Newbie Needs Advice

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Turdnugget

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Howzit chaps,

I recently bought a house and it needs a lot of work. Right now I'm sitting with an outdated ADT alarm which is locked behind an installer code and has too few channels for the number of sensors, and the garage motor which requires an ET receiver for us to add more remotes to it.

I don't know nearly enough about IOT to confidently go about this but I think it would be a fantastic learning experience rather than just throwing money at the problem(s). Ideally I want to have something like home-assistant monitor the alarm sensors and decide if/when to send a signal to ADT. I also want to be able to trigger/monitor the garage motor via ip. I am a software dev so home assistant isn't super necessary as I could make a small UI if needed but why reinvent the wheel.

My question at the moment is what would you guys recommend to be able to monitor and control the alarm sensors over ip? I know konnected would do most of what I want but I'm not sure I actually need it. Would something like a PI with a GPIO expander be a good option for the sensors? Any advice would be much appreciated.
 
Turdnugget said:
Howzit chaps,

I recently bought a house and it needs a lot of work. Right now I'm sitting with an outdated ADT alarm which is locked behind an installer code and has too few channels for the number of sensors, and the garage motor which requires an ET receiver for us to add more remotes to it.

I don't know nearly enough about IOT to confidently go about this but I think it would be a fantastic learning experience rather than just throwing money at the problem(s). Ideally I want to have something like home-assistant monitor the alarm sensors and decide if/when to send a signal to ADT. I also want to be able to trigger/monitor the garage motor via ip. I am a software dev so home assistant isn't super necessary as I could make a small UI if needed but why reinvent the wheel.

My question at the moment is what would you guys recommend to be able to monitor and control the alarm sensors over ip? I know konnected would do most of what I want but I'm not sure I actually need it. Would something like a PI with a GPIO expander be a good option for the sensors? Any advice would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...
I used a pi zero and connected the GPIO to an old gate remote via relay and had a php app running under Apache to trigger the button. You use your mobile phone connected to the LAN to open the web page and trigger the button or just write a simple mobile app. Can obviously be exposed via NAT and Dynamic DNS if you don't have a static IP on the pointy side if want.
You may also want a mini LiPo with charge circuit to power the Pi while loads shedding is in place.
 
Last edited:
Eric said:
I used a pi zero and connected the GPIO to an old remote via relay and had a php app running under Apache to trigger the button. You use your mobile phone connected to the LAN to open the web page and trigger the button or just write a simple mobile app. Can obviously be exposed via NAT and Dynamic DNS if you don't have a static IP on the pointy side if want.
You may also want a mini LiPo with charge circuit to power the Pi while loads shedding is in place.
Click to expand...
Thanks man. Are you referring to the garage door or the alarms now?
 
I'm in the same boat as you (new house) and also looking at similar items. From what I can tell the best option for a garage would be a shelly one (see the Shelly thread). This will give you the automations and the ability to add to home assistant.

For the alarm, is it actually an ADT alarm? The place I'm moving into has a DSC alarm which has a third party attachement which allows control over IP. I'm going with this method as I prefer the simplicity. The methods involving the Pi Zero (with a paradox system) is also also detailed thread in this sub forum.
 
giloo777 said:
I'm in the same boat as you (new house) and also looking at similar items. From what I can tell the best option for a garage would be a shelly one (see the Shelly thread). This will give you the automations and the ability to add to home assistant.

For the alarm, is it actually an ADT alarm? The place I'm moving into has a DSC alarm which has a third party attachement which allows control over IP. I'm going with this method as I prefer the simplicity. The methods involving the Pi Zero (with a paradox system) is also also detailed thread in this sub forum.
Click to expand...
Not sure what type of alarm it is but it is from 2002 so very unlikely to have IP connectivity. It also doesn't have enough channels for the number of sensors already on the board so things aren't working all that well. I'll take a look at the shelly and paradox threads.
 
Turdnugget said:
Not sure what type of alarm it is but it is from 2002 so very unlikely to have IP connectivity. It also doesn't have enough channels for the number of sensors already on the board so things aren't working all that well. I'll take a look at the shelly and paradox threads.
Click to expand...
Identify the system used. ADT is only the alarm monitoring company.
You won't find anyone that will work on it for you not even ADT.
The rule of the security jungle out there is replace don't even recover, just replace.
And 2002 is not old BTW.
 
I actually like my old system - no one knows anything about it except me. And when I moved out, unless the new owner asks, I will leave with the access codes.
 
Geoff.D said:
I actually like my old system - no one knows anything about it except me. And when I moved out, unless the new owner asks, I will leave with the access codes.
Click to expand...
There's something to be said about being the only person who understands your security system.
 
Turdnugget said:
Howzit chaps,

I recently bought a house and it needs a lot of work. Right now I'm sitting with an outdated ADT alarm which is locked behind an installer code and has too few channels for the number of sensors, and the garage motor which requires an ET receiver for us to add more remotes to it.

I don't know nearly enough about IOT to confidently go about this but I think it would be a fantastic learning experience rather than just throwing money at the problem(s). Ideally I want to have something like home-assistant monitor the alarm sensors and decide if/when to send a signal to ADT. I also want to be able to trigger/monitor the garage motor via ip. I am a software dev so home assistant isn't super necessary as I could make a small UI if needed but why reinvent the wheel.

My question at the moment is what would you guys recommend to be able to monitor and control the alarm sensors over ip? I know konnected would do most of what I want but I'm not sure I actually need it. Would something like a PI with a GPIO expander be a good option for the sensors? Any advice would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...
If you want to monitor and control the garage/gate motor, you can try the low voltage Sonoff SV's...there are a lot of videos to show how to connect as a dry contact and connect a reed switch onto the GPIO connections etc. HA works very well if you have a Pi4 with SSD (SD cards burn out every so often) or a dedicated server running HA etc. I am not sure whether Shelly has a Safe Voltage unit? @Dolby may be able to help?
 
Turdnugget said:
Not sure what type of alarm it is but it is from 2002 so very unlikely to have IP connectivity. It also doesn't have enough channels for the number of sensors already on the board so things aren't working all that well. I'll take a look at the shelly and paradox threads.
Click to expand...
Post a pic of the alarm and we'll tell you.

Also, if it's a IDS alarm I can help you to reset it, problem is then you'll need to reprogram all the zones
 
Garage motor there 2 options to add it to wifi:
1. Shelly1 in DC mode + reed switch sensor (for door open/close state)
2. Sonoff SV + reed switch sensor (for door open/close state)

For your alarm system. Open the box, take a photo of the main panel board, so that you can figure out what it is.
ADT resell both DSC and Paradox as their own brand.
If its DSC, they are great, but then again you dont have enough channels.

If you buy a new alarm system, do research before just buying.
The DSC Neo is encrypted over the wire, so impossible to add to Home Assistant.
The pre DSC Neo boards, while old, are great and work. I went with a DSC 1864.

Paradox however is great too and there different ways to integrate it.
 
Tinuva said:
Garage motor there 2 options to add it to wifi:
1. Shelly1 in DC mode + reed switch sensor (for door open/close state)
2. Sonoff SV + reed switch sensor (for door open/close state)

For your alarm system. Open the box, take a photo of the main panel board, so that you can figure out what it is.
ADT resell both DSC and Paradox as their own brand.
If its DSC, they are great, but then again you dont have enough channels.

If you buy a new alarm system, do research before just buying.
The DSC Neo is encrypted over the wire, so impossible to add to Home Assistant.
The pre DSC Neo boards, while old, are great and work. I went with a DSC 1864.

Paradox however is great too and there different ways to integrate it.
Click to expand...
I'll drop you guys a photo as soon as I get a chance. Would you recommend sticking with the existing board over trying a DIY job?
 
Turdnugget said:
I'll drop you guys a photo as soon as I get a chance. Would you recommend sticking with the existing board over trying a DIY job?
Click to expand...
If it's dsc, it's possible to add a zone expander board depending on what it is. I suspect same goes for other brands
 
Turdnugget said:
Not sure what type of alarm it is but it is from 2002 so very unlikely to have IP connectivity. It also doesn't have enough channels for the number of sensors already on the board so things aren't working all that well. I'll take a look at the shelly and paradox threads.
Click to expand...
a friend had a system, it was / is a dsc or dcs. I master reset it. you can check the ic, the big one, for it's number and software version
 
The_Donkey said:
Post a pic of the alarm and we'll tell you.

Also, if it's a IDS alarm I can help you to reset it, problem is then you'll need to reprogram all the zones
Click to expand...
I don't particularly like the IDS and Paradox systems. My mom has one in CT and it is a pain in the arse to keep working.
 
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