Tried that and hard reboot to see if that made a difference.
If I tail the log file, whats the best thing to grep it against to filter out all the other crap?
Probably wont be for a few days anyway as I’m off to CES today 
You can just Email me the whole [unfiltered] thing if you don’t want to post it here. It’s actually some of the “other crap” (from Verbose Logging) that I’ll likely want to look at
Unfortunately the code doesn’t have a centralized Logging function, so it’s own log-lines aren’t “tagged” for easy grepping.
sorry to barge in on this topic - but I’m looking at Vera as a potential home automation controller, and working with DSC. I’m in the situation that I have not made a final decision on either, but I think the DSC-1832 kit looks good and reasonably priced compared to similar offerings from GE. Also, the sensors seem more reasonably priced. The reason I need a non z-wave/x-10/insteon sensor in the first place is that I would really like glass-breaking sensors throughout my house.
Searching the forum and wiki, I have found very little info on 1832 compatibility (except some vague references seeming to indicate it should work). Technically what would be needed (if possible though)?
The parts I was thinking of buying;
DSC Power1832 Alarm Control Panel
RFK5500 - LCD Full-Message Keypad w/ Wireless Receiver
(actually a kit with those two items included)
To get communications going, I was thinking:
PCLINK-SCW - DSC Computer Interface
WIZnet Serial-to-Ethernet Gateway - WIZ110SR
Would this do the trick? I also see reference to IT-100 but not sure what this is needed for?
How does this work software wise? Does it use the plugin for GE, or some other plugin?
My goal (for now) is to:
-remotely activate/deactivate alarm, preferably through vera iphone app or mobile web?
-Have some sort of message sent to me if the alarm is triggered while away. (sms? email? )
-preferably have vera pick up on it and turn all lights in the house on, etc
Is this even possible?
Thanks a lot, and again,sorry for hijacking this thread…seems like you guys may be more in the know of DSC and Vera than anyone else though
The 1832 will work fine and you will need to interface it to Vera with an IT-100 and then either a WIZ110SR or a regular USB to serial adapter.
Although the board has serial already, it can only be used for programming / initial setup via a PC with the DSC programming software unfortunately!
There is already a specific DSC plugin (written by MCV) and you’ll be able to remotely enable or disable the alarm from a phone etc (via a scene) and also use the sensors to trigger other scenes if need be like lights etc! You can also disarm it if you like automatically from associating the disarm scene with an event like a PIN being entered from a lock keypad.
The sensors can also be used independent of the alarm being armed or not and like you said they are also cheap!
The only thing at the moment that isn’t working for some reason is the SMS or email Alerts. I’m currently working with @guessed at the moment to work out why these aren’t working.
Thank you for the quick and detailed response! I appreciate it very much. The rumors about the great user-community were not exaggerated it looks like
I hope the message issue gets resolved, though I have a little time before I will buy the main equipment. Ended up impulse-buying the Trane Thermostat at Radioshack for $59 today though!! (can’t use it yet, but that was too good of a deal to pass up! :))
I’ll be reading more (and probably posting more questions too!)
Thanks again.
I bought my Alarm Kit from www.homesecuritystore.com as they seem to have the best prices. If you are going to set this up yourself then their support forum is also a good resource with some really helpful people.
The alarm panel itself was way easier and quicker to install and wire than the actual panel setup was, and I suggest you try and familiarize yourself with it now as there is quite a steep leaning curve to it and it was considerably more difficult than I imagined
Yes, they look like a good store. Hope I can manage the setup though
I finally got the DSC alarm installed in our new construction (a DSC Powerseries 1616). I want to integrate this with the VERA so just to be sure I’ve got this right… I need to buy the IT-100 and the WIZ110SR?
You have a few options:
(1) The IT100 and the WIZ110SR will give you good flexibility in terms of remotely connecting Vera to the panel as it can be pretty much connected anywhere on your network. The only disadvantage to the WIZnet is that it’ll need to be connected to a 5V wall wart or some other source such as a USB port and adapter cable.
(2) If your Vera isn’t too far from the panel and you have good wiring access to both, then you could run a Cat5/6 cable, and run RS232 over it (via some RJ45 to RS232 adapter plugs) directly from a supported USB to Serial adapter plugged into vera such as this one:
http://parts.digikey.com/1/parts/1501993-cable-economy-usb-rs232-srl-conv-uc232r-10-chipi.html
(3) The third option is locate the IT100 and the USB serial adapter near Vera, and then run cable (4 wire) back to either the panel keybus input or to the PIN pad since this is also on the same bus.
Also consider how you will supply Backup power to things. Generally speaking the Alarm components are “backed” by a Battery, so they’ll survive Grid outages (etc).
Things on your Ethernet network generally don’t have this type of backup, so you’ll lose connectivity to those components when the power is down.
By placing them “all together” (Panel + IT100 + Vera + DSL Modem) you have a few more options to provide Power backup to all of them. I have mine set this way, so I can survive for about 12 hrs if the power goes down. As a result, I can continue to use Vera to notify me of problems in the house, such as Alarm breaches, and that the power itself went down.
You may not want this up front, but it’s handy to have the option down the road.
Thanks. Everything is within a few inches of each other on a little rack. I’ve got Vera hooked up to a netgear switch that also feeds the rest of the house. The switch is connected to the router and then to the cable modem. Does that mean I am better off with the USB to 232 adapter connected to the IT-100 and the Vera?
I noticed that the electrician selected a pretty cheap dsc (I should have supervised this purchase). We have 12 doors and 15 windows hard wired plus 2 glass breaks and 3 keypads. Should I upgrade the box to a better one (1864?)? It looks like he currently has this wired to 6 zones which won’t give us a lot of information…
On the power, we have a backup generator that kicks on after 3-5 minutes so I was planning to put a battery backup in for all of this stuff to keep it going until the gen kicks on.
You may want to consider either the 1832 or 1864 (you’ll still need zone expanders also though) as I think the 1616 only supports 16 hardwired zones and even then with the use of zone expanders. The key pads also support an extra zone or output.
Just be aware that if the contact switches have been wired in series, then you’ll perhaps have to think about home running extra cabling to support the individual zones!
If your Vera is close, then go with the USB to serial adapter that I linked in my post as you won’t have to worry about power to the WIZnet.
Thanks! That is awesome. I will get to work on this and let you know how it goes… (Now if I could just find a decent dimmer switch that would work with our recessed LEDs ???)
Ouch!
Maybe look at dimming capable LED’s?
@ strangely…So I installed the IT100…custom made the alarm box to have the IT100 sit right below the alarm panel, the serial to usb is plugged in but Vera will not recognize that something is there. Could it be the USB to serial causing Vera not to recognize the alarm panel? I do have the DSC plugin already installed and have already done the reboot on the Vera. Thanks
Here are some pointers to check:
Is the LED on the IT100 flashing?
Is your serial adaptor a supported one?
Have you configured the plugin to use the USB to serial adapter in the MiOS developers serial tab?
You may also need a null modem cable or adaptor between the USB serial adapter and the IT100. I have mine plugged in via a cat5 cable and DB9 adapters back to a wiznet at the moment and I cant remember if the cat5 adapters I have are either wired straight, or as a null modem! From memory when I had mine wired to a USB adapter it needed the null modem adapter.
[quote=“strangely, post:36, topic:167215”]Here are some pointers to check:
Is the LED on the IT100 flashing?
Is your serial adaptor a supported one?
Have you configured the plugin to use the USB to serial adapter in the MiOS developers serial tab? Yes, configured the plugin and I now have tabs listed as partitions. I have no idea where to go from here. ???
You may also need a null modem cable or adaptor between the USB serial adapter and the IT100. I have mine plugged in via a cat5 cable and DB9 adapters back to a wiznet at the moment and I cant remember if the cat5 adapters I have are either wired straight, or as a null modem! From memory when I had mine wired to a USB adapter it needed the null modem adapter.[/quote]
The IT100 is blinking once a second.
Not entirely sure if my adapter us supported, its an I/O crest usb to DB9 adapter. Product 3726 on Monoprice.
I have configured the plugin (not sure if correct however) and I now have partitions that are editable. I simply have no idea what info to put in. I have “Away” “Stay” “No Delay” “w/Code” and “Disarm” all listed as options in one of these partitions but they do nothing when selected.
Can you see the serial port when you go to MiOS developers and the serial port configuration tab? Its in there that you need to set it to use the plugin.
If you don’t see your serial adapter listed in there, then it’s likely that its not supported.
It shows PL2303 in the name field. Not sure if the attachment is visible but I added on in.
Ok that’s good!
In the used by device dropdown where its currently written as “Serial_Portlist xxx…” you need to select the plugin which will be whatever the DSC is named as ( I renamed mine so not sure what it was).
You’ll also need to change the baud rate to 9600 which should be IT100 default. Don’t forget to save after changing both these items.