Siemens SPC Panel Review

mac25

I thought I would share my experience with my Siemens SPC 5300 panel. I had a local firm install the Siemens panel in my recently renovated house. I spent a long time looking at the various alarm panels out there and I settled on the Siemens SPC series as I wanted a panel that I could easily access from a computer. I have the panel 3 years now and I'm very happy with it. The panel has an Ethernet port that I plugged into my home network that runs at 10Mb. 10Mb sounds low, but it's is all the speed you need when communicating with your panel. The panel also has a web interface that can be used to access it from a web browser. You can adjust the panel configuration, set and unset the alarm, adjust the zone settings, look at the logs etc from the web interface which is a really great feature. The alternative to using the web browser interface to control the panel is via the alarm keypad or with Siemens windows based software. I'm not sure how generally available the SPC windows software for configuring and monitoring the panel is to end users. My panel also has a PSTN modem configured and an x10 computer interface. A second GSM modem can also be installed on the panel.

There is a smart phone app available. The original app was called SPC Anywhere and this worked with firmware versions lower than v3.6.5. I was on the original v2.1.3 firmware level and I have since upgraded to the v3.6.5 firmware level. You needed to be on your local network to use the SPC Anywhere app or use a VPN to your home network. This is what I originally used. The SPC Anywhere app stopped working after upgrading to v3.6.5 and I have switched over to the newer SPC Connect app. This version involves registering on the Siemens SPC Connect web site and associating your panel with the app. There is a small amount of configuration required and it was straight forward to do using the web interface. The SPC connect app allows you to control your SPC panel over any Internet connection without needing a VPN back to your home network. This is really easy for people who are not that technical and are unfamiliar with setting up a VPN. The Siemens SPC Connect website also allows you to access your panels web interface once authenticated from any browser connected to the Internet. There is no port forwarding required. The SPC Connect and Anywhere apps allow you to set and unset your alarm, view alarm logs to see what alarm zone was activated and so on. The last really great feature of the SPC Connect web site is you can configure an email service to send you an email if your alarm activates or for other alarm events. I have tested this service and it works really well. I strongly recommend that you get the engineers code from your installer if you buy an SPC panel as you need it to change any settings.

I have setup some video verification zones on my panel. This allows you setup an IP camera with your panel for visual verification if an alarm activation occurs. The panel supports some Siemens IP cameras, but I was able to get it working with an older Axis IP camera. You are more likely to get it working if your IP camera support mjpg and at lower resolutions. It is not a substitute for a decent IP camera system with recording capabilities and is simply a nice add on feature. You are able to view the live footage from your video verification zones at any time using the SPC Anywhere/Connect app.

I originally self monitored my alarm using the PSTN SMS service from Eircom. However, this service was withdrawn on the 30th of June 2015. I wanted an alternative for self monitoring. I did not want to buy the GSM modem and pay for the upkeep of a pay as you go SIM on an ongoing basis. I also did not want to pay to get my alarm monitored by an Alarm monitoring company. The SPC Connect email service was one alternative, but I was nervous that the emails don't always get to you immediately. I originally thought I would use the alarms x10 interface as a way of triggering a script from my computer. I have an x10 CM12U interface on my computer which is running Ubuntu Linux. I have loaded software called HEYU that can be used to listen for x10 commands and trigger scripts to do clever things. I used to use this to send an SMS using an application called O2SMS to my mobile. However, the development seems to have stopped for O2SMS and I don't think it would be a reliable method to send an SMS any more. The other problem I had was my alarm x10 CM12U interface stopped working. I know this as I tested my computer CM12U x10 interface on the alarm and it worked fine. I have since heard the x10 CM12U interfaces are prone to overheating and burning out. This must have happened to mine. The x10 protocol is a bit hit and miss anyway and it is not an ideal solution to integrate your alarm with your computer.

I did some digging for an alternative and I came across an application called the SPC Web Gateway from a company called Lundix IT based in Sweden. The SPC Web Gateway is effectively a full home monitoring solution for your SPC alarm. The interface is based on the Siemens EDP network protocol, i.e the protocol for Alarm Central communication. The SPC Web Gateway cost me 55.35 Euros. The software is installed as a service on your Linux PC (Ubuntu x86_64 >12.04) or your raspberry pi (Debian Wheezy image). You then configure your SPC panel EDP settings to send your alarm events to the web Gateway. There is an XML settings file on your PC to configure the web gateway settings. I found the installation documentation to be very clear and the whole setup was very straight forward for computer enthusiasts. You can now integrate the SPC panel for home automation or with a Building Management System if you have the know how. There is a test panel available for you to send commands and receive replies from your SPC panel and you can use command line tools like curl to send commands and receive replies. This is fairly specialist stuff and doesn't apply to me as I am a home user and I don't have a BMS.

I simply wanted a robust method to execute a script on my computer in response to certain events from my SPC panel. The events I was interested in were the alarm activation event and a zone opening and closing event. The SPC panel and other alarm panels send SIA codes to the monitoring station. That monitoring station can be a professional security monitoring company with specialist monitoring software or your home PC with SPC Web Gateway. The SIA codes are a standard and there are hundreds of unique codes to cover a multitude of events from your panel. The SIA events for the SPC panels are published in the Installation and configuration manual for the SPC panels and is available to anybody to download from the Siemens web site.

The SIA events I was interested in were:

SIA Code = “BA” Description = BURGLARY ALARM

SIA Code = “BV” Description = BURGLARY VERIFIED

SIA Code = “ZO” Description = Zone Open

SIA Code = “ZC” Description = Zone Closed

The “BA” code is received by the monitoring software if your alarm activates (i.e. one zone opens) and the “BV” code is received if it is a confirmed alarm i.e. Two or more zones opens. The two zones open for a confirmed alarm are usually an exterior sensor on a door or window and an internal PIR sensor.

The SPC Web Gateway receives the SIA events, but you need to do something with them like triggering a script. I downloaded a script called node-spc-notify-nma.js that the publisher of the SPC Web Gateway has made available on Github. The script runs in the background and listens for matching SIA events from your panel. The default listening event is for “BA” or when your alarm activates. The script is setup to notify your android phone or iphone using Notify my android or prowl. I have an android phone and I set myself up on NMA (Notify my android). NMA give you a unique API key that you configure with the node-spc-notify-nma.js script to notify you in the event your alarm activates. The NMA or prowl push notification system is a better way of notifying you when compared to SMS or email in my opinion. I have tested this and it works very well.

I wanted to develop this idea further and modify the node-spc-notify-nma.js script to trigger additional actions in response to other SIA codes like “ZO” and “ZC”. Every time you knock a sensor on the window/door or walk past a PIR sensor results in a “ZO” and “ZC” event. I have pasted in some events from my panel that the node-spc-notify-nma.js script receives when it is running as an example:

SPC WebSocket client connected

My SPC SIA Event: Date: 2015-06-30 21:27:55 SPC Event: ZO Front Windows

My SPC SIA Event: Date: 2015-06-30 21:28:00 SPC Event: ZC Front Windows

My SPC SIA Event: Date: 2015-06-30 21:28:06 SPC Event: ZO Hall Beam

My SPC SIA Event: Date: 2015-06-30 21:28:09 SPC Event: ZC Hall Beam

My SPC SIA Event: Date: 2015-06-30 21:28:10 SPC Event: ZO Kitchen Beam

My SPC SIA Event: Date: 2015-06-30 21:28:12 SPC Event: ZC Kitchen Beam

My SPC SIA Event: Date: 2015-06-30 21:28:19 SPC Event: ZO Sun Room Beam

My SPC SIA Event: Date: 2015-06-30 21:28:22 SPC Event: ZC Sun Room Beam

My SPC SIA Event: Date: 2015-06-30 21:28:25 SPC Event: ZO Kitchen Beam

My SPC SIA Event: Date: 2015-06-30 21:28:27 SPC Event: ZC Kitchen Beam

My SPC SIA Event: Date: 2015-06-30 21:28:29 SPC Event: ZO Kitchen Beam

My SPC SIA Event: Date: 2015-06-30 21:28:31 SPC Event: ZC Kitchen Beam

My SPC SIA Event: Date: 2015-06-30 21:29:33 SPC Event: ZO Hall Beam

My SPC SIA Event: Date: 2015-06-30 21:29:35 SPC Event: ZC Hall Beam

My SPC SIA Event: Date: 2015-06-30 21:36:27 SPC Event: ZO Kitchen Beam

My SPC SIA Event: Date: 2015-06-30 21:36:29 SPC Event: ZC Kitchen Beam

I suggested some script enhancements to Lundix IT as I wanted to trigger additional commands in response to different SIA events. The enhancements I requested was to first check the status of the alarm panel i.e. is the alarm in full set mode, partset mode, unset etc. I also wanted to trigger a command in response to certain zones opening in addition to being notified via NMA if the alarm activates. Goran from Lundix IT was very accommodating and quickly modified his script with the enhancements requested. I now trigger a series of commands when my alarm activates. These include playing back a vicious dog barking MP3 on my computer when external zones open which trigger the alarm. I can also trigger separate commands as a person walks through my house as detected by the PIR sensors as well as notifying me. There are also other possibilities like triggering a command to notify you if a specific user activates or deactivates the alarm or if a door is opened or closed as these all result in unique SIA events that are received by the SPC Web Gateway and are capable of being processed by the above script. The possibilities are many and it gives you a flavour of what is possible with the SPC panels and the SPC Web Gateway software. I also found the SPC Web Gateway and monitoring script to be very stable as I have them running continuously for over 3 weeks and they have stayed up.

I know Lundix IT are releasing a Dragino appliance with the SPC web gateway pre-loaded for people who don't leave their computer on all of the time and to make the configuration easier. The Dragino is a low powered computer gateway like the raspberry pi.

I hope this review has been useful to you and that it gives you a good understanding of how flexible the SPC panels are with firmware v3.6.5 as well as giving you a viable alternative for self monitoring now that the Eircom PSTN SMS service has been withdrawn.

altor

Is this a SPC review or Lundix IT?
How much does it cost to use this from Lundix IT?

KoolKid

Thank you mac25. That is a very comprehensive and well constructed and informative post. As you have discovered the abilities of these panels is almost limitless.
The polling is currently being tested as well and we hope to have free user defined polling and smash and grab alerts similar to GSDs services in the coming weeks.

mac25

Hi Altor,

I reviewed both the SPC panel and the integration with the SPC Web Gateway product. The computer integration capabilities of the SPC panel are the big selling point as far as I'm concerned. The cost for the SPC Web Gateway to somebody in Ireland is 55.35 euros. I have no affiliation with Lundix IT. I am simply a satisfied customer and wanted to share my experiences.

altor

mac25 wrote: »

Hi Altor,

I reviewed both the SPC panel and the integration with the SPC Web Gateway product. The computer integration capabilities of the SPC panel are the big selling point as far as I'm concerned. The cost for the SPC Web Gateway to somebody in Ireland is 55.35 euros. I have no affiliation with Lundix IT. I am simply a satisfied customer and wanted to share my experiences.

Was wondering, good point re the engineer code.
Always good to have it

reidzer

I have a Siemen's system with IMKW6-10 sensors.

In the last few days two of the window sensors are reading open when I go to turn on the alarm (the window is closed)
I opened the IMKW6-10 sensor and twisted the battery and it then reads closed as normal...


Has anyone seen this before? is this a battery replacement? faulty sensor?

KoolKid

How old are the batteries?

reidzer

KoolKid wrote: »

How old are the batteries?

no idea... moved in a year ago

KoolKid

As they are Siemens contacts its hard to know how old.
For the sake of a battery try it.

reidzer

I agree, I also took the battery out and it gave a disconnected error.
strange two sensors in as many days... I suppose the system was all installed at the same time.

KoolKid

The discon error is exactly what you should get.