I’ve seen a few other Kiwi on these forums and was wondering if you guys have any recommendations for a new alarm system (and installer). We have a 90s-era DSC alarm system and recently had to disconnect two sensors during renovations, with the result that the system can’t be armed. We also want integrated smoke sensors, so replacement makes sense.
Key requirements are:
Physical keypad, operable without HA (so no homebrew solutions)
Wired sensors, no batteries
Smoke sensors as well as motion
Arm/disarm with HA via local network, no remote cloud APIs
Expose alarm and entry/exit events to HA, individual sensor events would be a nice bonus
So far I’ve had one company tell me they can’t do anything except a cloud app, while another said it’s all good and recommended something from a local manufacturer called Arrowhead Alarm Products. This seems like it would work, but it appears the integration is dependent on undocumented firmware from 2017 and a few unaffiliated individuals on GitHub, which doesn’t inspire confidence. I understand that might be as good as it gets in this niche though!
I don’t mind getting my hands a little dirty with networking and Python - I’m a software engineer by trade - however the more first-party support the better, so I’m hoping for something a little better integrated.
Thank you for reading, any insights would be much appreciated.
A dsc 1832 is still a great system and can easily be integrated to HA. As to a dsc system not being able to be armed, you can bypass any zone normally to still allow you to arm.
Thanks for this, I was able to bypass the missing zones by reading the manual and it’s ready to arm now. Much appreciated.
Ours is a “Classic” series PC1565 - appears to predate the 1832 by about a decade. Might take another look at DSC more generally though, how does the 1832 integrate?
I’ve had a response from Arrowhead, best they can offer is an RS232 board, which I’m sure I could make work. First-party HA support is in the works, but no time frame can be given.
I believe the pc1565 uses the same protocol as the dsc1832 or others in that genre. Edit: My mistake, if it’s a classic, then it’s a an different interface.
To interface it you can use a couple different ways. The first commercial way is using a board called Envisalink evl4 which is about $100 USD dollars or if you are a bit of a DIY guy, you can choose to build a very simple ESP32 interface. See this thread for more details. I’m kinda biased since I’m the developer of the esp32 interface ESP8266 into existing alarm DSC System
Edit: If your board is a “classic” version then it most likely wont’ be supported by the ESP32 code and the Envisalink. You would need a PowerSeries version.
You can easily upgrade your system though as the boards are readily and cheaply available. You would just need the panel and a new lcd display.
Ah yes, I’ve seen the Envisalink. Looks like a good solution. I’m not opposed to DIY, however my knowledge is low and time is in short supply as well, so looking for a “plug and play” solution ideally. I am currently leaning towards repairing this old system and living without automation for a while, until Arrowhead releases their Home Assistant integration.
