Upgrade to Door King 1812 Gate Controller Telephone Intercom System

[kbuhagiar]

Hello Folks,

We just moved into our new (to us) forever home. After some practice and help from a local gate jockey, I have mastered the maintenance and upkeep of the existing sliding driveway gate and controller. I would next like to address the keypad access system, which is a Door King model 1812 Telephone Intercom System.

I have deleted all of the existing codes from the Door King system and installed new ones, and it appears to be working flawlessly, so we're all set there. It looks like someone at one time had this system fully operational, with the ability to answer calls from the box and open the gate from in the house through a hard-wired intercom, but that function isn't working now. My first instinct is to make it operational again, which may be as simple as installing an old land-line phone in the house to use as an intercom. That would probably restore the full function of the system, but realistically we have no plans to install a land-line in this house and I'm sure my wife would not appreciate the classic retro charm of an old telephone in her kitchen, lol.

My goal is to have a way to fully control gate operation from inside the house; not just open and close it (I can already do that with my garage remote controller), but to be able to answer & speak through the intercom and also send commands to the gate to hold it in the open position. Theoretically, if I could replicate the outdoor control box and wire it permanently somewhere in the house that would do the trick, but then we're back to the ugly equipment problem.

I've done some research online. My first thought was to use something like the LiftMaster MyQ setup (since I already have it for my garage doors) but it doesn't seem capable of replicating all of the functions of the Door King unit.

My next idea would be to somehow replicate the Door King control panel somewhere in the house, but only if there was a more fashionable and less obtrusive version (i.e. something prettier, as SWMBO would say).

My other idea is - is there an app for that? Something wireless (Bluetooth/WiFi/cellular) that would integrate with a phone app. Looks like there are a few out there but they all seem geared to large complex gated communities or apartment building, nothing scaled down for an individual entry point.

To the garage/gate/telecom techs out there - I'm sure you guys have dealt with this, what solution(s) do you recommend?

Thanks in advance for your time and trouble!

 

[duneslider]

Have you looked at ismartgate? I have a friend who has used it for various things at one of his remote properties.

 

[kbuhagiar]

Have you looked at ismartgate? I have a friend who has used it for various things at one of his remote properties.

I have not, but at first glance it may be overkill for what I need.
Plus it's Iphone-based, and we're an Android family.

 

[duneslider]

I have not, but at first glance it may be overkill for what I need.
Plus it's Iphone-based, and we're an Android family.

What are you looking for then?
ismartgate is compatible with virtually EVERYTHING, android, apple, alexa, google, IFTTT, samsung smartthings, etc. The cheapest version which IS NOT apple compatible is only $140 bucks (opener portion, more for video and voice I believe) which isn't that expensive in my opinion. It offers way more functionality than myQ, which I happen to have and am not a huge fan of but works okay at best.

You could always go custom and make something raspberrypi based and spend way more time making it work than the ismartgate stuff. It might end up costing you half the money though. hard wired is going to be the cheapest but like you said probably won't look very good and won't give you the flexibility of app usage. Although, if you are good with programming you can probably make app functionality work also. I've been pretty impressed with what my friend has done with the igate stuff.

 

[ericm]

The DK1812 can work without a land line. You need a twisted pair from the gate controller to the house, and a phone. The DK provides power to the phone, replacing the land line power.

The phone will open/close the gate with the keypad. There's probably a function to delay any auto closing but I do not have that enabled on mine. And of course it acts as the intercom.

Without the land line you lose the ability to use your phone to remotely open/close the gate by calling in and pressing keys.

My setup also has an LED on the wall that indicates the gate is open. The PO did that but I think it uses one of the wires in the standard phone line bundle running from the DK to the house.

 

[kbuhagiar]

UPDATE:

We decided on working with what we have, i.e. the DK 1812, to see if we can make it do everything we need. This was deemed an acceptable option after my wife found a speakerphone that she liked that goes with the kitchen decor (black and white).

I spent the day yesterday toning and tracing phone wires, felt like I was back at work, lol! I'm glad I kept all of my tools from my PacBell/Telecom days. Fortunately the wiring was all in place, just sliced and diced by legions of lazy phone workers. I re-established a dedicated twisted pair from the outdoor control box to the kitchen, and now everything works as it should. We have a working intercom function and we can open and close the gate from the kitchen.

Honestly, at this point we don't see a need to do anything else, and as a bonus we re-purposed the existing equipment and saved a few bucks to boot.

Onward and upward to the next new house crisis!