ELK M1 GOLD SYSTEM STATUS USING LED's

hello
im a new elk m1 gold user
i have found these forums very useful so far

DSC makes a module PC5601 a tri-status led wallplate that displays either flashing or steady colors to indicate system status

how could i make something like this for the elk m1 gold?

could this be done using off the shelf components and some output activating from rules etc?

without using strobes (and i considered that possibility) i need to be able to see the status of my system before i enter the house.

this DSC module can display....

1. Ready to Arm – Solid Green
2. Not Ready to Arm – Flashing Green
3. Armed Stay – Solid Red
4. Armed Away – Flashing Red
5. Alarm has Been Activated – Flashing Amber

is there any way we can replicate this functionality by putting together this with some led's and electronic components or can we retrofit the DSC module to work with the elk?

im an electrician but i have no experience with electronics only some basic classes that were part of my curriculum.

I would appreciate any input on this, specially from someone that works for ELK (thanks for building a fine product)

Do you want/need all those functions, or would you be happy with a simpler set (ie green if disarmed, red if armed)?

I'm not sure about integrating that specific module - but it's pretty easy to mimick that functionality. There's a couple ways depending on desired complexity; from making your own little circuit board with a micro-controller based LED powered by 12V and receiving serial commands from an XSP connected to the elk, to the uber-simple where you have an output from each possible scenario you'd like to indicate.

thanks for taking the time to read my post
at the moment im open to all possibilities
but my ultimate goal is to have an elegant solution that not only fits my needs but im sure others in the future could benefit from as well

i like the DSC module, its simple and elegant, one multicolored led with blinking will provide up to 6 possible scenarios.

so please me know what you have in mind... why the need for an XSP? excuse my ignorance im still new to the ELK but catching up quickly.

AutomatedOutlet used to sell this wallplate which had a single big LED in the center, which can light up green or red. I had it hooked up to the ELK outputs to indicate the status of my garage door. Worked well (until I blew up the LED), and I think this would work for you too. I'm sure there are other LED kits out there which offer more combinations.

So, technical possibilities aside, I want to pose some food for thought... You mentioned wanting to know the status o the home before you enter...

Are you looking to put this in a garage where you'd see it after openin the door, or somewhere that you can see it from outside the home?

If inside a garage, I'd just do one of those Elk single-gang decora arming stations (M1KPAS?) so you can not only see but control the alarm if you want.

If you're talking about putting it somewhere exterior to the home, I'd suggest you reconsider. Especially something as "complete" as that DSC model, that's just way too much info for an observer to have. An observant person might see when you've forgotten to arm the system at night, or when to catch you if you haven't armed yet... Or they wait or you to pull away while the exit timer is still going (with the elk opening a door during that period generally resets the countdown timer buying them another 60 seconds inside your home to disable your system before it goes off).

I'm all for detection and alerts before entering a home after the alarm has tripped... A strobe that runs until disarmed that I'll see before pulling into the garage as well as a text message on my phone is ideal. Nothing else should be visible. I don't even like my keypads where someone could easily look through a window to see them, or worse, watch me enter my code.

Maybe it's paranoia... But if I were determined to break into someone's home, these are tricks I'd use to avoid getting caught... Therefore in my own home I work to mitigate the risk from others.

I missed the outdoor requirement. While many don't agree with the 'security through obscurity' method, I would definitely reconsider this idea as well. Work2Play's approach is a better one.

to Dan and Work2Play thanks again for your input.

I worked in the security business since i was 19 years old when a friend of the family who owned a company recruited me. I stopped working on the field once i moved to the US and i think the time away from all this is starting to show.

I agree 100% with your points of view, and trust me i am very paranoid when i comes to security, i have seem the most unusual and outrageous ways to break into a place or business in those years when i worked for that security company.

My job wasnt designing or planning or even installing a system, the owner did that work but many times i was with him and got to learn a few things.
My real job was to make sure we had the communication and monitoring part covered. I set up his alarm central station and learn to program just about any panel in order to monitor every possible signal.

With that in mind it was very difficult for me decide which control panel to buy, putting aside the home automation capabilities, i wanted something i could monitor myself, I personally do not like any company out there to monitor my stuff, paying someone 30 bucks a month just to monitor when my system goes into alarm doesnt make sense to me, its knowing when other very important issues happen that could hinder your system also is very important (your arm/disarmed status to pinpoint a false alarm, low battery, ac loss, phone line cut, lost transmitters, etc). most big monitoring companies dont monitor any of that including ADT when i worked for them in Virgina back in 2002.

The elk is the only panel that allows me to self monitor my system and thats why i bought it, but im no fan of either GE or Ademco devices, DSC or Rokonet proved to us in the field their superior capabilities.

Now let me tell you why everything i said relates to my current situation....

1) I got a keyfob that doesnt seem to work right outside the garage, its a hit or miss situation, unlike other keyfobs that have an lcd that give you feedback after you pressed a button i really have no way of knowing if my system received that command after i pressed the button. it could be a defective keyfob perhaps but its brand new and the antenna is not that far from the outside of the home, i have seen keyfobs working at a very far distance.

2) I personally like the idea of the strobe and its the simplest way for me to deal with my situation. I would need a strobe rated for continuous duty and also with bulbs that i can replace, those strobes are not cheap those are for industrial settings, then i would have to deal with amperage ratings and what output on the elk to install it.
i have an elk strobe inside connected to output2 and set the global options to "voltage" on output2.

3) As far as email or text messaging reporting capabilities of the elk, i think a lot needs to be done. It took me a few hours to find out how to announce the violated zone when the system calls me during an alarm condition. Someone here was trying to do the same thing without success so i sat down and tried to figure it out. A system that can call me to tell me there is an alarm but cant tell me which zone... to me is garbage, 20 years ago when people got a phone dialer and recorded their own voice because technology had limitations yeah i get that.
I also noticed there is no way to either call me or text me or email me when a "particular user" has or hasnt armed or disarmed the system, something a lot of parents would like to use to monitor their kids when they come from school.
Also i cant program the elk to send me a text message or email telling me the exact issue going on with the system, in other words i cant put together the message the same way we put together a rule, the same way the panel would send a contact id or SIA report code to a central station with and event number and zone number etc but in plain english so anyone in my family can know whats going on at any time prior to entering the house.
Yes i can buy a gsm communicator and program the elk to send a text message with the alarm code on SIA or Contact ID but my family is not gonna memorize those tables with all the event id numbers to know what they mean

If you guys know how to write a rule saying "whenever something happens and system is armed away email mike violated zone name etc" or
"whenever is 3pm and system is not disarmed by used kid then email mom"

I could do all that with central station software but no monitoring company is gonna do that for you, not out here in US unless you know one that does it.

4) I have an arming station located inside between the internal garage door and the living room, I could move it to the other side of the wall and place it inside the garage space where we park the cars but to me it would be useless, being as paranoid as we all are, the way my house is setup there is a blind spot where someone could hide and wait for the garage door to open and attack you as you pull in or get out of the car. Im all about keeping the bad guys outside my perimeter and not inside when it could be too late to do something. But the open concept these builders got in mind doesnt address privacy or security, I dont have a fence in front of my house so its basically open to anyone from the street to simply come uninvited, thats how my trash was "stolen" sitting on the driveway by the rolling garage door.
It made more sense to either "see" the status from outside or have any change of status reported to us.
i do agree with you, anyone could watch from a distance and figure out the lights etc, and attack at the right time, i also agree with the keypad location as well, thats why i moved my lcd keypad from the first floor to the second and got an arming station, because of its size is hard to read or even see the color of the status led's.

Again thank you guys for all your time, I hope im not trying to reinvent the wheel or going around in circles

So just a couple quick responses...

I completely understand your aversion to monitoring companies - but, they do have a lot more flexibility. NextAlarm is a common monitoring company among CT, and actually can fill a lot of those gaps you've mentioned, such as getting alerts as to who opened what zone when. Check out this link - it describes everything you're asking for, for about $18/month - less if you pay yearly - or $12/month for non-dispatch. Unfortunately the Elk just can't do what you want - it's a huge complaint of the system. The other option is to explore other control options, such as using a software package. If you have an old PC lying around, you can buy Elve at it's introductory $99 price and get advanced rules and some device software - including clients that'll run on Android or iPhones.

As for the keyfobs... that's another one I honestly just don't believe in, though I know lots of people who use them (reminds me of someone I know who leaves their keyfob on top of their arming station - so if someone breaks in, they just have to hit the button on the keyfob instead of knowing the code). Anyway - if you drop or lose a keyfob, or someone jumps you in the garage - they're in. By being forced to use a code, you're guranteed that it requires something that's in your head - not something that can be taken from you or lost. If you're under duress, you can always enter the duress code instead of the real one too. That said, I do have control of my system from outside the home, and I have positive feedback of my actions so I don't need any sort of indicator... I use an iPhone (There's a Droid version as well). I'm not sure if/what smartphones you carry, but I really like this option... and I keep a security code and GPS tracker on my phone, along with auto-wipe if it gets screwed with too much. That adds quite a bit of security.

Good point on the strobe and continuous duty... I'd be partially tempted to buy a 2ft 12V LED Light Strip and mount it somewhere I could see before entering the home - and have it only activate upon an alarm activation. With that, you can also do some sort of notification as well... like, when system is armed, turn on output X for 1 second. That flash would serve as your notification that it's been armed. You could similarly do a rule that'll flash it twice for disarm (think like a car alarm's parking lights).

There's still lots of options... but the less information available to anyone but you the better.

panamanian said:

I got a keyfob that doesnt seem to work right outside the garage, its a hit or miss situation, unlike other keyfobs that have an lcd that give you feedback after you pressed a button i really have no way of knowing if my system received that command after i pressed the button...

Click to expand...

As one piece of a solution, you could use "chirps" of the outside siren for keyfob feedback, much like most automobile alarms. I use: 1 chirp=not armed, 2=armed stay, 3=armed away, 4=RF arming & disarming disabled.

Lagerhead said:

As one piece of a solution, you could use "chirps" of the outside siren for keyfob feedback, much like most automobile alarms. I use: 1 chirp=not armed, 2=armed stay, 3=armed away, 4=RF arming & disarming disabled.

Click to expand...

yes I do carry an iPhone and that was one my future plans to interface the elk with the ethernet module.

but I come from an old school background where simplicity and dumb proofing also counts. the more devices and interfaces we add to accomplish something the more potential for something to go wrong.

the siren idea would be great if my 3 neighbors didn't live not more than 25 feet away, it's impossible for me at 4 am to have that siren going off, they would be knocking on my door, that's why my interior siren is not at the highest volume and the strobe is basically doing the work of the siren letting and intruder know you got caught.

now the question is... is there a way to pass any reporting codes or ASCII strings to a rule or a text field then prepare either a text message or email with such inf

Lagerhead said:

As one piece of a solution, you could use "chirps" of the outside siren for keyfob feedback, much like most automobile alarms. I use: 1 chirp=not armed, 2=armed stay, 3=armed away, 4=RF arming & disarming disabled.

Click to expand...

yes I do carry an iPhone and that was one my future plans to interface the elk with the ethernet module.

but I come from an old school background where simplicity and dumb proofing also counts. the more devices and interfaces we add to accomplish something the more potential for something to go wrong.

the siren idea would be great if my 3 neighbors didn't live not more than 25 feet away, it's impossible for me at 4 am to have that siren going off, they would be knocking on my door, that's why my interior siren is not at the highest volume and the strobe is basically doing the work of the siren letting and intruder know you got caught.

now the question is... is there a way to pass any reporting codes or ASCII strings to a rule or a text field then prepare either a text message or email with that information??

could a gsm communicator or even an AES Intellinet radio send this info??

I know I can set up my own little central station with a digital receiver and some software what would notify me anything I want but that defeats the whole point of not wanting to rely on third party software and equipment to monitor your system.

so far I may settle with installing a strobe just to give me feedback when using a keyfob, and a different visual form of indication of alarm memory.

the bottom line is if i could have immediate notification or reporting of anything going on to my phone 100% then I wouldn't need any visual clues

panamanian said:

how could i make something like this for the elk m1 gold?

1. Ready to Arm – Solid Green
2. Not Ready to Arm – Flashing Green
3. Armed Stay – Solid Red
4. Armed Away – Flashing Red
5. Alarm has Been Activated – Flashing Amber

is there any way we can replicate this functionality by putting together this with some led's and electronic components or can we retrofit the DSC module to work with the elk?

Click to expand...

This can be done with two M1 outputs and a bi-color (three-lead) LED (e.g. Jameco #34673). Connect each M1 output to one of the LED anodes, using suitable dropping resistors. Connect the LED cathode to ground. When one of the outputs is active, you will get the red or green color. When both outputs are active, you will get amber. You need to manage the colors and the flashing with appropriate rules.

Lagerhead said:

This can be done with two M1 outputs and a bi-color (three-lead) LED (e.g. Jameco #34673). Connect each M1 output to one of the LED anodes, using suitable dropping resistors. Connect the LED cathode to ground. When one of the outputs is active, you will get the red or green color. When both outputs are active, you will get amber. You need to manage the colors and the flashing with appropriate rules.

Click to expand...

tell me about the resistors. I'm an electrician but electronics is not my forte, LEDs can't take directly 12v ? what's their voltage rating?

panamanian said:

tell me about the resistors. I'm an electrician but electronics is not my forte, LEDs can't take directly 12v ? what's their voltage rating?

Click to expand...

LEDs are current devices with minimal forward impedance -- diodes, like the name says. If you apply a direct 12V supply, you will instantly fry the LED. You have to manage (limit) the current externally. The resistor value will depend on the LED characteristic current vs. the desired brightness. Most efficient LEDs have operating currents of a few miliamps. Since the M1 output is fixed at around 13 volts, suitable resistors would be in the range of 1K up to 5K, or higher if you want less output. With bi-color LEDs, you might need different values on each leg to get a good amber mix. It's best just to experiment.

thinking about what work2play was saying about having the status lights visible to the public I came to the conclusion that instead of having them on the time I could use them for a few seconds as a visual feedback when pression the keyfob's buttons and if there is ever any alarm condition while armed away then blink an amber light. the rules would apply only when using keyfobs not user codes and when armed away so for the most part the LEDs would be always off.

now how would the m1 make the led blink by rules ? I did some research about the subject and it seems like a timer IC and a capacitor are required

thanks again for your input.

I'm also looking into a celular based monitoring solution capable of texting me or giving me real time feedback. im
afraid to use the Ethernet interface for monitoring since my dsl and phone lines could be cut from the outside ( I did put a contact where at the demarcation box)

I will post more on that but so far the Tellular express seems the best option and they just released an iPhone based solution that allows some status monitoring besides the regular central station monitoring, it doest leed a dedicated cell phone line or any connection to the serial port as well