General Discussion

Thanks Hek - the ESP8266 gateway was already on the list to investigate... so much cool stuff to do, so little time :-)

Yeah, makes sense... I guess then that z-wave it is for controlling 220v. I have read that 433mhz usually doesn't have two way communication, which is inconvenient for reliable setups (state of main lights etc). And z-wave is not quite cheap setup. I am planning to use MajorDoMo controller, they support Z-Stick and raZbery as gateway. What would be the cheapest and minimum z-wave setup for turning on/off (and maybe dimming) the lights? So far I've found f.eks. z-stick https://www.m.nu/zwaveme-stick-p-1778.html for 35ish euro and popular Fibaro WALL PLUG FGWPF-102 for 60ish eur. Would that be minimum that I need to hook up to a pc running a controller that supports z-wave? Than it would be about 60euro for every new light/switch (vs 6 eur for one risky diy). Being a cheap guy I must ask, is there any cheaper certified alternative? :)

I don't know yet haven't opened it yet. But, i think its only a switch to different windings on the motor.

@hek I am back from work. In 10 mins I knew what was the problem and you won't believe it :| Since I was flashing at first the gateway, thus I defined the MY_SOFTSPI and didn't commented it back when I was flashing the relayactuator ! What a mistake !! I'll keep you updated as I'll start development the logic for the gateway using mqtt and the other node. Thanks hek.

Here is the video from my presentation if anyone is interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jluCmp8X29I&index=5&list=PLWYzpH_PTTmPrwl-kjN_V6cJZDzLW-ELb

@Cliff-Karlsson In the long range variants, the LNA is for the receive side (does a better job amplifying the received signal) and the PA is to produce higher power output on the transmit side. I use a module with a LNA/PA for my gateway and also for nodes that are far away or behind a few walls. Cheers Al

@lrtsenar The MySensors Libraries were designed around the nrf24l01 transceivers which have much more built in capability than a simple 433Mhz Tx/Rx pair. You can make a node which contains a nrf and 433 Rx/Tx and it can transfer messages between the MySensors architecture and common 433Mhz devices. If you are only interested in 433Mhz devices with Domoticz, see the RFLink project for more info. I believe it requires a mega to fit their libraries.

I think that will be my strategy. That is, I keep my current rf24 gateway and larer on add a "69" gateway when the rf24 does not really cut it abd i have to use 69 nodes (typically the ones far away). I am not too fond of deploying wired repeaters unless I have to.

@Avamander "MySensors" has had support for this for quite some time yes. As you can read in the topic post of this thread. Encryption is discussed elsewhere on the forum.

@m26872 I like the ad/info box. It gives convenient access to a picture of the item and a price. And if people click it, they support the project since a fraction of the price will go to the project. However, if you want to avoid the box you can create a link using bit.ly (or goo.gl or any other url shortener). This works for codebender links as well. Like this: http://goo.gl/E9Gy6X

Hi. It's long time .. but standard function is : gw.processRadioMessage(); and I make changes in source code in MyGateway.cpp to this : char MyGateway::processRadioMessage() { char isMessage=0; if (process()) { // A new message was received from one of the sensors isMessage=1; MyMessage message = getLastMessage(); if (mGetCommand(message) == C_PRESENTATION && inclusionMode) { rxBlink(3); } else { rxBlink(1); } // Pass along the message from sensors to serial line serial(message); } checkButtonTriggeredInclusion(); checkInclusionFinished(); return isMessage; } But in new library is not file MyGateway.cpp .. then I don't now .. using is : if (gw.processRadioMessage()==1) {..} regards.. there is possible make easy gateway .. controler .. to control only light for example.. then we don't need external controller .. etc..

@csa02221862 The easiest may be to use something like this and connect to an Arduino: http://www.ebay.com/itm/321816823725 and use the remote to program your HomeLink buttons. Not sure how secure it would be though. Cheers Al

:+1: Ex Berliner in Baden Würtenberg

@hek : Many thanks! I can do the math to do a pulley system, but that is dependent on the size of the motor, yes? What would you think the minimum size of motor I should start with? Do I need to go to a 24VDC motor, or can I do something with 5VDC motor? Regards..

https://xkcd.com/927/

@rvendrame Does the mysensors library use high power modes on the nrf? As far as I remember these can use much more power.

@Cliff-Karlsson Here's a good example as to how to use them: http://openenergymonitor.org/emon/node/58. You'd have to combine their sketch with a MS sketch, but that shouldn't be too difficult. Note that a clamp on current transformer can produce high voltages without a burden resistor and should never be used without being connected. See the Safety section on this page for more info: http://openenergymonitor.org/emon/buildingblocks/ct-sensors-introduction. Cheers Al

I had to restart this night which was the first restart since months. Tonight the clocks were changed (Daylight Savings Time). I suspect that this was the reason. Apart from that it is absolutely stable.

Yes depending on the controller (Arduino) you choose will determine the number of sensors or actions a node may support. I will take into consideration if the node can be hidden, or it needs to be small and/or presentable where it is going to be located. This may effect your choices for the controller. I will also look at the tasks I'm trying to accomplish for a given objective. Some tasks like knowing if a door or window is open or closed and a motion sensor may not play well with each other in a node. Determine if it is going to be using batteries or get power from my house curcit (for example via a wall wart). When determining the power source I will look at the tasks I have defined. One of the tasks could determine if you are able to resonable use batteries to power it. For example a task like knowing if a door or window is open or closed most likely will not be run on batteries. If using a battery you should put your controller and radio to sleep as long and often as you can. If you have to use a small controller then the number of interrupts available will be limited and most likely be one. Some tasks will use an interrupt to override the sleep timer, for example a motion sensor. If more then one task (like a motion sensor) needs an interrupt and you are using a small controller you will need to split it up to more then one node or redefine your objective. These are just some thoughts I have been running with for now. Any other persectives are greatly appreciated. There are several of you that have a lot more experience with this adventure then I do.