Easy indigo enabled doorbell

I'm not sure if this has been addressed.

"Smart doorbells" are expensive, and typically require some webs service.

My solution: the Insteon Trigger Link, which I have used for doors and occupancy detection for ages, are easily hackable into insteon-enabled doorbells.

1) Buy a Trigger Link and a cheap wireless doorbell button.
2) Take out any led in the doorbell button, as it creates problems that I don't have the techincal know-how to explain
3) open up your Trigger Link
4) connect two small wires (I used a twisted pair form some cat6) to the two screw-down terminals in the Trigger Link, and to the two screws in the wireless doorbell.
5) Make a Trigger Link device

Now, by pressing the doorbell button, Indigo will know via the Trigger Link
I have it announce visitors using my UK English speaking Mac (whom I call Jarvis) when my home is occupied. It randomizes possible spoken notifications (e.g. "We have a guest", "A visitor is at the door", etc)
If somebody is not home (I put together occupancy detection using fingscan and event scritps), I plan to have Indigo play random .mp3's of large dogs barking

Enjoy, the whole shebang is under $50, and you can easily have a camera activate, a Growl alert on your phone, or other ways to greet the person at the door using IP cameras

Thanks for posting this.

Do you have any photos that show the connections you list?

Also, any idea of the likely maximum length of the wires?

Thanks,
mjc

I was meant to post about this here but never got down to do it. I am using the LightwaveRF Plug-in Wireless Door Chime Unit with the RFXtrx433E transceiver and the RFXtrx plugin in Indigo. These work very well and I can get a trigger executed when the doorbell is pressed. At the moment I am just sending an email but I am going to have a siren added soon and possibly an IP Cam take a picture too, as other people have posted in the forums too. The LightwaveRF Door Chime unit is cheap but if you need to buy the RFXtrx433E transceiver just for this then it might be too much. Although the RFXtrx433E transceiver opens opportunities for more home automation as most climate devices are supported by that unit.

I had success with this doorbell and RFX (Indigo write-up link is http://www.automatedhome.co.uk/apple/in ... -bell.html)

Vangelis

eme jota ce,

I'll post photos as soon as I can. It's pretty simple if you know what to look for. Wireless doorbell housings have two copper or brass springs that connect the circuit when the button is pressed. THe button, in turn, has a piece of metal that hits both springs, completing the circuit. There are two terminals on the other side of the button, with little screws. I used this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003F3 ... ge_o01_s00

Now, on the triggerlink (sold as an open close sensor), if you open the housing of the main pert (not the second part with the magnet), there are two screw-down terminals.
I used this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003IH ... ge_o03_s00

I stripped the housing off some cat 6, just because i needed two tiny wires. I took a twisted pair and screwed them in both places. Voila.
*Note: the bell i used had an led in the button part. It was problematic for reasons somebody with electrical know-how could explain. I ripped it out with a leatherman.

The range works at 40 feet (haven't tried further), through two walls, with no access points yet installed. Pretty solid. I have entries on two floors, so I plan to just wire a second push-botton to the same Triggerlink I'm using for the other button. IIRC, the Triggerlink can be modded to use a usb adapter, if you want a constant power. THat said, one cheap AA battery lasted for over a year for me with regular usage as a door monitor.

Today, I made it say, "Knock knock, biatch" in a UK English accent (download the "Daniel" speech pack for mac). It was very satisfying, and my wife, a Snoop fan, was thoroughly amused.

This can also be replicated with an ELK doorbell interface (small standalone board that does not require an Elk alarm) for those wishing to maintain their existing doorbell.

I currently have my existing doorbell connected to the ELK doorbell interface, with the contacts closing on a zone on the alarm. Indigo is then monitoring the alarm with one of the Elk M1G plugins, and when the doorbell activates (and the living room TV is on) it activates the PIP on the TV which is set to display the IP cam at the front door.

Sounds complicated, but works every time and is very fast. Close to instant. Biggest lag is just the TV displaying the PIP signal.

Another alternative I have working: I already had a door/window sensor on my front door that had a separate binary input which I think was originally designed for a panic button to be connected to it. I got the cheapest wired doorbell set I could find, took the wires from the wired bell push and attached them to the binary input of the door/window sensor and added that as a 'doorbell' device in Indigo. Then took the chime device, plugged it into a z wave appliance module and permanently wired the bell push terminals together. I then have an event that triggers when binary sensor closed that toggles the chime module on and off in quick succession (if someone's home) or sends a push message to my mobile phone if nobody home. I'll do other stuff in future like linking it to a webcam at the front door etc.