Simple SMS Unit to integration into Alarm System

[StudentSA]

Good Day,

I would like to build a simple unit that can send an sms o my phone when my home alarm is triggered. I would like to find out what is the simplest way to do this?

Is there a unit/product that I can integrate to a micro? something that is easy to setup with a sim card etc.

Kind Regards,
StudentSA

 

[Reloadron]

I can share a method I have used to send a SMS Text or Email to my cell phone. It requires a PC to be on 24/7 or at least on when you are away. The method works in most cases depending on cell provider and home computer configuration. The home PC needs either a RS232 port or USB to RS232 dongle.

Ron

 

[StudentSA]

Thanks Ron, Im looking specifically for a "pc-less" solution, I have seen that you can buy a GSM Modem/Module from RS, but I'm not certain how/if it can be integrated to a micro like a PIC.
GMS Modem
GSM Module

 

[Reloadron]

OK, hope you get some good suggestions or solutions as I am curious also. I am sure it can be done just never did it and don't know how.

Ron

 

[canadaelk]

Use a cheap cell phone with a prepaid SIM card. Connect a speed-dial switch to a trigger (10 sec.?) from the alarm and the phonecall-end to a timer (5 min.?) and place the setup next to the siren? E

 

[Diver300]

You can use a GSM module, such as the ones from Telit. https://www.telit.com. A microcontroller will talk to the module through the serial port, and you can get it to send an SMS using the AT+CMGS command. Some cellphones can also be controlled with AT commands.

 

[SPDCHK]

My fellow South African,

You could always try Arduino. If you are in the Midrand Kyalami area, you can always pop in at RS. They sell the full range of Arduino products.

 

[StudentSA]

Thanks for the feedback,
@SPDCHK I know there are many micro-controllers that I can use but I'm kind of biased towards PIC's as I used these in University. I'm more looking for a module that the micro can "talk" to that will allow an interface to the GSM network specifically to send messages.
@Diver300 Thanks, I will certainly consider their product line.
@canadaelk, I have seen some "hack" examples of interfacing to an old cell phone but this comes with its own set of issues, I would like a solution that could be packaged nicely .

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

You can either use a GSM module, or just a GSM chip - in either case you simply send and receive commands to it from the PIC's serial port, and provide a few I/O pins for various functions. Details are in the GSM module/chip datasheet.

 

[StudentSA]

Thanks Nigel seems that is the way to go.

So far I have followed up on Diver300's recommendation to use a Telit solution, I have contacted my local electronic supplier and they have provided me the prices and the most reasonable seems to be the GC864-QUAD-V2 Module prices at +-US$55. I intend to get one of these units and integrate it to a PIC micro that will possibly trigger a specific SMS's to a specific group of recipients depending on the alarm condition.

Will keep updating as progress is made.

Regards,
StudentSA

 

[Ron_tech]

I'd be interested in hearing the details for your system requiring the PC.

 

[Diver300]

I'd be interested in hearing the details for your system requiring the PC.

Who are you asking for details?

 

[Ron_tech]

Sorry, the question was in regard to Reloadron's post of 10 April 2012

 

[appldeveloper]

I can share a method I have used to send a SMS Text or Email to my cell phone. It requires a PC to be on 24/7 or at least on when you are away. The method works in most cases depending on cell provider and home computer configuration. The home PC needs either a RS232 port or USB to RS232 dongle.

Ron

Ron

Could you please share you method of using a PC ans RS232 port.

Regards

 

[Reloadron]

OK, first an apology as I have been remiss in making it to my favorite forum. I have a pending retirement going so been trying to get my co-workers up to speed before I am done. This got coupled with a nasty flu that literally shut me down.

Give me a few hours and I'll dig out that project. Actually it can be easy to do depending on cellular carrier.

Ron

 

[Reloadron]

Here is how I went about it. Please keep in mind I am not a programmer type, if I had to write programs for a living I would starve.

I have dabbled in VBScript and found that even after all the years one can do many things with .VBS including sending text messages and email from a home computer to a cellular phone. A simple script looks like this:

Set objMessage = CreateObject("CDO.Message")
objMessage.Subject = "Emergency Fire Notification"
objMessage.From = "me@my.com"
objMessage.To = "2161234567@vtext.com;myemail@vzw.blackberry.net"
objMessage.TextBody = "Fire Alarm Status Has Been Triggered."
objMessage.Send

The code is pretty straight forward.

objSubject is the subject line in our message.
objMessage.From is the from line in our message.
objMessage.To is our to line, where is it going?

Now that line will vary depending on the cellular carrier. I happen to use Verizon and thus in the code example it is setup for Verizon.

objMessage.To = "2161234567@vtext.com;myemail@vzw.blackberry.net"

Within the code is the ten digit phone number followed by @vtext.com which is the code for Verizon. Here is a listing of what some other carriers would look like. Followed by that we see a ; and my cellular email address. The email need not be added.

objMessage.TextBody = "Fire Alarm Status Has Been Triggered." In this case the message tells us that fire has been detected. It can be Intrusion, Fire, Flood or whatever you want. More on this later.

To try this simply copy and paste the above code into Note Pad and save the file to your desktop as a .VBS file extension. So where it shows File Name you name it what you want followed by .VBS or you will only save a text file. That .VBS is important! You can save the file to your desktop to experiment with it. When the file icon on the desktop is double clicked the script will run and you should get a message on your cell phone. For now it is on the desktop.

So we have a simple script that when clicked sends a notification text message and email to our cell phone. Make sure this works! I originally had a website that includes international carriers and many more US carriers but can't find it.

Moving along with our script working the next trick is activating the script when something happens. The old RS 232 port has 3 lines we can use. Let me get a few screen shots and put more information together and I'll post The Rest Of The Story.

Ron

 

[appldeveloper]

Ron

Thanks

What I'm stuck on is how to connect the alarm to the PC. What I was going to try was using the signal from the alarm bell connected using pins 2 or 3 with pin 5 as the ground. Or is it possible to us the telco\phone line. I made an application to open a com port and send a text message like you do. THANKS

 

[Reloadron]

Ron

Thanks

What I'm stuck on is how to connect the alarm to the PC. What I was going to try was using the signal from the alarm bell connected using pins 2 or 3 with pin 5 as the ground. Or is it possible to us the telco\phone line. I made an application to open a com port and send a text message like you do. THANKS

Oh OK. So you have the script and a way to run the script.

What you want to do is place any of the three data in lines to a logic low. I don't know what your alarm bell is or what your signals are? Yes, pin 5 is ground and simply placing pin 8, 6 or 1 to ground. Pins 2&3 are not used, they are data. You read the port with software, you monitor pins 8, 6, and 1 for a change to a logic low. When the change happens you use your software to run the VBS script or whatever you have.

Ron

 

[Ron_tech]

I tried running the script on my computer (Win7), but I am getting an error message

Does the script utilise an existing email application that has to be open? (I am currently using Windows Live mail)

Ron Sharpe (my first name is also Ron for those of you reading this thread)

 

[appldeveloper]

Ron(Reloadron)

Can you explain a little more on how to get the data to the serial port. What I was going to do is use the alarm system phone out to try and trip my program to send a text message. So if on a RJ11 jack from the alarm system jack I was using pins 3&4, 4 is ground. I tried moving the TXD which would be pin 3 of RJ11 to each pin of the DB9 with no success.

Greg