Honeywell Galaxy Keypad (CP038) RS485 Protocol

The KeyProx model contains two logical devices, the keypad itself and the RFID reader. Logically these appear to be completely independent, though a quick look in the case confirms there is only really one device as you’d expect. This means the keypad information will be the same for a non-prox model. The prox part will probably be the same for the separate max3/4 RFID reader but I don’t have one of those to compare against.

The device ID is set using the rotary selection switch on the PCB. Although it has 16 positions only 0-3 are valid for keypad ID. Positions 0/1/2/3 correspond to RS485 bus IDs of 10/20/30/40 respectively for the Keypads and 90/91/92/93 for the associated prox readers. A strange pair of numeric sequences. You’ll also note from the startup polling sequence in my previous post that the prox readers are polled separately from the keypads and in reverse order. I’ll just deal with the keypad in this post, as I haven’t played with the prox reader much.

When the keypad is powered on it will beep and flash until it starts to receive commands. Once running, if it does not receive a command within a certain amount of time (e.g. lost contact with panel) it will revert to this beeping state.
Continue reading Honeywell Galaxy Keypad (CP038) RS485 Protocol

Honeywell Galaxy G2 RS485 Bus

I always fancied adding Ethernet to my home Alarm system, even though I don’t have any particular use for it. I live in a pretty safe area and it rarely has false alarms or anything else I really need to monitor. Besides, if you’re at work, miles from home and in the middle of something, what what are you going to do if you get a notification that your house alarm has gone off?

Eventually, by chance, I picked up a second hand official Ethernet adapter for the alarm at a car boot sale, but it turned out the firmware was too old and the cable to update it is surprisingly expensive, and the update itself not publicly available anyway. I was already aware of the LCE-01 from SM Security Alarms as a cheaper alternative, with more functions like a Virtual Key Pad app, but £66 for a device I didn’t really have a use for was still a bit steep for someone who hates to part with money. I contacted the maker to find out about updating the firmware on mine and he offered me a good deal on a part exchange so I went for it.
Continue reading Honeywell Galaxy G2 RS485 Bus