Dusk to dawn control of RF 433MHz blinds

ESPHome
1

Hi - this is my first time posting a topic and I would really appreciate some input from people way more experienced in this space than me! Thank you in advance.

I am trying to configure my blinds to open at dawn and close at dusk (its a dark sky palnning requirement where I live). They are not wifi enabled but controlled by a 433MHz RF remote, which needs a three second duration press of two different buttons to open or close the blinds, hence Broadlink, Sonoff or similar RF emulators don’t work.

I was trying to build a configuration of:

  • Home Assistant - using the sunrise/sunset logic to trigger an open/close event on an ESP32
  • ESP32 - wifi enabled and integrated with a 433MHz RF transmitter; programmed to deliver a 3 second duration RF signal on the trigger received from Home at dawn/dusk
  • I would also need to use the ESP32 connected to the 433MHz receiver to ‘learn’ the RF code.

So I have two questions:

  1. Is this the best route to take to achieve what I’m trying to achieve?
  2. If so then compatibility it my friend! I’d like to buy a fully compatible and most user-friendly ESP32 board, transmitter and receiver (I already own a Home Assistant Green). Any advice on brand/spec etc please?
2

Have you looked at the RFXCOM rfxtrx-433 devices. Those devices cover a large range of protocols (perhaps also your required 3 seconds bust).

There is an integration for the RFXCOM, so no need to use ESP32 or the like. Just plug in the RFXCOM into an USB port, and the device can be controlled directly with HA.

I use those to control 7 Somfy RTS blinds, but that’s just using one of the many protocols the RFXCOM supports.

3

Used this video to build my own controller. It was easy, no soldering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1acVJ0xWJgs.

It’s super low budget (make sure to buy the ones mentioned in youtube on aliexpress) and worth the gamble?

4

Thanks very much for the RFXCOM recommendation. I can’t find anything in the spec that enables you to extend the signal for three seconds. I’ve tried Broadlink and Sonoff, and they are now going onto eBay!

So whilst the RFXCOM could work I am going to cut any further losses and try to use an open solution that will allow me to control the duration of the ‘button press’. Thanks for the help.

5

Thanks for this recommendation. This is the principle of my solution but sadly (annoyingly since all solutions seem to point to Somfy) my blinds aren’t Somfy, so the steps that are specific to Somfy won’t work.

I’ve now got a receiver (RF Solutions AM-RX9-433P Module) working using some simple YAML and a 17.3cm copper wire as the antenna. It’s reading the RF code and gives me what I need for the next step. I’ve written some YAML that I think (hope) will transmit the RF codes for 3 seconds, but I’ll only know if it’s working when I receive the transmitter (Quasar QAM-TX3-433 Module), which is en route.

I tried with cheap receivers from Amazon and found there was so much noise that I couldn’t detect my remote signal amongst the noise. So I’ve decided to spend a few more £ and get something with documentation and hopefully some reliability.

Still fingers crossed but I think I’m getting there. Thanks for the help.

6

Are you sure it needs 3 seconds of transmission? I don’t know anything about your device but some 433MHz remotes change modes when a button is long pressed, i.e. they send different codes for short press and long press.

If you can analyse your captured code you might be able to figure out if indeed it initially sends one code and then changes after 3 seconds to sending a different code. If so then a short transmission of just the long press code could work.

7

I’m fairly sure but I will analyse the codes and see if they change after three seconds of pressing. When I press and hold the remote the blinds do little jumps for three seconds and then that transitions into a smooth movement after the three seconds.

8

I have to confess that I ended up going round and round in circles trying to decipher the signal and analysing raw waveforms is beyond my capability. I ended up on plan B. I opened up one of the remotes (each blind’s remote is interchangeable with another), soldered two wires onto either side of the open/close buttons and then set up two relays to complete the circuit and used the ESP32 board to trigger the relay for 3 seconds. A bit of a cop-out and doesn’t look very pretty, but it works and is reliable.