Sensors

The sensor list

Under Sensors → List you find all devices of your system: door and window contacts, motion detectors, smoke detectors, water detectors, keypads, sirens, power sockets and more.

For every device you see:

• Name – freely assigned, e.g. "Front door contact",
• Area and zone – the logical address in the panel,
• Type – what kind of detector it is,
• State – open/closed, triggered, readings (temperature, humidity) depending on the device,
• Warnings – low battery, tamper, no radio contact.

Editing detectors

Edit next to a device opens the "Edit sensor" dialog. At the top you always find Name, Area and Zone (with a hint showing which zone numbers are already taken). Below follow collapsible sections – which ones appear and which fields they contain is dictated by the panel depending on the device type: a door contact shows different options than a siren, a keypad or a shutter relay.

Permission required: Only someone with the "Pair detectors" permission on this panel may edit and pair detectors.

Basic configuration

Collapsed section with the detector's general switches:

• Bypass (ignore sensor) – the panel temporarily ignores the detector, e.g. while a contact is defective.
• Bypass tamper (ignore tamper contact) – suppresses tamper messages, for instance during maintenance on the housing.
• Send push notification – triggers of this detector produce a push message in the app.
• Forced arming check (must be closed) – the system can only be armed while this contact is closed.
• 24-hour zone (always active, e.g. smoke/water detectors) – the detector triggers regardless of the arm mode. The accompanying 24-hour response selects the alarm type (burglar, smoke, water, CO, gas, heat, fire, hold-up, emergency or medical alarm). While the 24-hour zone is active, the "Response per arm mode" section disappears – it would have no effect.
• Report (open/close to the log) – every state change is logged.
• Set/Unset (arms/disarms) – the contact operates the system instead of triggering (e.g. a key switch); next to it you choose Normally closed or Normally open. The response sections disappear in this case as well.
• All areas (device acts across areas) and Always on – if the device type offers them.
• Push-button mode – power switches only: the output behaves like a push-button instead of a switch.
• Record in the log – events of this device appear in the history.

Response per arm mode

The heart of every alarm sensor: one response per mode (Disarmed, Armed, Home 1–3).

• For Disarmed you can pick "No response", Doorbell (chime on the panel) and Log entry (optionally saving images).
• The armed modes add: Entry delay 1/2 (alarm only after the entry time expires – usual for the front door), Burglar alarm follow (follows the delay of another detector, typical for the hallway motion detector), Burglar alarm instant (immediate), Silent alarm (without siren) and Burglar alarm perimeter.
• The "Respect exit delay" checkbox below the selection keeps the detector from triggering during the exit time after arming – otherwise the alarm would go off while you are still leaving the house.

Trigger sensor events (advanced)

This is where you connect the detector to home automation – On trigger, On trigger 2 and On restore (when the detector returns to its idle state) can each send a sensor event 1–16 or directly apply a scene. What a sensor event is, is explained further below.

Only trigger if one of these zones also triggers

A cross-linking condition against false alarms: the detector only triggers if one of the zones chosen here (up to three, or Any zone) also triggers within a short time – for instance motion detector and door contact together. The default is Disabled.

Type-specific sections

Depending on the device the dialog adds further sections – only the fields the panel actually offers for this type ever appear:

• Shutter settings (shutter relays): travel times to open and close, on Lupus accurate to 0.1 s including the Venetian blind mode with turn time; on VESTA in whole seconds with "Set" and "Query from device" per time.
• Bypass (alarm sensors): Bypass automatically (e.g. "3× trigger in 10 min."), Bypass anti-masking, Bypass set/unset.
• Switch-on via app (switching actuators): automatic switch-off after 1–10 seconds, or keep on.
• Emergency buttons (keypads, emergency transmitters): response for Panic, Fire, Medical and Emergency – an alarm type, a sensor event or a scene. Keypads show the key combinations (e.g. "Panic [1+3]").
• Button actions (keypad/remote control): what the Arm, Home and Disarm buttons trigger in addition.
• Switching actions (radio relays as trigger): response on switch-on and on switch-off.
• Buttons (property) (smart switch/remote control): assignment of buttons 1–4 to an alarm, a sensor event or a scene.
• Volumes (indoor sirens, keypads with audio): from the alarm volume through confirmation and delay tones to the fault tone, each Mute/Low/Medium/Loud.
• Outdoor siren (BX): switches for burglar alarm in arm/home mode, strobe light, confirmation, entry/exit delay lights and the "alarm in memory" tone.
• Measurement: Temperature correction (°C) for temperature sensors, CO₂ thresholds (normal/high/low in ppm) for air quality sensors.
• Display language (keypad KP-15/35), AI image analysis (camera sensors), Device binding (tag) and AI analysis on the panel (VESTA).

Saving sends the changes straight to the panel; it confirms or rejects with its own message.

What is a sensor event?

A sensor event is a freely assignable signal (number 1–16) that connects detectors and home automation – it has no fixed meaning of its own, you give it one:

1. In the detector editor you let a device send a sensor event – via "Trigger sensor events (advanced)", an emergency button or a device button.
2. In Automation you create a rule with the condition "Action triggered by sensor" and pick the same sensor event there. The rule then runs its actions as soon as any detector sends this event.

Example: the front door contact sends sensor event 3 "on trigger"; a rule "Action triggered by sensor = sensor event 3" switches on the hallway light. Several detectors can send the same event and start one shared rule – or a detector applies a scene directly, without any rule at all.

You add new detectors via learning mode – chapter Pairing detectors.

Range

Sensors → Range starts the panel's walk test: detectors you trigger report in with their radio signal strength. This helps you find spots with weak reception before they cause trouble in daily use.

When a device is unreachable

If the panel reports a communication error for a device (no radio contact), the interface tells you directly – also when you try to switch the device: instead of running into a long timeout, you immediately get a hint to check power and reception.

Universal remote control (Lupus only)

Lupus panels can integrate infrared universal remote controls (UPIC) that control air conditioners or TVs, for example. Under Sensors → Universal remote control you trigger their stored IR functions. VESTA panels don't offer this feature; the menu item is absent there.