Cavius smoke detector integration?

Third party integrations
41

Depends what type of sensors you’re picking up. For the battery status, it’s probably best to use a binary_sensor. Here’s an example (not a Cavius smoke sensor, it’s a 433 MHz temperature sensor):

mqtt:
  binary_sensor:
    - name: Hytta batteri kjøkken
      unique_id: hytta_batteri_kjokken
      state_topic: 'rtl_433/RPiHytta/devices/Oregon-THGR810/2/87/battery_ok'
      device_class: battery
      payload_on: "0"
      payload_off: "1"

Replace the state_topic with whatever the topic is for the smoke sensor and replace the "0" and "1" for payload_xxx to however the smoke sensor reports the battery status.

For (analog) sensors, the following structure should work:

mqtt:
  sensor:
    - name: Hytta temperatur kjøkken
      unique_id: hytta_temperatur_kjokken
      state_topic: 'rtl_433/RPiHytta/devices/Oregon-THGR810/2/87/temperature_C'
      device_class: temperature
      unit_of_measurement: "°C"
    - name: Hytta luftfuktighet kjøkken
      unique_id: hytta_luftfuktighet_kjokken
      state_topic: 'rtl_433/RPiHytta/devices/Oregon-THGR810/2/87/humidity'
      device_class: humidity
      unit_of_measurement: "%"

Adjust the state_topic and other parts as needed.

42

Edit 2: It seems incredible inconsistent – at least with Pairing mode. I will try with test alarms instead when no one else at home will be bothered.

Edit: I’m not sure why, but I suddenly started capturing signals when pairing with the following command. I’m certain that I already tried this… :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

rtl_433 -f 868.68M -s 250k -R 179 -p 9
Hidden after edit above

I’ve thoroughly read through this thread many times and I’ve tried calibrating using “kalibrate-rtl” but I simply cannot seem to catch any message from Cavius. For now I have only tried pairing a new smoke detector and removing it again every time I’ve tested, due to family members being home. I have tried all the following variations:

rtl_433 -f 869.68M -s 250k -R 179
rtl_433 -f 869.67M -s 250k -R 179
rtl_433 -f 868.68M -s 250k -R 179
rtl_433 -f 868.67M -s 250k -R 179

As well as adding the offset calculated:

-p 9.153

I am using a:

SDR: Found 1 device(s)
SDR: trying device  0:  Realtek, RTL2838UHIDIR, SN: 00000001
Found Fitipower FC0012 tuner
SDR: Using device 0: Generic RTL2832U OEM

What am I missing here? Any assistance will be much appreciated!

43

It seems more consistent now with a bit of ppm tuning. What gain are you guys using for reliable Cavius message interception?

44

I haven’t followed up further, so I have no working solution, but I’m intrigued by your statement that “it seems more consistent now with a bit of ppm tuning”. What ppm_error do you use. And what signals traffic do you see? Do the sensors send information on a regular basis or only when tested?

46

Finally purchased one of these to play around with.

In learning mode and with the above parameters I got

denver@denver-Inspiron:~$ rtl_433 -f 868.68M -s 250k -R 179 -p 9
rtl_433 version 21.12 (2021-12-14) inputs file rtl_tcp RTL-SDR SoapySDR
Use -h for usage help and see https://triq.org/ for documentation.
Trying conf file at "rtl_433.conf"...
Trying conf file at "/home/trevor/.config/rtl_433/rtl_433.conf"...
Trying conf file at "/usr/local/etc/rtl_433/rtl_433.conf"...
Trying conf file at "/etc/rtl_433/rtl_433.conf"...

New defaults active, use "-Y classic -s 250k" for the old defaults!

Registered 1 out of 207 device decoding protocols [ 179 ]
Detached kernel driver
Found Rafael Micro R820T tuner
Exact sample rate is: 250000.000414 Hz
[R82XX] PLL not locked!
Sample rate set to 250000 S/s.
Tuner gain set to Auto.
Frequency correction set to 9 ppm.
Tuned to 868.680MHz.
baseband_demod_FM: low pass filter for 250000 Hz at cutoff 50000 Hz, 20.0 us
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 
time      : 2023-01-24 14:52:12
model     : Cavius-Security                        Device ID : 913700
Battery   : 1            Net ID    : 913700        Message   : 128           Description: Pairing      Integrity : CRC
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 
time      : 2023-01-24 14:52:17
model     : Cavius-Security                        Device ID : 913700
Battery   : 1            Net ID    : 913700        Message   : 128           Description: Pairing      Integrity : CRC

I only have the heat alarm so couldn’t pair anyway. Out of pairing mode and pressing the test button and leaving it for a minute or two I didn’t get any other signals.

47

Hello all! I have 6 Cavius smoke detectors connected in series in my house and would love to get these integrated in my Home Assistant. Which R820T tuner dongle are you using and would recommend?

As this thread is now a couple of years old, have your smoke alarm integrations been working fine over time?

@denver , @uphillbattle , @TSS , @kimhaak , @hhovde , @bipsen , I see that you all have communication with the smoke sensors, what is your experience? :slight_smile:

48

I’ve yet to purchase one of these but it looks like it will solve the integration issues.
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/CV9004.html

49

Will this relay be able to communicate battery status of all the smoke sensors? Kind of look like it is just an relay that will activate when smoke is detected, or am I wrong?

50

Hi ugglas!

Any sdr-dongle should work, but your milage may vary. I have found the ones from https://www.rtl-sdr.com/ to be stable and of good quality.

Regarding your question to the reliability of the integration, the answer is two-fold:
rtl_433 is rock solid and as long as you are able to finetune your dongle, the result shoud be consistent and readily available via MQTT.
That said, I still haven’t found the time to write an HA-integration, so it’s not a turn-key solution.

(BTW: Your assumptions sems right about the “relay” from Cavius, linked from @denver. It’s probably just a relay that triggers on alarm)

/H