Paradox - using Babyware and a USB-TTL

[vic777]

Hey all

Lots of posts on this but a lot of these posts relate to integrating the alarm system into HA and PAI.
I am struggling using the keypad to do what I need to do, and it feels overly complex to program the system this way. I managed to download a copy of Babyware and want to use some of my existing USB-TTL converters to connect to the alarm panel to make this easier.

I need to check a few assumptions with folks who have actually done this and gotten it working:
1. The Paradox logic level is 5V, so I assume I set the USB-TTL to 5V, and just connect RX, TX and GND to Serial1 on the Paradox motherboard
2. The USB-TTL would allow me to use Babyware to program remotes, etc?

Thanks in advance. I have to say, the Paradox programming manual is not the easiest to follow, a few concrete examples would have helped

 

[ipodmusicman]

Hi there,

PAI is connected to my SP6000 via a TCP-to-serial sketch running on an ESP8266. PAI connects to that sketch to communicate with the alarm system. It works great and I've been using this for years. In addition, you can run Babyware and connect to the panel via PAI as well. I have done this, but I really prefer not to tinker with Babyware as I know everything works fine and I really don't need to, but the fact that I can, is a huge bonus.

I don't see why a USB-TTL cannot work, but I can only imagine that this will be a huge mission in a half as you'll need to bring your laptop to where your alarm control box is, not to mention keeping it connected to the serial port. Your best route is to go the way I went above with PAI and HA and running Babyware on your PC.

 

[vic777]

Hi there,

PAI is connected to my SP6000 via a TCP-to-serial sketch running on an ESP8266. PAI connects to that sketch to communicate with the alarm system. It works great and I've been using this for years. In addition, you can run Babyware and connect to the panel via PAI as well. I have done this, but I really prefer not to tinker with Babyware as I know everything works fine and I really don't need to, but the fact that I can, is a huge bonus.

I don't see why a USB-TTL cannot work, but I can only imagine that this will be a huge mission in a half as you'll need to bring your laptop to where your alarm control box is, not to mention keeping it connected to the serial port. Your best route is to go the way I went above with PAI and HA and running Babyware on your PC.

Thanks for your reply

I actually have an ESP32 ready to connect to the alarm and have the TCP to serial firmware ready, I did this to be able to use PAI, but didn't realise Babyware can also connect this way instead of a direct cable connection

I'll plug in the ESP32 setup and try it out, thanks!

 

[friQQi]

I missed the first part of your discussion and sketch...

but I find this interesting and sit with similar challenge. I recently added a Ip180 to my SP6000 for connecting to HA via MQTT and PAI. However, learnt that this cannot be done with the IP180, only with a IP150 which is no longer available.

I am able to connect to my SP6000 via the IP180 and SWAN token, as IP180 does not allow STATIC IP access... Unbelievable, but the paradox team tells me this is one firmware update away. Be that as it may, started exploring other work around solutions and the only option I see is connecting the serial bus, by tapping in on RX/TX/GND on the keypad and sending it to the HA raspberry Pi via FT232RL FTDI USB To TTL Serial module. This is available from PiShop for +-R50.

Important to note that the paradox 12V should not be connected to the FTDI.

I am receiving the FDTI in the mail this week and will report back on whether I managed to get it working.

 

[vic777]

I implemented it and it works fine.

No need for a Raspberry PI, you can just use a ESP32 or ESP8266. I chose an ESP32 since it has hardware UART and I don't need to bother with SoftwareSerial. Benefit of an ESP32 above a Raspberry PI is it is a microcontroller running RTOS, not a mini computer running a full operating system, so sudden power losses don't cause issues if there wasn't a controlled shutdown.

The Paradox alarm runs at 5V logic level and the ESP32 at 3.3V logic level, so that is why you need the logic level shifter. I power the ESP32 from the VCC output on the serial port of the alarm, run the 12V through a buck converter down to 5V.

The ESP32 itself runs a version of the TCP to serial sketch. Instructions and connection diagrams here: https://github.com/ParadoxAlarmInterface/pai/wiki/Connection-methods#serial-over-ip-esp32

I first checked the serial connection using Babyware. Set your FTDI adapter to 5V, and connect with Babyware. This is how I found out the Paradox MG 5050+ runs at 115200 baud, not 9600 baud.

Default connection password is "0000" but you need to set that through the panel - see: https://www.alarmtec.co.za/paradox-alarm/paradox-software/babyware-p-1519{7}893.html

I run PAI on a Portainer container, where I run HA, Mosquitto, MariaDB and Node-Red.

In the PAI config, I needed to encode the password in HEX, '0000' doesn't work for me, I needed to encode it to 'AAAA'. See sample below:

pai.conf:

CONNECTION_TYPE = 'IP'
IP_CONNECTION_HOST = 'YOUR ESP32 IP ADDRESS COMES HERE' # IP Module address when using direct IP Connection
IP_CONNECTION_PORT = 23 # IP Module port when using direct IP Connection
IP_CONNECTION_PASSWORD = 'paradox' # IP Module password. "paradox" is default.
IP_CONNECTION_BARE = True
KEEP_ALIVE_INTERVAL = 10 # Interval between status updates
IO_TIMEOUT = 15 # Timeout for IO operations
PASSWORD = 'AAAA'

I haven't tried to connect to the panel, from Babyware, via PAI. I don't need to, and when I do, I just connect via the serial cable that I have plugged into the alarm motherboard

Note, with regards to the static IP, you can, but honestly, DHCP reservation works fine as well. I prefer accessing my HA and other dashboards via VPN, so I run Wireguard or OpenVPN on Portainer, with port forwarding and a DuckDNS DDnS agent on my home automation server.

Once I got PAI running and connected, I tried the HA autodiscovery for the MQTT interface, it works but publishes a lot of crap together with the useful info. I wanted to see specific things, like ARM status, whether I have a low battery on a wireless beam, etc.

What works for me, is to use Node-Red to parse the incoming MQTT messages, save selected items to MariaDB and publish messages, like ARM or DISARM to a Telegram bot, meaning I can now receive messages on my phone when I arm or disarm my alarm

 

[vic777]