AlarmingTweet

This project will add tweeting capabilities to the GE 45142 Choice-Alert Wireless Control Center Alarm system. The alarm system allows you to connect up to 16 different sensors across 4 zones and with the addition of the Arduino powered AlarmingTweet you can enable it to keep you informed of it's status anytime anywhere.

Originally I was thinking about building a motion detecting sensor system from scratch for the Adafruit Make it Tweet contest, but after thinking about what I would need to assemble to build it I figured there must be an easier solution. I started looking around for pre-built home security sensors etc... when I stumbled upon the GE Choice-Alert Wireless alarm system. I figured why not let it do all the heavy lifting of monitoring the sensors then I only need to figure out a way to make it tweet. Since the LEDs indicate the status of the sensors and alerts all I really needed was a way to monitor them and then send the results to Twitter.

If this sounds interesting keep reading to find out how to build one yourself. Before we get started lets go over the material we will need:

1 x GE 45142 Choice-Alert Wireless Control Center with Door or Window Sensor Kit from Amazon, Lowes or Home Depot ($30 -$40) - Comes with a single magnetic sensor for doors/windows many other sensors can be added ($15-$25 each)
1 x Arduino UNO from Adafruit ($30)
1 x Arduino Ethernet Shield from Adafruit ($45)
1 x 9V regulated DC wall-power adapter from Adafruit ($7)
1 x Arduino Project Enclosure from Sparkfun ($12)
1 x Right Angle Male Header strip from Sparkfun ($2)
Length of Cat 5 cable
Heat shrink tubing

Happy building,
willnue

Step 1: Open the Control Center case

Remove the 4 screws holding the Control Center case together then remove the 2 screws holding the circuit board onto the case. Be careful not to pull of the antenna or speaker wires.

We are interested in the LED leads protruding from the bottom of the circuit board.

Comments

[jmolina9]

Is good, but can you explain what does the 6 led cables do, because I want it to usenot in a tweet way. I wnat go build it with a regular sms to send it go differents cellphones

[willnue]

The 6 LED cables allow the Arduino to sense what the GE system is doing. So if the GE system lights the LED for Zone 1, the Arduino "sees" it and sends a tweet that there is an alarm in zone 1.

[pdxnat]

Nice work! An excellent instructable. Good job hacking the GE. Thanks for posting!

[roebuj]

Awesome project WillNue! It's put together well and finished off nicely. Good luck, you have my vote!