Powermax Binding

Visonic produces the Powermax alarm panel series (PowerMax, PowerMax+, PowerMaxExpress, PowerMaxPro and PowerMaxComplete) and the Powermaster alarm series (PowerMaster 10 and PowerMaster 30). This binding allows you to control the alarm panel (arm/disarm) and allows you to use the Visonic sensors (movement, door contact, ...) within openHAB.

The PowerMax provides support for a serial interface. This serial interface is not installed by default but can be ordered from any PowerMax vendor (called the Visonic RS-232 Adaptor Kit).

In case your alarm panel is directly connected to a serial port of your openHAB server (or to an USB port through a serial to USB converter), you must setup a serial connection thing type in openHAB.

But you even don't need to have your alarm panel directly connected to your openHAB server. You can connect it for example to a Raspberry Pi and use ser2net Linux tool (opens new window) to make the serial connection available on LAN (serial over IP). In this case, you must setup an IP connection thing type in openHAB.

Here is an example of ser2net.conf you can use to share your serial port /dev/ttyUSB0 on IP port 4444:

4444:raw:0:/dev/ttyUSB0:9600 8DATABITS NONE 1STOPBIT

Visonic does not provide a specification of the RS232 protocol and, thus, the binding uses the available protocol specification given at the ​domoticaforum (opens new window).

The binding implemntation of this protocol is largely inspired by the Vera plugin (opens new window).

Supported Things

This binding supports the following thing types:

Thing	Thing Type	Description
ip	Bridge	The IP connection to the alarm system.
serial	Bridge	The serial connection to the alarm system.
x10	Thing	A X10 device.
zone	Thing	A zone representing a physical device such as a door, window or a motion sensor.

Discovery

The alarm system is not discovered automatically. First you have to create manually a bridge thing, either of type ip or serial depending on how your openHAB server is connected to the alarm system. Then the binding will automatically discover all zones and X10 devices that are setup in your alarm system.

Binding configuration

There are no overall binding configuration settings that need to be set. All settings are through thing configuration parameters.

Thing Configuration

IP connection

The ip bridge thing requires the following configuration parameters:

Parameter Label	Parameter ID	Description	Required	Default
IP address	ip	The IP address / The IP address to use for connecting to the Ethernet interface of the alarm system.	true
TCP port	tcpPort	The TCP port to use for connecting to the Ethernet interface of the alarm system.	true
Motion reset delay	motionOffDelay	The delay in minutes to reset a motion detection.	false	3
Allow arming	allowArming	Enable or disable arming the alarm system from openHAB.	false	false
Allow disarming	allowDisarming	Enable or disable disarming the alarm system from openHAB.	false	false
PIN code	pinCode	The PIN code to use for arming/disarming the alarm system from openHAB. Not required except when Powerlink mode cannot be used.	false
Force standard mode	forceStandardMode	Force the standard mode rather than trying using the Powerlink mode.	false	false
Panel type	panelType	Define the panel type. Only required when forcing the standard mode.	false	PowerMaxPro
Sync time	autoSyncTime	Automatic sync time at openHAB startup.	false	true

Serial connection

The serial bridge thing requires the following configuration parameters:

Parameter Label	Parameter ID	Description	Required	Default
Serial port	serialPort	The serial port to use for connecting to the serial interface of the alarm system e.g. COM1 for Windows and /dev/ttyS0 or /dev/ttyUSB0 for Linux.	true
Motion reset delay	motionOffDelay	The delay in minutes to reset a motion detection.	false	3
Allow arming	allowArming	Enable or disable arming the alarm system from openHAB.	false	false
Allow disarming	allowDisarming	Enable or disable disarming the alarm system from openHAB.	false	false
PIN code	pinCode	The PIN code to use for arming/disarming the alarm system from openHAB. Not required except when Powerlink mode cannot be used.	false
Force standard mode	forceStandardMode	Force the standard mode rather than trying using the Powerlink mode.	false	false
Panel type	panelType	Define the panel type. Only required when forcing the standard mode.	false	PowerMaxPro
Sync time	autoSyncTime	Automatic sync time at openHAB startup.	false	true

Some notes:

• On Linux, you may get an error stating the serial port cannot be opened when the Powermax binding tries to load. You can get around this by adding the openhab user to the dialout group like this: usermod -a -G dialout openhab.
• Also on Linux you may have issues with the USB if using two serial USB devices e.g. Powermax and RFXcom. See the general documentation about serial port configuration for more on symlinking the USB ports.

X10 device

The x10 thing requires the following configuration parameters:

Parameter Label	Parameter ID	Description	Required
Device number	deviceNumber	The device number.	true

Zone

The zone thing requires the following configuration parameters:

Parameter Label	Parameter ID	Description	Required
Zone number	zoneNumber	The zone number.	true

Channels

The following channels are available:

Thing Types	Channel Type ID	Item Type	Access Mode	Description
ip / serial	system_status	String	R	A short status summary of the system
ip / serial	system_armed	Switch	RW	Whether or not the system is armed
ip / serial	arm_mode	String	RW	System arm mode (accepted values: Disarmed, Stay, Armed, StayInstant, ArmedInstant, Night and NightInstant)
ip / serial	alarm_active	Switch	R	Whether or not an alarm is active
ip / serial	ready	Switch	R	Whether or not the system is ready for arming
ip / serial	with_zones_bypassed	Switch	R	Whether or not at least one zone is bypassed
ip / serial	trouble	Switch	R	Whether or not a trouble is detected
ip / serial	alert_in_memory	Switch	R	Whether or not an alert is saved in system memory
ip / serial	pgm_status	Switch	RW	PGM status
ip / serial	mode	String	R	System current mode (Standard, Powerlink or Download)
ip / serial	event_log_1 ... event_log_10	String	R	Event log entry (1 is the most recent)
ip / serial	update_event_logs	Switch	W	Switch command to update the event logs
ip / serial	download_setup	Switch	W	Switch command to download the setup
x10	x10_status	String	RW	X10 device status (accepted values: OFF, ON, DIM and BRIGHT)
zone	tripped	Contact	R	Whether or not the zone is tripped
zone	armed	Switch	R	Whether or not the zone is armed
zone	last_trip	DateTime	R	Timestamp when the zone was last tripped
zone	low_battery	Switch	R	Whether or not the sensor battery is low
zone	bypassed	Switch	RW	Whether or not the zone is bypassed

Console Commands

The binding provides few specific commands you can use in the console. Enter the command openhab:powermax to get the usage of each available command.

Usage: openhab:powermax <bridgeUID> info_setup - information on setup
Usage: openhab:powermax <bridgeUID> download_setup - download setup

The command info_setup displays in the console informations about your current panel setup. The command download_setup will trigger a new download of the panel setup.

Here is an example of command you can run: openhab:powermax powermax:serial:home info_setup.

Notes & Limitations

• For Powerlink mode to work, the enrollment procedure has to be followed. If you don't enroll the Powerlink on the PowerMax the binding will operate in Standard mode, and if enrolled in Powerlink mode. On the newer software versions of the PowerMax the Powerlink enrollment is automatic, and the binding should only operate in 'Powerlink' mode (if enrollment is successful).
• In Powerlink mode, the binding is downloading the panel setup at startup. When openHAB is starting, unfortunately this download is often failing on a Raspberry Pi for an unclear reason (maybe too many things running at the same time). A retry mechanism is implemented in the binding to retry until 3 times with a delay of 1 minute between each try. My experience is that the download finally succeeds. In case it fails after all the retries, you still have the option to later trigger the download either by using the channel download_setup or the appropriate console command.
• Visonic does not provide a specification of the RS232 protocol and, thus, use this binding at your own risk.
• The binding is not able to arm/disarm a particular partition.
• The compatibility of the binding with the Powermaster alarm panel series is probably only partial.
• In order to be able to bypass zones, you must first enable this feature by updating your panel configuration. Look at your installer's manual.

Full Example

demo.things:

Bridge powermax:serial:home "Alarm Home" [ serialPort="/dev/ttyUSB0", allowArming=true, panelType="PowerMaxProPart", autoSyncTime=true ] {
    Thing zone kitchen "Window kitchen" [ zoneNumber=9 ]
    Thing x10 lamp1 "Lamp 1" [ deviceNumber=1 ]
}

demo.items:

Switch SystemArmed "System armed" {channel="powermax:serial:home:system_armed", autoupdate="false"}
String SystemArmMode "System arm mode" {channel="powermax:serial:home:arm_mode", autoupdate="false"}
Switch PGM "PGM" {channel="powermax:serial:home:pgm_status", autoupdate="false"}
String SystemStatus "System status" {channel="powermax:serial:home:system_status"}
Switch SystemReady "System ready" {channel="powermax:serial:home:ready"}
Switch WithZonesBypassed "With zones bypassed" {channel="powermax:serial:home:with_zones_bypassed"}
Switch AlarmActive "Alarm active" {channel="powermax:serial:home:alarm_active"}
Switch Trouble "Trouble detected" {channel="powermax:serial:home:trouble"}
Switch AlertInMem "Alert in memory" {channel="powermax:serial:home:alert_in_memory"}
String SystemMode "System mode" {channel="powermax:serial:home:mode"}
Switch UpdateEventLogs "Update Event logs" {channel="powermax:serial:home:update_event_logs", autoupdate="false"}
String EventLog1 "Event log 1" {channel="powermax:serial:home:event_log_1"}
String EventLog2 "Event log 2" {channel="powermax:serial:home:event_log_2"}
String EventLog3 "Event log 3" {channel="powermax:serial:home:event_log_3"}
String EventLog4 "Event log 4" {channel="powermax:serial:home:event_log_4"}
String EventLog5 "Event log 5" {channel="powermax:serial:home:event_log_5"}
String EventLog6 "Event log 6" {channel="powermax:serial:home:event_log_6"}
String EventLog7 "Event log 7" {channel="powermax:serial:home:event_log_7"}
String EventLog8 "Event log 8" {channel="powermax:serial:home:event_log_8"}
String EventLog9 "Event log 9" {channel="powermax:serial:home:event_log_9"}
String EventLog10 "Event log 10" {channel="powermax:serial:home:event_log_10"}
Switch DownloadSetup "Download setup" {channel="powermax:serial:home:download_setup", autoupdate="false"}

Contact WindowKitchenTripped "Tripped [%s]" <contact> {channel="powermax:zone:home:kitchen:tripped"}
Switch WindowKitchenArmed "Armed" {channel="powermax:zone:home:kitchen:armed"}
DateTime WindowKitcheneLastTrip "Last trip" <clock> {channel="powermax:zone:home:kitchen:last_trip"}
Switch WindowKitchenLowBattery "Low bettary" {channel="powermax:zone:home:kitchen:low_battery"}
Switch WindowKitchenBypassed "Bypassed" {channel="powermax:zone:home:kitchen:bypassed", autoupdate="false"}

String Lamp1 "Lamp 1" {channel="powermax:x10:home:lamp1:x10_status", autoupdate="false"}

Caught a mistake or want to contribute to the documentation? Edit this page on GitHub (opens new window)