Experiment: stand-alone TTE LAN sending SIA-DC09 events to Home Assistant (untested, isolated)

[ZerOne]

Goal and warnings

Test whether a stand-alone Teletek TTE LAN module can send SIA-DC09 messages to Home Assistant's SIA Alarm Systems integration. This is an experiment. I have not run it, and I could not find anyone documenting TTE LAN with HA. The HA docs describe Ajax hubs. The details come from the TTE LAN installation and programming manual.

Safety:

• Use a separate TTE LAN that is not connected to your alarm panel. The manual says it can run stand-alone.
• Never change the receiver settings of a module that reports to a monitoring station. Pointing the main receiver at HA would stop reports going to the station.
• Don't use this for anything life-safety related. HA's SIA integration is listen-only and could miss messages.

What the manual says (stand-alone)

• Six programmable terminals (In 1 to In 6), inputs by default. Input spec: 0 to 20 V permitted, about 300 ms filtering, threshold about 1.3 V.
• By default inputs 1 to 6 map to SIA codes BA, FA, PA, TA, MA and CL (restores BH, FH, PH, TH, MH, OP).
• Receiver Settings: Enable Main Receiver, Server 1 Type can be "SIA09 Receiver", then IP address, port and a 32-symbol Encryption Key 1 that must match the receiver. SIA09 receiver settings must be entered manually.
• Defaults: PC ID 1234, User Code 0000. Change both.
• Programming is with Teletek's ProsTE software over micro USB. Use the latest version from Teletek.
• Power: 9 to 30 VDC. Follow the manual for wiring inputs, which I haven't repeated here.

Step 1: Program the module

1. Connect by micro USB, open ProsTE and read the module.
2. General Settings: Control Panel Type = Stand Alone/None. Set a numeric account number (up to 6 digits). Change PC ID and User Code. Set "Test message (minutes)" to something like 60.
3. Receiver Settings: enable Main Receiver, set Server 1 Type to SIA09 Receiver, enter HA's IP and a free port, and enter an encryption key.
4. Save a TDF backup before you apply changes.

Step 2: Pick a key HA can use

HA says the key must be 16, 24 or 32 ASCII characters (hex characters, per its docs), and the account 3 to 16 hex characters. On Linux, this creates 32 hex characters:

Code: Select all

openssl rand -hex 16

There is a catch I couldn't resolve. It isn't clear whether TTE LAN treats its 32-symbol key as 32 ASCII characters or as 16 bytes written in hex. If they differ, decryption will fail. If nothing arrives in HA, suspect this first.

Step 3: Add it in Home Assistant

1. Settings > Devices & services > Add Integration > SIA Alarm Systems.
2. Enter the same port, account and key. Set the ping interval in minutes to match your module's test message interval (HA's range is 1 to 1440). HA waits 30 seconds beyond that before marking entities unavailable.
3. Make sure no other service uses that port on the HA machine, and allow it through any firewall.

Step 4: Test

Trigger one input according to the manual, then check Developer Tools > Events. The docs say each message is forwarded as an event whose type starts with sia_event_ and has fields such as code, account and zone. Entities named for the account and zone will also appear.

An example automation, with the event type left as a placeholder because the docs give the exact format:

Code: Select all

triggers:
  - trigger: event
    event_type: sia_event_<see the HA docs for the exact name>
    event_data:
      code: BA
actions:
  - action: notify.notify
    data:
      message: "Input 1 triggered on the SIA test module"

If it doesn't work

• Check the module's Net State and Status LEDs against the manual's LED table.
• Try a packet capture on the HA side to see whether any traffic arrives.
• On an isolated test network only, try without encryption. HA says encryption is optional, but I don't know whether the module allows it.
• Find out whether the module sends over TCP or UDP, and whether HA's listener accepts it (I couldn't confirm either).

Discussion: Has anyone got TTE LAN, or another Teletek device, talking SIA to Home Assistant or a similar receiver? What worked?