Alarm Panel – SMS Interface Installation

For what seems like forever Simon and I have been working on an alarm panel to SMS gateway device. Mainly to be used with an existing alarm panel, this device will plug into the phone line socket of the alarm panel, allow the panel to “call” and then respond with the proper Ademco tones.

Click here for Simon’s blog posts on the hardware design.

With prototype V2 finally complete and the latest firmware uploaded it was finally time to give it a test run on my alarm panel. Now how to mount it and monitor it for testing? Here is all the stuff where I need to make it happen. Seems like a mess before I even start – this was after I cleaned up the original mess – sigh.

Alarm SMS Items What a mess

  • Alarm panel, alarm SMS interface, phone cable and GSM antenna
  • Raspberry Pi and USB cable for debug interface monitoring
  • 5V switch mode power supply module for the RPI
  • 12VDC Plug pack for the home automation gear
  • 12VAC Plug pack for the alarm

I decided to remove all the existing items from the wall and remount everything on a sheet and MDF. That will make it easier to mount things without the need to locate any wall studs. I roughly measured the wall area, alarm, RF receiver, and power point locations. Marked them up on a piece of MDF the let rip with the drill and jigsaw to get the power point hole removed.

A - Markup B - Drill C - Jigsaw

Looks nice, let’s hope it fits! Of course it did, was there ever any doubt? Now to remount everything. It all went pretty much to plan for a change. The alarm panel was slightly painful as it didn’t really have a lot of movement but some handily placed boxes took care of that.

It fits Remounted Almost done

I rewired my automation input module and finally installed the alarm SMS interface and RPI ready for testing.

Remember this is for testing so yes its all just spread over the shelf for now, the proper installation will not have the RPI and the interface will most likely be mounted inside one of the two cases with just the antenna on the outside.

Now finally I can start testing !

 

 

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