Trying to get my alarm panel talking to HE. Interested in using zones to trigger devices such as opening the garage door turns on the garage lights automatically. Also interested in getting system status such as Armed Away or Armed Stay to trigger automations with my thermostats adjusting temperature up/down if we're home or not.
I've done some searching and see the following solutions available:
Konnected - Not an option as I have a few wireless sensors in my home.
AlarmDecoder - Not an option as I don't have a computer near my alarm panel to connect USB to. I don't think they have a wifi/ethernet option unless I'm wrong.
Envisalink - Seems like the best option but I don't see an app/integration in the list of built-in apps. Is there a working User App I can use? Would be great if there was a tutorial or video showing how I can get this working with HE.
They have a version that uses a raspberry pi3 which is Wi-Fi. I used it up until I moved about 12 months ago. There was even a community integration but the person left HE so I don't think it's maintained anymore nor would I know how to find it to download. AlarmDecoder does have the option of using HTTP requests so it could be incorporated using the Maker API app but it would take some work. I'm in a rental house right now but if the house I end up buying has a Vista panel, that's the route I'm going to take before giving up on it.
EDIT: I just looked, the integration is still in HPM but I am pretty sure Dominick left the HE platform.
It's a communty-supported app. I've been using it for a couple years and it works quite well. There are two options for installation, one that runs entirely on HE and one that splits the load between HE and some other device like an rPi. I use the former method. It is a bit chatty but works great and integrates nicely with HSM. The Envisalink board (not the HE integration) can also be used for remote monitoring (and there is a service available).
A couple of caveats: you can use all of the alarm system's sensors as HE devices but if the alarm system is in a mode set to ignore those sensors, it will. For instance, if your system is set to ARM STAY, your internal motion sensors will no longer report to HE so they can't be used to control interior lights. It makes sense, but just an FYI. You can also only use it with one partition. For most users that's not an issue. But if you have two partitions enabled on the panel it will only work with one. The Envisalink board is ethernet only, no wireless, so you'll need to run a cable.
Honestly the tricky part is not the envisalink app, it's installing the envisalnk board. But with a bit of patience and a careful read of the manual, not a big deal.
The big advantage is it leaves your panel intact and working just as it did before the install. I use a local alarm company for maintenance and monitoring. The first time they saw it I spent a few minutes explaining and when they saw the integration they said "wow this is cool. I wish we sold something like this." But if you're using one of the big boys they may be less inclined.
Installing the board (not the app) does require the installer code, though resetting it to the default is simple. But once again the first time the alarm company services it you'll need to let them know it's been reset and they'll likely change it again.
When you install the HE integration you have the option of installing it "bare bones" with just the device drivers or with HSM integration. If you choose the latter HSM becomes the user app.
There aren't any videos of which I'm aware but there's a lot of info here:
The mobile app that comes with Envisalink works but it is ugly. I don't use it.
If I recall there are "WiFi" dongles that can be used to simulate an ethernet cable by using their own independent connection to piggyback the signal out of the alarm or whatever device to whatever you're connecting it to.
Kind of like a virtual cable but I haven't seen them in years and I can't remember what they were called but I remember using them years back.
You might want to have a look around and see if they're still available..
If your sensors are on zone expanders, not connected to the main panel, they do report faults via !EXP. I don’t use Envisalink so don’t know if there is an option to read and process those updates from the panel.
During an addition many years ago I moved all sensors to zone expanders and only have smoke and glass breaks on my main panel so that I can process faults while in Stay/Home mode. I use an Alarm Decoder AD2Pi device hooked up to an Arduino for my integration with HE. This stems from the AD2Smartthings integration project I used to help maintain back on SmartThings. It has worked well since 2015.
The Hubitat logic says the alarm is disarmed if it is not armed Stay or Away, and i use this to drive the Hubitat mode...Away, Sleep, Home. I use the mode change to drive automations.
I don't allow for Hubitat to arm/disarm the security system...I personally like to have a dividing line here.
I moved the alarm monitoring from ADT to another company. I changed the communicator as my old one was 3G so I'm somewhat familiar with programming, installer code, wiring, etc.
@ksgnow2010
I've seen you mention this setup in other posts and I must admit it sounds easy enough. I had ADT Pulse when they were monitoring it, the z-wave board is still in the panel. But now that I've lost access to the Pulse website I'm not sure how I could add the ZEN16 and configure it to trigger when the alarm modes change. I'm going to have to see if this is possible.
@brad5
I'm using Total Connect 2.0 for the web/mobile interface so I don't think I'll use Envisalink's if I go that route. When you say it's 'chatty', are you referring to the fact that every time a door or sensor triggers the panel is communicating that change through the Envisalink to HE? I won't need everything going to HE as I won't be using the majority of the sensors with automations. Can I pick and choose which sensors Envisalink updates to HE?
Not sure is you would consider a build it your self option.
I made a "read only" receiver for a Vista 20P panel. It captures the serial output of the panel and essentially captures everything that goes on the panel display.
It uses a simple buffer circuit to not load the key pad signals. It is hard wired.
The first version used an Arduino ESP32 WiFi using Hubduino software by @ogiewon .
It generates a fair amount of load on the hub and a fair amount of network traffic regardless. But don't let that be a concern. It's still well below the threshold of what even a fairly loaded hub can handle. I have all of my security (alarm, lighting, cameras, outdoor sensors, etc) stuff on a separate hub but for the vast majority of users I doubt if that's necessary. Here's the device and app stats:
![Screen Shot 2023-02-04 at 6.07.55 AM|690x73]
(upload://orhHsIhf2Xdv5GRzAs0r9l4l7c3.png)
Yes you can. Or at least you can choose which vista devices get mapped to virtual devices. I think the envisalink sends all the data and the app does the filtering on the HE side.
This sounds interesting and I don't mind a 'diy' option. I assume the arduino is programmed to the panel as another keypad so that it can monitor the bus? Anywhere I can find more information on how to do this? (what firmware to load, how to program the arduino, etc.)
