DSC-BRAIN USER GUIDE · SETUP
Zigbee — pairing and binding roles
Plug in SkyConnect, open permit-join, pair a sensor or plug, then give it a role, a zone and optionally a task.
● verified for 9.0.0 · firmware train 8.2.0.0
● last verified 2026-09-17 · mirrored 2026-09-15
Zigbee devices are optional, and every one you add becomes a dashboard entity with a place in the room model.
1. Radio
Plug SkyConnect into a USB 2 port on the Pi. Settings › Devices › Zigbee shows RADIO UP when the coordinator is running. If it shows RADIO DOWN or MQTT OFFLINE, see Troubleshooting › Zigbee radio down.
2. Permit join
Press Permit join. The card shows JOIN OPEN for about four minutes. Put the device in pairing mode (usually hold its button ~5 s until the LED blinks). A device that was paired to another network first needs a factory reset on the device itself. Within a few seconds an Unbound row appears. The page keeps polling while JOIN OPEN.
3. Choose a device type
The brain fingerprints the device into a capability class and offers the matching types:
| Type | Class | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Thermometer / hygrometer | climate | Canopy, intake, exhaust, room and outdoors placements |
| Air sensor (CO₂ / VOC / PM) | other | Room air quality datapoints |
| Light / lux sensor | other | Confirming a lamp is lit |
| Motion / occupancy | motion | Presence; note some leak SKUs report wet as occupancy |
| Door / window contact | safety | Tent door, room door |
| Water leak | liquid | Floor, tank, runoff trays |
| Smoke / gas / CO alarm | hazard | Smoke alarms in the room or a tent; a gas or CO alarm in the room |
| Smart plug / Relay / Fan controller | plug | Pumps, aux fans, a lamp plug |
| Button / remote | motion | Automation triggers |
| Energy meter | meter | Power datapoints for the energy estimate |
4. Role, zone, task
- Temperature / humidity sensors are placed, not given a role. Pick the Zone (4×8 tent, 2×4 tent, Room (the lung), Indoors · outside the room, Outdoors, Shared / unplaced), then the Placement (Canopy, Floor, Ceiling, Fan intake, Passive duct / vent, Exhaust duct → room, Exhaust duct → outside, Clone dome, Ambient / mid-air, Jar (curing)), then an optional Position (Left, Centre, Right, Front, Back, or a jar number). The brain composes the role from them: Canopy in the 4×8 tent is still
canopy_4x8. Sensors sharing a placement in different positions are averaged and their spread shown; two sensors on the same spot are a conflict. Placement is data: the Twin and the climate deltas (floor-to-ceiling, intake-to-exhaust, canopy-to-intake, tent-to-room, room-to-outdoors) come from it. - Every other device picks a Role and a Zone. Leak roles:
leak_floor_room,leak_floor_4x8,leak_floor_2x4,leak_tank,leak_runoff_pot1…pot4. Alarm roles:smoke_room,smoke_4x8,smoke_2x4,gas_room,co_room; any alarm bound to one raises a critical smoke, gas or CO alert the moment it reports the hazard, and a warning if it has been silent for 26 hours. Plug roles:plug_light_4x8,plug_light_2x4,plug_pumpand otherplug_*. - Task (optional) says what a reading should cause:
| Task | Effect |
|---|---|
| Liquid level → appliance OOS | Takes the chosen appliance (dehumidifier or humidifier) out of service with its relay forced off and a critical banner while the sensor reads its problem state. It clears once the opposite reading has held for 2 minutes. |
| Floor flood → alert | Critical banner and a grow-log line only. Never takes anything out of service. |
| Runoff tray → notify | Warning banner and a grow-log line while the tray is wet; clears when it dries. The sitting in runoff flag for that pot (after the Runoff sitting hold, default 30 min) is raised whether or not this task is bound. |
| Safety cut-off | Opt-in, for smoke, gas and CO alarms. When the alarm trips, the heater and heat mat go out of service with their relays forced off, and the 4×8 and 2×4 lamp plugs switch off and stay off. Fans, dehumidifier and humidifier are left alone. By default everything stays off until you press Release safety cut-off on the Safety cut-off card, which is refused while an alarm still sounds; restore after_clear releases it after 10 minutes clear instead. Test the cut-off runs it with no alarm. |
| Follow photoperiod | A plug bound as a lamp plug follows the hub's lights-on window (on/off only) |
Press Save in the device's drawer (open it from the device name or Edit); Save writes only that device. Unbound sensors never feed canopy; the zone shows CANOPY UNBOUND until one is bound.
Product. With DSC-KitLib installed (Settings › Integrations › Libraries), the brain compares what a device reported when it paired with the product fingerprints in the library. The drawer shows the result under Product: Identified when exactly one product fits the model and maker id (applied automatically), Possible match or Several products fit when you choose (Confirm), and Not this product to clear it. The table's Model column shows the product, or possible library match — open to confirm. Naming the product never binds a role or changes control. Tuya and Bluetooth devices are recognised the same way.
Operator-defined roles and tasks
Settings › Devices › Zigbee › catalog lets you add your own roles (routing labels) and datapoint-only tasks. A climate or safety role you define flows into Climate › Zigbee by role like the built-ins; other kinds only tag the device. Tasks that act (OOS, banner) stay code-defined.
Honesty notes
- Wet / Dry on the Climate desk is the raw reading. Problem / Clear comes only from a bound task.
- Zigbee plugs are additive. The heater, humidifier, dehumidifier and heat mat stay on the hub-driven Sonoff relays, which fail safe.
Bluetooth sensors. The same Settings › Devices › Zigbee tab carries Bluetooth sensors (BLE): thermometers, CO₂ monitors and plant sensors the Pi hears over its own Bluetooth radio, decoded by the Theengs Gateway container. Nothing to pair: a supported sensor appears within a minute of being in range and is named from DSC-KitLib when its model is known. Nearby sensors that are not yours can show up too; pick yours by the reading on its screen. The chip reads GATEWAY ONLINE, GATEWAY OFFLINE or NO GATEWAY. On this release the list identifies Bluetooth sensors only; their readings do not feed placements or roles.
DSC-Brain user guide · Zigbee — pairing and binding roles · this page is edited on the site; the Notion original was retired after the mirror