Hi All

I have a Honeywell Galaxy 2 alarm system which is connected to the phone line so that it can send SMS to me when it goes off. This has been a bit flakey over the years.

Anyway, there are laying fibre in the street and we can get a pretty good deal on a fibre connection directly to the property so am thinking of getting it. I was going to get rid of my landline all together as we don't use it but have just thought... This would bugger up the alarm. The fibre supplier only have a VoIP offering which I assume will not work.

What are my options? I see they do a GSM module although unsure if my exact model works with it. Is this the best option? Does it also require a monthly SIM contract too?

Wonder if this is the trigger to upgrade to something more sophisticated e.g. Maybe one that has a corresponding app on my phone I can control it with or maybe link to CCTV (we have POE cameras) or something. Haven't looked at this space in years so I'm sure there are some cool things these days?

Any advice pls?

Thanks

Lee.

On 28/11/2019 18:38, Lee Nowell wrote:

What are my options? I see they do a GSM module although unsure if my exact model works with it. Is this the best option? Does it also require a monthly SIM contract too?

No contact - just a Pay As You Go SIM with credit that doesn't disappear
at the end of the month. Running cost of mine around £1.50 year.

GiffGaff SIMs are PAYG with the credit never running out. You only have
to use the number (sending a text message will do) once every 6
months(?). I have a third party GSM module in my bell box that is
programmed to send me "I'm still alive and working" text message every
two weeks and if the alarm is triggered it will send an appropriate text
to any number(s) programmed in its memory. The former message(s)
satisfies the need to use the SIM every 6 months.

My GSM module can be fully programmed via text messages from a mobile
phone. It can also send interactive text messages - for instance I query
the received signal strength and it returns an instant text message with
the figure.

With GiffGaff you can subscribe to a (monthly) data/phone/text package
that does expire on a monthly basis but this is optional. These
additional monthly packages are called Goodybags/Databags but you really
don't need them for a SIM in an alarm. Just put some ordinary credit,
say £10, on the PAYG SIM and the appropriate fee is deducted from this
credit for the texts sent (5p per text).

I also keep a throw away phone in my car with a GiffGaff SIM with £15 of
credit for emergency use. I just have to remember to make one phone call
on it every 6 months to keep the SIM alive. The same credit has been on
that phone/SIM for at least 3 years.

https://www.giffgaff.com/pricing




--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

That sounds interesting so the module is in the bell box itself? Do you have the make / model of the gadget by any chance? Assume there is a "permanent" live feed to the bell box?

On 28/11/2019 19:46, Lee Nowell wrote:
That sounds interesting so the module is in the bell box itself? Do you have the make / model of the gadget by any chance? Assume there is a "permanent" live feed to the bell box?


It was fitted very many years ago and an early version similar to....
https://www.adventcontrols.co.uk/pro...burglar-alarms

It was a credit card size board that I fitted myself to the alarm box.
The alarm box was fully wired to the alarm panel which supplied power
(the bell box has rechargeable batteries maintained by this power) The
GSM card has "trigger" inputs connected to the signals that will set the
bell/stobe off and/or monitoring the power to the bell box.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/11..._Dialler.pdf?5

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 28/11/2019 18:38, Lee Nowell wrote:
Hi All

I have a Honeywell Galaxy 2 alarm system which is connected to the phone line so that it can send SMS to me when it goes off. This has been a bit flakey over the years.

Anyway, there are laying fibre in the street and we can get a pretty good deal on a fibre connection directly to the property so am thinking of getting it. I was going to get rid of my landline all together as we don't use it but have just thought... This would bugger up the alarm. The fibre supplier only have a VoIP offering which I assume will not work.

What are my options? I see they do a GSM module although unsure if my exact model works with it. Is this the best option? Does it also require a monthly SIM contract too?

Wonder if this is the trigger to upgrade to something more sophisticated e.g. Maybe one that has a corresponding app on my phone I can control it with or maybe link to CCTV (we have POE cameras) or something. Haven't looked at this space in years so I'm sure there are some cool things these days?

Any advice pls?


I have a Texecom Premier Elite alarm which has a wired connection to the
Internet. This gives me complete control over the alarm and
disagonotics from anywhere I can get an Internet connection. I get
emails if there are issues.

--
Michael Chare

On 28/11/2019 20:40, alan_m wrote:
On 28/11/2019 19:46, Lee Nowell wrote:
That sounds interesting so the module is in the bell box itself? Do
you have the make / model of the gadget by any chance? Assume there is
a "permanent" live feed to the bell box?


It was fitted very many years ago and an early version similar to....
https://www.adventcontrols.co.uk/pro...burglar-alarms


It was a credit card size board that I fitted myself to the alarm box.
The alarm box was fully wired to the alarm panel which supplied power
(the bell box has rechargeable batteries maintained by this power) The
GSM card has "trigger" inputs connected to the signals that will set the
bell/stobe off and/or monitoring the power to the bell box.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/11..._Dialler.pdf?5



Note the warning in this latter document that this does NOT support a 3G
only network.

A quick search suggests that there may be similar products from other
manufacturers that may have more functionality.

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

"Lee Nowell" wrote in message
...
Hi All

I have a Honeywell Galaxy 2 alarm system which is connected to the phone
line so that it can send SMS to me when it goes off. This has been a bit
flakey over the years.

Anyway, there are laying fibre in the street and we can get a pretty good
deal on a fibre connection directly to the property so am thinking of
getting it. I was going to get rid of my landline all together as we don't
use it but have just thought... This would bugger up the alarm. The fibre
supplier only have a VoIP offering which I assume will not work.

What are my options? I see they do a GSM module although unsure if my
exact model works with it. Is this the best option? Does it also require a
monthly SIM contract too?

Wonder if this is the trigger to upgrade to something more sophisticated
e.g. Maybe one that has a corresponding app on my phone I can control it
with or maybe link to CCTV (we have POE cameras) or something. Haven't
looked at this space in years so I'm sure there are some cool things these
days?

I'd go for this one myself. Much more convenient to be
able to check the camera to see if its a false alarm or not
and plenty of bandwidth with the new fiber service so
you can get a decent moving image from the camera.

Any advice pls?

Thanks

Lee.

On Thu, 28 Nov 2019 19:08:39 +0000, alan_m
wrote:

snip

I also keep a throw away phone in my car with a GiffGaff SIM with £15 of
credit for emergency use. I just have to remember to make one phone call
on it every 6 months to keep the SIM alive. The same credit has been on
that phone/SIM for at least 3 years.


I get email reminders when it's going to expire and a 'we missed' you
after I do.

I think the O2 321 PAYG tariff might be cheaper than GiffGaff, if not
calling another GiffGaff phone etc (depending).

Cheers, T i m

On Thu, 28 Nov 2019 20:40:15 +0000, alan_m
wrote:

On 28/11/2019 19:46, Lee Nowell wrote:
That sounds interesting so the module is in the bell box itself? Do you have the make / model of the gadget by any chance? Assume there is a "permanent" live feed to the bell box?


It was fitted very many years ago and an early version similar to....
https://www.adventcontrols.co.uk/pro...burglar-alarms

It was a credit card size board that I fitted myself to the alarm box.
The alarm box was fully wired to the alarm panel which supplied power
(the bell box has rechargeable batteries maintained by this power) The
GSM card has "trigger" inputs connected to the signals that will set the
bell/stobe off and/or monitoring the power to the bell box.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/11..._Dialler.pdf?5


I'm about to put something similar together using a ESP32 SIM800L:

https://randomnerdtutorials.com/esp3...-messages-sms/

Cheers, T i m

On Fri, 29 Nov 2019 08:23:40 +1100, Ray, better known as cantankerous
trolling senile geezer Rodent Speed, wrote:



I'd go for this one myself.

Nobody gives a ****, senile trolling pest from Oz!

--
Website (from 2007) dedicated to the 85-year-old trolling senile
cretin from Oz:
https://www.pcreview.co.uk/threads/r...d-faq.2973853/

On 28/11/2019 18:38, Lee Nowell wrote:
Hi All

I have a Honeywell Galaxy 2 alarm system which is connected to the
phone line so that it can send SMS to me when it goes off. This has
been a bit flakey over the years.

Anyway, there are laying fibre in the street and we can get a pretty
good deal on a fibre connection directly to the property so am
thinking of getting it. I was going to get rid of my landline all
together as we don't use it but have just thought... This would
bugger up the alarm. The fibre supplier only have a VoIP offering
which I assume will not work.

If you have VoIP, then they will offer some form of adaptor that will
present an interface that looks just like an analogue phone line[1], and
will respond to tone dialling in the same way the real line does. So
chances are the modem in the alarm would be unaware of the change.

[1] Normally called an FXS port.

What are my options? I see they do a GSM module although unsure if my
exact model works with it. Is this the best option? Does it also
require a monthly SIM contract too?

They will normally take any sim, so it could be a PAYG one - so long as
it makes some kind of call at least once every six months to keep the
number "connected"

Wonder if this is the trigger to upgrade to something more
sophisticated e.g. Maybe one that has a corresponding app on my phone
I can control it with or maybe link to CCTV (we have POE cameras) or
something. Haven't looked at this space in years so I'm sure there
are some cool things these days?

There are - although research the security carefully and make sure the
setup is done well, since there are loads of "security" systems out
there making camera feeds available to anyone able to google!


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Like the idea of using and ESP32. I have done a bit of development using them so would be nice to include. How do you plan on integrating it with the alarm system? Would be super cool to be able to control the the alarm via ESP32 too

On Thursday, 28 November 2019 22:16:39 UTC, T i m wrote:
On Thu, 28 Nov 2019 20:40:15 +0000, alan_m
wrote:

On 28/11/2019 19:46, Lee Nowell wrote:
That sounds interesting so the module is in the bell box itself? Do you have the make / model of the gadget by any chance? Assume there is a "permanent" live feed to the bell box?


It was fitted very many years ago and an early version similar to....
https://www.adventcontrols.co.uk/pro...burglar-alarms

It was a credit card size board that I fitted myself to the alarm box.
The alarm box was fully wired to the alarm panel which supplied power
(the bell box has rechargeable batteries maintained by this power) The
GSM card has "trigger" inputs connected to the signals that will set the
bell/stobe off and/or monitoring the power to the bell box.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/11..._Dialler.pdf?5


I'm about to put something similar together using a ESP32 SIM800L:

https://randomnerdtutorials.com/esp3...-messages-sms/

Cheers, T i m

Hi Tim,

You inspired me to do a little Googling on the ESP front. Not sure if you have seen this.....

https://github.com/konnected-io/konnected-security

It is ESP82660 based and they are porting to ESP32 but seems like this port will not be open source. They also sell kits but are US based...

https://konnected.io/

If you find out anything interesting or have a good path to explore, I might be interested in collaborating.

thanks

Lee.

On Sat, 30 Nov 2019 10:26:46 -0800 (PST), Lee Nowell
wrote:

snip

I'm about to put something similar together using a ESP32 SIM800L:

https://randomnerdtutorials.com/esp3...-messages-sms/


Hi Tim,

Hi Lee,

You inspired me to do a little Googling on the ESP front. Not sure if you have seen this.....

https://github.com/konnected-io/konnected-security

No, I hadn't (so thanks).

It is ESP82660 based and they are porting to ESP32 but seems like this port will not be open source. They also sell kits but are US based...

https://konnected.io/

If you find out anything interesting or have a good path to explore, I might be interested in collaborating.

Sounds good. ;-)

In answer to your previous questions:

Like the idea of using and ESP32.

I have played a little bit with one and got it working (phone app
activated WiFi webserver) but was more interested in the very 'remote'
features of something that could send a text upon some specific change
of status.

I have done a bit of development using them so would be nice to include.

You could be handy to know then as the software side really isn't my
thing. I can copy and paste bits and sometimes join bits together and
make them work but only if I'm lucky. ;-(

How do you plan on integrating it with the alarm system?

FTF I didn't really got that far and step one was going to be a stand
alone thing to just notify me of any movement in the back garden (for
starters / testing etc), 'manually' linked to a remotely viewable CCTV
system.

Would be super cool to be able to control the the alarm via ESP32 too

Sure, and I have seen several commercial systems that can do such but
they never seem to tick all the boxes or be affordable if they do.

I was hoping (amongst the millions of other projects I have on the go)
to be able to put together a reliable, versatile and resilient system
that I could fix myself rather than just having to chuck a panel away
and buying another one and having to put up with it's shortcomings.

Cheers, T i m

The software side of things I am fine with. The software architecture of the ESP32 is much better than the ESP8266. It is the hardware side that I am less comfortable with. Also, know very little about house alarms. The link I sent to the company website seems to have a board that you wire into the existing alarm system which allows the existing one to trigger the alarm. The board somehow piggybacks on this and gets notified when the alarm is tripped and also somehow enables the alarm to be set/ disabled via the board. The product selection wizard seems to talk about having a free keypad connection on the alarm.

The installation videos for this seem to give some clues. Looking at the Honeywell one they clip some "T Clips" on to 4 wires in control panel and that seems to be alarm integration done. Alternative is to wire into the keypad.

On Sun, 1 Dec 2019 01:06:00 -0800 (PST), Lee Nowell
wrote:

The software side of things I am fine with.

Could be handy then. ;-)

The software architecture of the ESP32 is much better than the ESP8266.

Ok.

It is the hardware side that I am less comfortable with.

Hardware, electrics / electronics or all?

Also, know very little about house alarms.

The thing is, there are so many, ranging from the very simple to the
highly sophisticated it might be tricky to know the operational
details on all. However, if you think of them like a 4/ engine that
hasn't really changed for 100 years, alarms can be quite easy.

Basically you will generally have a central box where (historically)
all the wiring would join and with a key then keypad to enable it.
Wireless has removed most of the wiring (to sensors and the like) and
then you go 'smart' where you can manage it on an app (like HIVE
heating etc).

I did build a Maplin Electronics alarm kit but then bought a
commercial one for reasons I can't remember. It has a remote keypad in
the bedroom so you can set / unset various zones when in bed and get
audible / visual indication if a zone is tripped (inc the external
doors).

I would be looking for something as a base to provide the basics,
wired and ideally without a microcontroller and with a circuit
diagram. ;-)

The link I sent to the company website seems to have a board that you wire into the existing alarm system which allows the existing one to trigger the alarm.

The one I say you took out their 'panel' and wired in the new
replacement, plus the GSM module if you wanted?

The board somehow piggybacks on this and gets notified when the alarm is tripped

That bits is easy (with the ESP32 / GSM module and your coding). ;-)

and also somehow enables the alarm to be set/ disabled via the board.

I have played with the outputs of an ESP32 over WiFi and BT so know
that works as well. Not sure how you would do it via texts though but
I'm sure you might. ;-)

The product selection wizard seems to talk about having a free keypad connection on the alarm.

That is also possible (and you can get Arduino based keyboards).
However, a RFID fob might be easier, if you are there, with a physical
keyswitch as a backup / override?

Cheers, T i m

It is the hardware side that I am less comfortable with.

Hardware, electrics / electronics or all?

Good point.... it is the electronics side I am less comfortable. I understand what everything does but then designing a circuit with the right things in the right place not so good.


I would be looking for something as a base to provide the basics,
wired and ideally without a microcontroller and with a circuit
diagram. ;-)

My thinking here is that the software to control the alarm, detect a triggered sensor, manage zones etc etc. is quite involved and is clearly critical to the solution. Unless there is some ESP32 opensource code out there this my be an initial step too far. As a first step it would be easier to let the existing alarm do all of that (that's what it was designed and tested for) and then interface the ESP32 to that. Initially detecting when an alarm is triggered - I assume that something like assuming the ESP is another siren and writing the code to detect the event and do something (e.g. send SMS). As mentioned no idea what the wiring for this would look like. Next step would then be to try and arm/ disarm it using the ESP32. I assume this is a bit like the ESP being a keypad but assume there is some protocol between the keypad and main unit.


The board somehow piggybacks on this and gets notified when the alarm is tripped

That bits is easy (with the ESP32 / GSM module and your coding). ;-)

If you are able to figure that bit out for my (and yours?) alarm I am happy to figure out the SMS coding bit


and also somehow enables the alarm to be set/ disabled via the board.


I have played with the outputs of an ESP32 over WiFi and BT so know
that works as well. Not sure how you would do it via texts though but
I'm sure you might. ;-)

Yes I have done the Wifi connection with ESP32 before and getting it to run a web server so you can interact with it. Have also dabbled with their ESPNow protocol.

The product selection wizard seems to talk about having a free keypad connection on the alarm.

That is also possible (and you can get Arduino based keyboards).
However, a RFID fob might be easier, if you are there, with a physical
keyswitch as a backup / override?


As an initial step was assuming the existing keypads would be used to arm/ disarm but yes moving to something else subsequently would be a good idea. Depending on how the other bits go, in theory there would be all sorts of options e.g. a tablet on the wall, an SMS from the phone, mobile app etc etc.

If you are keen to collaborate and go down the path together, let me know.

I have some ESP32's but not one with the Sim card so would have to source one if we do look at this.

thanks

Lee.

Yes code looks straight forward. Will try and order the ESP you recommend today.

Not sure how I get your email address on here though as probably easier to flip to email?

On Mon, 2 Dec 2019 00:22:25 -0800 (PST), Lee Nowell
wrote:

Yes code looks straight forward. Will try and order the ESP you recommend today.

Cool. It was actually the one recommended by the author of the project
but if you are going to start with something I think it makes sense to
start with a semi-known. ;-)

Not sure how I get your email address on here though as probably easier to flip to email?

I thought they appeared at the top of all postings but I've PM'd you
in any case.

Cheers, T i m