7$ USD 433 mhz sensor reader to MQTT

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21

@badgerhome May I ask what do you use to monitor your energy?

22

One of these: OWL Micro+ CM180

No idea how accurate it is though. Have nothing to reference it against. However itā€™s spikes are consistent with Dishwasher, Tumble Dryer, Oven, Kettle etc so I think itā€™s fairly accurate. Been running about a year on AA batteries no problems so far

23

Ah looks good.

Is your metering unit inside your house or outside in the communal area? I live in a flat so mine is in a separate communal metering cupboard and I am wondering if the 433mhz signal would be received in my flat ?! Even though the metering unit is in the same floor.

24

Iā€™m using a current cost. You can get them for peanuts on eBay since loads of the uk energy providers gave them away a few years back.
With rtl sdr you only need the clamp and transmitter.

This is where I first heard about rtlsdr:

25

Itā€™s outside ground level about 15m from the RFX, which is on 1st floor.

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26

Sounds good, similar price to my OWL.

What readings do you get from it? Anything to calculate cost?

This is mine:

6270908E-FFA7-42CA-94AE-1A6DBD8B498D
6270908E-FFA7-42CA-94AE-1A6DBD8B498D671Ɨ824 115 KB

27

Nothingā€¦ as it been stuck (literally -wth stick velcro) in my understairs cupboard for 5+ years unused and unloved.
Before that I had it connected via serial to a nslu2 that was hacked, and used to read the serial port every 6 seconds and do basic charting. Really it was probably my 1st home ā€œautomationā€ projectā€¦

Once I get it back to life with rtl_433 I will have to seeā€¦ cost would be nice. But definitely getting the data into influxdb/grafana for charting would be good.

28

is that what you have http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Current-Cost-Sensable-Transmitter-and-10mm-CT-sensor-/172384272993?hash=item2822e74261:g:IlsAAOSwX~dWn1ri ?

I take it as you only require the CT and the transmitter. The rtl sdr then receives the 433mhz signal which can then be integrated with HA. Is that correct?

29

Yes thats the one I have.
It works like that in theory :slight_smile: according to the link I posted earlier.

30

I am deciding on which one to get i.e. the current cost or the owl micro plus which @badgerhome uses. Both are similar price on ebay.

31

Well @badgerhome has more working that me :slight_smile:
Also he has an rtlsdr receiver ready to goā€¦ where as mine is on a ship somewhereā€¦

32

well I am more concerned about the features of the sensors really and what more information they can give.

He is using RFX as opposed to rtlsdr and rtlsdr is cheaper I guess.

33

Yes I am using an RFX, tempted to try with SDR with the Owl though. Give me till the end of the week and might just be able to test :+1:

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34

Been playing with this a bit tonight. Got the software running on a Pi Zero W, connected the RTL-SDR, and now transmitting the data to my mqtt broker. Works great! Hereā€™s a sample of the received data, in JSON format:

{
  "time" : "2017-09-28 04:26:27",
  "model" : "Acurite tower sensor",
  "id" : 13628,
  "channel" : "C",
  "temperature_C" : 12.2,
  "humidity" : 68,
  "battery" : 0,
  "status" : 68
}

Will be very simple to add this mqtt sensor to HA. What an awesome use for these SDRā€™s, thanks @roflmao!

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35

Is this the same?

36

Did you change the software before uploading it to your pi zero?

Also in terms of the rtl sdr which one do you recommend me buying because I see many with different prices. From the three below please:

1). https://www.modmypi.com/raspberry-pi/communication-1068/sdr-ads-b-aircraft-tracking/flightaware-pro-stick-plus-usb-sdr-ads-b-receiver?gclid=EAIaIQobChMInOKmztnH1gIVBLftCh3UugDBEAQYAyABEgIrV_D_BwE

2). http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172866206807

3). http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172796020856

Thanks.

37

Yes.

RTL2832U = decoder chipset
R820T2 = tuner

https://www.rtl-sdr.com/about-rtl-sdr/

38

Nope, hereā€™s what I did, after installing the latest Raspbian Lite:
(Most of this is all taken directly form the github page)

  1. sudo apt-get install libtool libusb-1.0.0-dev librtlsdr-dev rtl-sdr cmake
  2. git pull https://github.com/merbanan/rtl_433.git
  3. cd rtl_433/
  4. mkdir build
  5. cd build
  6. cmake ../
  7. make
  8. sudo make install

Here is the exact RTL-SDR Iā€™m using.

Iā€™m currently testing the software, in a non-permanent fashion, in a screen session, with the following command: sudo rtl_433 -F json -G | mosquitto_pub -t outdoor/rtl_433 -l -h 192.168.x.x

Ran out of time to see if sudo was absolutely necessary, it may not be. The user running the command, may just need to be in the dialout group, not sure yet, will investigate tonight.

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39

That device is tidy!

40

Sure is! Works great as well.
I plan on embedding the RTL-SDR with the Raspberry Pi Zero, into some kind of 3D-printed, all-in-one case; Iā€™ll design it once I get the software all figured outā€¦ So itā€™s basically a remotely managed, 433 -> MQTT bridgeā€¦ Should be fun! :wink:

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