This is just me shooting in the dark to see if maybe somebody on your team has any idea about this, I know most likely technically unsupported…
I have thoroughly read the Surety forums and found some info but not quite everything - here’s the question:
How can I integrate my Vera Plus to be able to identify in realtime the arm state of my 2Gig system?
I understand that I will most likely never be able to talk to the sensors on my 2gig via my Vera since they work on what I believe to be HoneyWell’s 345MHz freq - but all I would need is my Vera to read Arm (Away), Arm (Stay), and Disarm states to trigger scripts/scenes on my Vera. Not sure if active alarm states are readable either.
Here’s what I’ve done so far:
(1) Added all my Z-wave devices to my Vera
(2) Added the GoControl as a secondary scene controller on my Vera.
(3) Tested that I could reach my Z-wave devices from Alarm.com [Success]
Even if it’s not any type of direct communication, I’m open to any programming (arduino perhaps?) or any outside the box ideas on maybe a physical relay or device of some sort.
This is just the last step of my process and any help is good help - thank you!!
The arming state of the panel is not accessible via Z-wave, so there is no inherent way to do this with just the panel and controller.
That said, the 2GIG panel does have an open collector output which can be programmed to follow arming state. (Q78 in panel programming)
A Mimolite could have its input wired to the open collector on the 2GIG panel. You could then monitor the state of the Mimolite with Vera and know whether the system was armed (couldn’t differentiate between stay and away, so you would only have two states: on or off, armed or disarmed).
The Mimolite also has a controllable relay which could be used for indicator lights or the like.
Open Collector (terminal 4 on 2GIG) to P1 – on Mimolite.
Have you guys actually tried wiring a MIMOlite on the +14V and OC terminals (or anyone actually got this to work)? That’s how I just wired it. Then set Q-78 to (01) Activated when Armed. Watched the MIMO SIG1 jump from 0V to 14.1V when I armed the system for Stay since OC should sink to ground. Then when I disarmed it has remained at 14.1V ever since. Never drops to 0V unless I temp. kill power to the MIMO. Not sure if that is because MIMO doc says they pull up SIG+ to the MIMO supply voltage or what.
So curious if anyone has actually gotten OC to work with the MIMOlite?
Hmm, could you post a photo of your wiring? Also the Mimolite board. I’d like to compare it to our test model.
You should be able to use those input terminals with a dry contact, so you might simply try wiring OC and GND to the two input terminals and follow that open/close state.
I finally SUCCESSFULLY tied a MIMOlite’s Signal input between my GC2 and SmartThings so a new automated Routine action at the ST hub will switch to Armed state when the MIMO is tripped by the GC2 going into Armed stated. With that ST Armed state I can base a lot of various very powerful actions within SmartThings (incl. IFTTT) that Alarm.com cannot even do.
I also have the MIMO’s relay output on Hardwire Loop 1 so I can have the ST generate an actual GC2 call to Dispatch. But for now I indeed set that sensor to No Response to keep an eye on false alarms for now.
Same setup should work for Vera monitoring the MIMO binary switch. Some lessons learned to share back:
. You must tie MIMO’s SIG+ from GC2 terminal 1 (14VDC+) and SIG- to GC2 term 4 (Open Collector Out). You can’t just tie SIG- alone IF you are powering the MIMO with its bundled power supply wall brick thus no ground loop.
. But if you are also piggybacking the 300 mA MIMOlite from the GC2’s 14VDC power rails (because I have no wall outlet anywhere close by) then things got tricky. Keeping SIG+ tied to +14V caused the MIMO to switch from 0.0V to +14V once, but it remained +14V forever
. Just tying on SIG- to GC2’s OC would not work, either. Waited (forever) to hear from MIMO Support and they said it’s because of the pull up their DSP chip does to handle analog monitoring. They were stumped so I finally ended up buying a dry relay from Amazon to tie GC2’s terms 1 and 4 to and let that simply short the MIMO. Can’t fit it within the MIMO’s case so nice little ugly humpback somewhat protected by wrapping electrical tape. So wish I did not have to do that.
. With the pullup the MIMO’s device driver for the ST Hub considers 2.7V sufficiently “open” while 0.0v is “closed”.
. As mentioned, I set Hardware Loop 1 sensor type in Q1 to (23) No Response Type. Then I went into Alarm.com to explicitly monitor this new Sensor’s state to watch for false alarms for now.
One of the first things I wanted to do is tie my Zwave garage door to an alarm condition since Zwave devices cannot generate alarms on GC2. I also have a Dome chime/siren in the garage and want it to chime nicely and low as soon as the door opens for reasons twofold - #1: Lets an intruder know something is about to go down and to just get out now, #2: Reminds my wife the alarm inside is actually set and not dilly dally. Then after X mins the ST hub switches to Alarm state, sets off all sirens directly, takes camera pics, sends texts, sings “Bad Boys” (and all the crazy customization ST can do ), and can then potentially have GC2 call Dispatch. So far works great!
Thank you for the detailed follow up! This will help others looking for similar integration.
Were you unable to try just running OC to SIG+ and GND to SIG- ? This can be used as an approximation of a simple dry contact. According to mimolite documentation this is possible, but you may have needed to change parameters.
So can you hear that loud pounding noise off in the distance? Yeah, that’s my head on the desk
In all the different high low wiring combinations I was always in the mindset to keep the OC on the SIG- as pulling to GND and not putting actual GND on SIG+. What threw me off was you could use 14VDC and OC as long as your MIMO power was on its own supply. I even emailed MIMO Support (which took forever) and got a Sales reply address saying their Engineering Dept was stumped about that.
Anyway, thx for that! You guys are always great at trying to help out even with product integration you don’t sell or support (or sometimes even recommend). I am editing my findings above to save confusion.
Hi guys, I know this is an old post but I have a quick question…
I am VERY interested on this setup and I understand that you could check the status of the alarm (armed/disarmed) in ST via this MIMOLite device. My question though is:
Are you able to arm/disarm the alarm from ST?
Are you able to know if an alarm has been triggered from ST?
Are you able to know if an alarm has been triggered from ST?
You can program the open collector to follow alarms, yes, but that would preclude arming status because the GC2 has only one open collector. You would only be able to monitor one or the other unfortunately.
Hi Jason, thanks so much for your help. Then there is no possible way to arm/disarm the alarm without Alarm.com. Is that correct?
Having the collector to follow alarms is a GREAT idea, maybe I like it even better than just checking the status of the alarm. I’ll have a look at this.
Thanks so much, I have read some many of your posts and it feels like you are the guy when talking about all this stuff!
Hi Jason, thanks so much for your help. Then there is no possible way to arm/disarm the alarm without Alarm.com. Is that correct?
Well, when it comes to rigging something, never say never, but any possible solution would be substantially rigged, more so than monitoring a status.
It’s certainly possible to have ST trip a Z-wave device which would close a relay which closes a wire circuit soldered to the button contact points of a 2GIG Keyfob. This would essentially allow ST to press a keyfob, but something like this would void device warranties, have a lot of points of failure, be expensive to implement, would provide no feedback for the action, and would create security liabilities with your system.
), and can then potentially have GC2 call Dispatch. So far works great!