ADT Pulse Garage Door Opener/Closer
For a long time I have wanted to set up my ADT Pulse system to open and close my garage. A vacation from work has given me the opportunity to find a method to control my garage. I also wanted to set up a way for the system to close my garage if it was unintentionally left open.
To set up the system I used a Zwave appliance module and followed the instructions located at the following links:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Z-Wave-Garage-Door-Opener-Switch/#step1
The link below has a part in it advising how to set up your relay. Power goes into post 7 and 8 on your relay. Posts 5 and 3 are hooked up to your garage door opener.
http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,4773.0.html
With the device installed I named my appliance module “Garage Door Opener”. On the garage I installed a GE Design line Garage Door Sensor, model Number TX-8010-1. You will need to “learn” this sensor into your security system. I placed this sensor in zone 1, group 11 on the concord panel.
I then created the following rules in the ADT Pulse system. Garage door open, turn off appliance module (Called Garage Door Opener). Garage door closed, turn off appliance module called Garage Door Opener. These two rules force the appliance module to turn off after being activated. This prevents the module from staying on and possibly burning out your door opener or relay. It also sets up the garage door for the next open or close request. See below:
I tried to create a rule that would shut the garage door by, when left open past a certain time. I wanted to have a ‘fall back” in the event the garage door was left open overnight. I set up a rule to power on the appliance module named “Garage Door Opener” if the garage door was open past 10pm. Despite the garage door being open and the rule time passing, the garage door appliance module is not triggered. I tried to remove the rule for turning off the appliance module “when open” thinking this created a conflict in the system. Deleting this potential conflicting rule did not make a difference.
Unfortunately having a “trigger” to power on the module with the intent of closing a garage door unintentionally left open, will also open the door when it is closed. For example, setting up a rule to “power on the garage door module” when the panel is armed to “stay” mode, will also open the garage door if it is closed.
I was hopeful the GE garage door sensor would “update” its status of open to the panel. I thought that this update would trigger the rule to power on the module, thereby closing the garage door. This is not the case. Perhaps I am missing an obscure setting in the Concord4 panel. Maybe the sensor needs to be in a different security group? I will continue to research. Ideally I would like for the system to close the garage door when it is left open past a certain time. Feel free to throw in your two cents.
EDIT: Once the garage door sensor is added you CAN see it via your Pulse portal. Since it is just an open or closed type sensor you can’t do much with it other than create automations based on its status. In short, the open/close sensor works perfectly with the pulse system.
Running a DVR with ADT Pulse
If you have the ADT pulse video system you know that its ability to record events is based on “triggers.” Those triggers typically are actions or events. Opening a door, window or an alarm can all be programmed to record. Motion detectors can also be used to “trigger” a recording.
The systems reliance on events or triggers is a two edged sword. On one hand its convenient since it limits video clutter and you get only what you want. On the other hand there are situations where you might wish you captured a video outside of the programmed triggers and events.
By way of example, my work car is parked on the street. In theory I could put an outdoor motion detector somewhere near the vehicle that would act as a “trigger” to start recording on the outside camera. The result would be a huge amount of video funneled through the pulse system. Video I most likely would rarely look at unless there was an incident of vandalism on the vehicle. (something that has occurred twice in a year.)
Each of the NV412A-ADT’s used for the analog video camera’s associated with the pulse system, has a “video out” port. See below:
Running a video cable with a BNC connector from the “video out” port on the NV412 to a DVR enables you to record with the DVR. You can use all the features of the DVR including remote viewing, alarm notifications, 24/7 recording and even motion based recording. Most DVR’s use internal programing to determine motion and the ADT wired camera’s allow for this DVR motion detection. With remote viewing you can fully control most DVR’s.
If the video option for ADT Pulse is to expensive for you this might be a good option. In theory you could go with a lesser ADT Pulse system that would allow for home automation. Wiring your own cameras would eliminate the need for the ADT Pulse NV412’s.
ADT Revamps Interface
ADT has revamped the touch screen interface for the pulse system. This was noticed by some users over the last few months. They have finally gotten around to my system. It is no longer possible to use the touch screen to add security related devices. You can still use the web page to install ADT non-security devices.
This is unfortunate. I assume users will still be able to use the keypad to interface and add security devices. I have not tested this yet. I fear that the touch screen was the interface for programing and the keypads may be useless for this purpose.
Home View
About a month ago ADT added “home view” to ADT Pulse. With this “widget” you are able to build a diagram of your house and add your various security devices. The picture below is an example.
Moving your mouse over the various green icons give you a status of that particular device along with a summary of its last event. Clicking on the icon gives you options for controlling the device. Pretty slick. Makes getting to controlling your devices a little easier.
Recent Stability of ADT Pulse
Over the last few weeks the ADT Pulse system’s internet connection has been very stable. Connection issues usually show themselves with video errors. As stated in earlier posts, certain events trigger video recording. The recording occurs but for some reason a video error message is sent stating the video recording did not take place. This has been explained to me by IControl techs as the system detecting a brief connection interruption. When this interruption is detected the system will record the event as not taking place and sometimes take multiple videos in an attempt to fulfill the request.
These connection issues could be on the user/internet provider side of the service. I have no way of telling where the fault lies unless obvious events occur, such as a power outage. Within the last week I have had one such failure.
ADT Pulse Adds Two Cameras
It appears ADT has added two more camera options to the ADT Pulse system. Below is a picture of the two additional options. They are called the ICamera-1000 and the OC810. Both are made by Sercomm. It would appear the OC810 is made for outdoor use. The OC810 also has a built in microphone according to a stat sheet. I do not know if ADT supports audio yet on the Pulse system. I have no idea if what ADT is putting out is close to the stat sheet.
I could find no additional information on the ICamera. I would guess it is an indoor option. Probably wireless.
Edit: Previously used two different model numbers to describe OC810. There is also an OC821 Modle.
Text Alerts SLOWWWWW!
Text alerts were very slow today at random times. One alert from 8:31am came in via text at 4:00pm. This could be an issue with Verizon but given IControl’s recent issues with their servers I am guessing they are the likely reason for the delay. All five text alerts today were late at different time intervals ranging from an hour to 7.5 hours. There still be a few on the way. I don’t keep track of each text alert. I only note the time of the “event” compared to the time of the “text.”
This has occurred once before that I recall. Not worth calling ADT. They rarely seem to know what is going on with the IControl side of the fence.
Texts alerts are not critical but could be important. They advise of system invents including flooding, alarms and such. Floods will not generate a police response. However, I would like to know about such an event so I can turn the water off!
Consistent reliability seems to be the biggest challenge with ADT Pulse. The security side seems to always work. The gravy of ADT Pulse is not as reliable. I still love the system. I am just getting frustrated with the hicups.