Version 37 (modified by lolodomo, 10 years ago) (diff)

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RFXtrx Gateway

Description

The RFXtrx USB transceiver from RFXCOM is a device having receive and transmit RF capabilities to exchange with many products available on the market. Here is a short list of what products can be controlled: X10, Oregon Scientific, Visonic, HomeEasy, KlikAanKlikUit, COCO, ELRO, NEXA, Intertechno, Düwi, Chacon, DI.O, Domia Lite, ATI Remote Wonder, RFXSensor, RFXPower, RFXMeter, LightwaveRF, Mertik, La Crosse, TFA, UPM/Esic, Robocam/Ninja, EMW100, Flamingo, Ikea Koppla, WaveMan, Intertek/Unitec, Harrison curtains.

The product exists in two versions, the RFXtrx433 using a RF frequency of 433.92 MHz and the RFXtrx315 using RF frequency of 310 MHz or 315 MHz.

First the RFXtrx device has to be plugged to the Vera using an USB link. All the data received by the RFXtrx will be transmitted to the Vera using this USB link and directly handled by the plugin. Commands requested by Vera users from the UI will be formatted and relayed by the plugin to the RFXtrx for RF transmission.

Installation & Setup

RFXtrx firmware

Please note that RFXtrx firmware v66 has a bug in its management of the communication protocol that leads to abnormal behavior with the Vera plugin. Please flash another version of the firmware.

Manual installation

You can find the installation procedure described step by step on the Node Central blog (Thanks to Parkerc for this guide).

Installation from the Micasaverde App Store

The plugin is not yet available in the Micasaverde App Store.

Additional Setup

Setup of received protocols

Once you have the RFXtrx controller and plug-in installed you now need to start looking at the RF protocols you want the RFXtrx device to receive and you can do this by accessing the tab "RFXtrx settings" of the RFXtrx Controller device. By default, you may notice a number already switched on, it matches what is currently saved in the RFXtrx memory. But it’s now time to think about which protocols you actually want to use, because

  • not all can coexist,
  • too many can effect the performance.

So it’s recommended that you only enable those ones you need to use. For a better understanding of the protocols and those that are sensitive/conflict check out the chapter titled "Sensitivity influenced by enabled protocols" of the RFXrtx433 user manual. Once you have finished to enable/disable several protocols, save your settings in the memory of the RFXtrx. This new configuration will now be restored every time after a power up. To do that, just push the button titled "Save RFXtrx Settings". Please note that

  • this memory is limited to a maximum 10000 write cycles so don't save when it is not necessary,
  • these settings are lost after a firmware update of the RFXtrx and need to be set again.

General plugin settings

You can adjust general plugin settings in the tab "Plugin settings" of the RFXtrx Controller device. These settings include:

  • selection of the temperature unit,
  • selection of the speed unit,
  • filling the voltage for the power calculation,
  • enabling or disabling the debug logs,
  • enabling or disabling the automatic creation of devices by the plugin.

Just push the Set button at right of each setting to validate your change; no need to reload the Vera.

Creation of Vera devices

By default, the devices are created automatically by the plugin accordingly to the messages received from the RFXtrx.

To disable the automatic creation of devices, you can access the tab "Plugin settings" of the RFXtrx Controller device, select "OFF" at right of the setting "Automatic creation of devices" and finally push the button "Set" to validate your change.

Even while keeping the automatic creation mechanism (variable "AutoCreate" set to 1), it is possible to disable the creation of certain devices. It can be useful for example if your RFXtrx Controller device receives data from your neighbors's devices like weather sensors and you don't want them in your Vera dashboard. To do that, you have to use the new variable "DisabledDevices" to list the devices you don't want to be created by the plugin. You can access this variable in the tab "Advanced" of the RFXtrx Controller device. The value of this variable is a comma-separated list of "device id". The "device id" is the value of the attribute "altid" you can get for each Vera device in the advanced tab. Here is an example of value that will disable the creation of two devices, an Oregon temperature sensor and a Blyss switch device: "TS/T1/1537,LS/L6.0/9C4B/E1". Note that you will have to delete manually the unwished devices that are already created. After updating the variable, push the red button "Save" at top right in the dashboard to validate your change.

Few devices can be created manually by the user using the tab "New device" of the RFXtrx Controller device. ...

How to trigger Vera scenes from remotes supported by the RFXtrx

Security remote control

...

Lighting remote control

...

ATI/Medion remote control

...

How to adjust the value reported by a weather sensor

For each weather sensor managed by the plugin, you can setup the plugin to automatically adjust the value measured by the sensor. The formula that can be applied to the measured value x is: a*(x+b) + c Constants a, b and c have ti be set in variables on the device to be adjusted. These variables are available in the advanced tab of the weather devices. Here are the variables:

  • constant a is set in variable "AdjustMultiplier"
  • constant b is set in variable "AdjustConstant2"
  • constant c is set in variable "AdjustConstant"

How to repeat ON/OFF trigger for a light/switch device

Set the variable "RepeatEvent" to 1 using the Advanced tab of the device: the event will be triggered even when the state is unchanged.

How to avoid event trigger for a smoke/motion/door sensor device

Set the variable "RepeatEvent" to 0 using the Advanced tab of the device: the event will be triggered only when the sensor state is changed.

Compatible products and limitations

Here is a table extracted from the RFXtrx user manual with an additional column showing plugin compatibility.

Protocol Frequency Receive Transmit Enable receiving Plugin compatibility Limitations
US X10 lighting 310MHz Yes Yes X10 Yes
US X10 security 310MHz Yes Yes X10 No
Visonic CodeSecure 315MHz Planned No No
Visonic PowerCode 315MHz Yes Yes Visonic Yes
X10 lighting - X10, Xdom, ebode 433.92MHz Yes Yes X10 Yes
X10 security 433.92MHz Yes Yes X10 Yes
ARC (address code wheels) - HomeEasy, KlikAanKlikUit, ByeByeStandBy old model, Intertechno, ELRO, AB600, Düwi, DomiaLite, COCO 433.92MHz Yes Yes ARC Yes
ByeByeStandBy (learning mode) 433.92MHz Yes Yes ARC No
Byron SX chime 433.92MHz Yes Yes ByronSX No
ELRO AB400D, Flamingo, Phenix, Sartano, RisingSun, Brennenstuhl 433.92MHz Yes Yes Lighting4 Yes Receiving not handled
EMW100 433.92MHz No Yes No
EMW200 433.92MHz No Yes Yes
MDREMOTE LED dimmer 433.92MHz No Yes No
Livolo 433.92MHz No Yes Yes
Conrad RSL2 433.92MHz Yes Yes RSL No
Revolt 433.92MHz Yes No RSL No
Energenie ENER010 - 429.935, 5-gang 429.950 433.92MHz No Yes Yes
Waveman 433.92MHz No Yes Yes
Impuls 433.92MHz No Yes Yes
AC (learning button) - HomeEasy UK, KlikAanKlikUit, Chacon, NEXA, DI.O, Intertechno 433.92MHz Yes Yes AC / ANSLUT Yes except set group level command
HomeEasy EU 433.92MHz Yes Yes HomeEasy EU Yes except set group level command
ANSLUT 433.92MHz Yes Yes AC / ANSLUT Yes except set group level command
Ikea Koppla 433.92MHz No Yes Yes except dim and bright commands
AD - LightwaveRF, Siemens 433.92MHz Yes Yes AD (LightwaveRF) Yes except lock and unlock commands
AE - Blyss,Thomson 433.92MHz Yes Yes AE (Blyss) Yes
Digimax, TLX7506 433.92MHz Yes No X10 No
Digimax RTS10, RFS10, TLX1206 433.92MHz Yes Yes X10 No
HomeEasy HE105 433.92MHz No Yes No
Mertik Maxitrol - G6R-H4T1, G6R-H4TB 433.92MHz Yes Yes Mertik Yes
X10 Ninja/Robocam 433.92MHz Yes Yes X10 No
La Crosse - TX2, TX3, TX4, TX17, WS2300 433.92MHz Yes No La Crosse Yes
La Crosse - TX5 433.92MHz Yes No La Crosse No
Alecto - WS1200 433.92MHz Yes No La Crosse Yes
TFA - TS15C, TS34C, 30.3133 433.92MHz Yes No Hideki / UPM Yes
Oregon 1.0 - THR128,THR138,THC138 433.92MHz Yes No Oregon Scientific Yes
Oregon 2.1 / Huger - THGN122N, THGR122NX, THGN123N, RGR126, UVN128, UVR128, THGN132N, THGN132ES, UV138, THGR228N, THGRN228NX, THGR238, THGR268, RTGN318, RTHN318, RTGR328N, THGR328N, RTGR368N, THGN500, RGR682, THGR918, BTHR918, BTHR918N, RGR918, STR918, WGR918, RGR928, STR928, THGR928, WGR928, BTHR968, EW109 433.92MHz Yes No Oregon Scientific Yes
Oregon 3.0 - PCR800,UVN800,WGR800,WTGR800,TGHN800,TGHN801,THGR810 433.92MHz Yes No Oregon Scientific Yes
Oregon BWR101/BWR102 433.92MHz Yes No Oregon Scientific Yes
Oregon GR101 433.92MHz Yes No Oregon Scientific Yes
OWL CM113, cent-a-meter, Electrisave 433.92MHz Yes No Oregon Scientific Yes
OWL CM119 / CM160 / CM180 433.92MHz Yes No Oregon Scientific Yes
OWL CM180i 433.92MHz Yes No Oregon Scientific Yes
UPM/Esic - WT260,WT260H,WT440H,WT450,WT450H,WDS500,RG700 433.92MHz Yes No Hideki / UPM Yes
Viking 02035, 02038, 02811 433.92MHz Yes No FineOffset / Viking Yes
KD101 smoke detector - Avidsen, Chacon, NEXA, Flamingo 433.92MHz Yes Yes Always on Yes
Alecto SA30 smoke detector 433.92MHz Yes Yes Oregon Scientific Yes
Harrison curtain 433.92MHz No Yes Yes except program command
RollerTrol blinds 433.92MHz Yes Yes RollerTrol / Hasta Yes except set limit command
Hasta motor (new models) 433.92MHz Yes Yes RollerTrol / Hasta Yes except set limit command
Hasta motor (old models) 433.92MHz Yes Yes Hasta (old) / A-OK Yes except set limit command
A-OK motor - RF01, AC114 433.92MHz Yes Yes Hasta (old) / A-OK Yes
Raex YR1326 T16 motor 433.92MHz Yes Yes Hasta (old) / A-OK Yes Only Open, Close and Stop commands are handled
Media Mount projector screen 433.92MHz No Yes Hasta (old) / A-OK Yes
ATI Remote Wonder 433.92MHz Yes Yes ATI Yes
ATI Remote Wonder Plus 433.92MHz Yes Yes ATI Yes
ATI Remote Wonder II 433.92MHz Yes No ATI Yes type of command (PC, AUX1 ... AUX4) not handled
PC Remote 433.92MHz Yes Yes X10 Yes
RFXSensor 433.92MHz Yes No X10 No
RFXMeter 433.92MHz Yes No X10 Yes
RUBiCSON stektermometer 48659, 48695 433.92MHz Yes No Rubicson Yes
Visonic CodeSecure 433.92MHz Planned No No
Visonic PowerCode 433.92MHz Yes Yes Visonic Yes
Meiantech, Atlantic, Aidebao 433.92MHz Yes Yes Meiantech Yes Except IR beam
Philips SBCSP370/375 433.92MHz No Yes Yes
RC5 (IR) 433.92MHz No Planned No

Discussion

The RFXtrx plugin is discussed in two main places