem. The siren does not have a switch and is always on with power

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As far as i know i tried that with my device and had no success. Very possible /probable i did it wrong though

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Which DTH are you using?

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by krlaframboise

works with monoprice zwave dual outlet - after pairing to ST default DH and then changing to this DH

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Honestly im not 100% sure what all i tried at this point most of what i tried was late last night. I tried just switching the device type in the existing device in smartthings. I tried to make a device handler using the zigbee switch as a starting point and adding some bits i found

11

i have a mix of sirens inside and outside. you get a couple of the bull horn sirens going off inside and its enough to drive someone absolutely crazy and run them off. i have them plugged into UPS and behind and under things that arent exactly easy to get to.

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and this is basically what i want to do with my Innr switches but i can’t get them to operate as a siren.

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Ok, here’s the thing.

SmartThings often tries to pretend that there isn’t any difference between Z wave, and Zigbee but there are some very significant differences.

The DTH that @Awestun Used should work great with a Z wave pocket socket. But there isn’t anything similar to work with a zigbee pocket socket.

That’s because Zwave has a concept Of “basic” commands which become a generic command that can be sent to multiple device classes.

The DTH that @Awestun used is taking advantage of this to translate a request into a basic command. That’s how it takes a siren instruction and changes it to something that an on/off switch understands.

Zigbee doesn’t handle it that way: it sends siren specific commands which, as you’ve noted, your pocketsocket doesn’t understand.

By far the easiest way for you to complete your project, given that you do have a siren that makes noise when the power is restored, is to switch to using a Z wave pocketsocket and then use the same DTH that @awestun linked to.

There may be some on sale for prime day this coming week, a lot of online retailers will be running sales to compete with Amazon.

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something in krlaframboise code it relabeling them as a siren.

while the mp zwave dual outlet is $24, you might be able to get one of the many other branded (i.e. jasco) zwave dual outlets for cheap from ebay.

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Ok this is what i needed to hear. Thank you so much for clearing that up for me. so any Z-Wave socket will work with that DTH?

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You can also check it this app. It can trigger a variety of devices including switches and can be setup to use in conjunction with the STHM dashboard. It can replace STHM security monitoring with more sensor monitoring options and expanded actions and notifications. Might be easier than making a custom device handler

17

this is the exact outlet that i am using with the dh.

currently $24, but goes on sale sometimes. I got mine for $8 each.

also doubles as a router/repeater for zwave.

it appears that the similar dual headed plug in outlets on ebay are just as much.

you might be able to pair a similar dual outlet plug and then change to this dh, but it might not work.

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Theoretically any simple on/off zwave pocket socket with just one controllable outlet should work.

A pocket socket with energy reporting or with more than one controllable outlet might not work.

19

this one work?

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It should, but since it’s custom code I can’t be 100% sure. (I use a voice reader and can’t really follow all the code.)