I have the Amcrest AD-110 Doorbell. I got it because, unlike Ring, I knew I could access the video feed easily via BlueIris. Works great.
Now I want to capture the Amcrest doorbell push events as well. Turns out that’s not so straightforward. I found this example using Home Assistant but MQTT intimidates me. Never have been able to get it sorted. OTOH I absolutely can integrate it via an Alexa routine, but that approach is not as elegant as my snobby Home Automation instincts allow.
Any one have any creative ideas? The doorbell is powered by a 24 VAC transformer (with a mechanical chime on the same circuit). Was thinking I could add a dry contact sensor somehow that would get automagically triggered upon doorbell press, but I’m not accustomed to working with AC voltage, so not sure if this is possible, nor the wiring scheme.
And yes, I totally appreciate that wiring seems wayyyy more complicated than just using Alexa. But c’mon, if not for unnecessary complexity, where’s the fun?
I have been resisting this for a long time, but...
There is a full integration to HA, so it should be possible to send that back to Hubitat with the HA bridge...
I don't really want to do that, but it seems like that is the way to go...
Yeah I get that. But, if I'm going do all that, then I might as well just create an Alexa routine to change a virtual switch that resides in HE. It'll work fine and it's quick/easy.
I also have an Amcrest DB and I saw that HA have drivers for it that it even detects button press. That would be awesome if that HA driver is ported over to HE so I could finally get rid of SAGE DB sensor.
Anyone willing to port it over? for a donation? My family are Deaf and we use DB sensor to alert us via lights when someone press it.
There is an Alexa solution to this right now for the Amcrest doorbell. It can detect the doorbell being pressed and turn on a light, adjust brightness and/or change color. It just takes an echo speaker to control this.
Its not a direct Hubitat solution but you could probably create a virtual switch in Hubitat, share that with Hubitats Alexa skill, have that turn on when Alexa detects the doorbell being pressed. From there you can do whatever floats your boat for when that switch turns on. This is how i integrate a lot of oddball devices including geolocation.
Yes, using Alexa is definitely doable but not as elegant. I’d really prefer a local Amcrest-HE integration, similar to what exists for HA. I just don’t possess the skills to do it. Which is what got me wondering: can I use a dry contact to tap into the local voltage doorbell circuit?
I am looking at the available source code and API documentation now. I'll see what I can come up with for a rough prototype, and I'll let you all tell me whether it looks worth continuing. Will keep you posted.
Does this mean I need to buy Alexa? I would prefer a direct approach in Hubitat but I am struggling to understand your instruction how to make this work.
@techbill, I'll do you one better. If @tomw and I (mostly Tom) aren't successful at developing a direct HE to Amcrest integration, then I'll share a full write-up on how to integrate Amcrest doorbell using Alexa.
In the meantime, here's a short version:
create a virtual switch in HE and make it available to Alexa via HE's built-in Alexa integration app. Set the virtual switch so that it auto turns off after a second or so.
in Alexa, create a routine that says, if doorbell rings, turn the virtual switch ON
then, in HE, create a rule (using your favorite app, e.g., Rule Machine, Basic Rule, Notifier, etc.) that triggers when the switch is turned on, and takes whatever action you want when the doorbell rings.
