I wanted to get into the realm of RF and decided to grab myself some sensors and a RTLSDR Dongle and I guess I was naive to expect it to “plug and play” by connecting it via the RTL_433 (next) add-on. When I started the add-on it was able to find all the acurite weather stations that my neighbours have around me apparently, but it wasn’t able to find the sensors that were in front of me.
Just wondering if anyone has any tips or can point me in the right direction of where to look when it comes to scanning and detecting these GauTone B68 Window/Door Sensors.
EDIT: I should also mention this PIR sensor that I haven’t unboxed yet but assuming it’s not going to be as simple either.
@tom_l I didn’t get anything out of the box at the default settings at 433MHz. I’m wondering if it has to do with encryption maybe?
I’ve been looking at some other guides that talk about using the RTL 433 Auto Discovery version of the add on and getting MQTT Explorer setup on my computer which I haven’t gotten into yet as I’m quite unfamiliar. Does that help with detection rather than just checking the log to see if it can pick it up out of the box when the magnet is moved?
It’s very likely that these contact sensors, and the unopened motion sensors, are not some of the few contact sensors for which RTL_433 has decoders for, but that they use some other protocol like RCSwitch, Plight or KaKU. I’d try a setup for these protocols, like using an ESP8266/ESP32 with an SRX882 receiver connected and OpenMQTTGateway installed to received and transmit most non-RTL_433 433 MHz devices via MQTT. No guarantee, but that’s what I use for all my RF devices which are not RTL_433.
@DigiH thanks for that!
I am just trying to see if there’s anything I still haven’t tried yet with the RTL_433 add-on, but from the sounds of it, if the decoders were present in the add-on then it’d be automatically picking up the sensors without any other config needed?
Well it’s kinda sad to think the RTLSDR dongle I have can’t help decode that here sadly, but I do so happen to have an extra ESP32 or two lying around so I can probably leverage that here to play around.
Am I correct in assuming that OpenMQTTGateway can help decode more types of encrypted 433Mhz devices than RTL_433 can? I understand it’s still just probability and not guaranteed.
It’s not really the quantity, but just the fact of different protocols. All the rtl_433 compatible devices for which decoders are included are listed on the rtl_433 project page
If a device, or a rebranded identical device, is not listed there it won’t be decoded and published by rtl_433. rtl_433 is also a purely receiving library, whereas RCSwitch, in OpenMQTTGateway for example, can also transmit - this way I am controlling my RF power plugs. If your sensors are supported by any of the three alternatives protocol libraries will just be trial and error - if you already have an ESP32 all it needs is a $5 SRX882 receiver, likely together with the STX882 transmitter, and you can test your RF devices with these other protocols.