Support for RFXCOM Tranceivers

[bernieb]

I was just looking at another thread in regards to controlling Somfy blinds and was just thinking that supporting the RFXCOM would be a great addition to the ISY.  I have recently moved from another HA solution to the ISY and honestly, the only thing that I was missing ( and slightly dissapointed) was no support for this device.

 

Take a look at RFXCOM's website.  www.rfxcom.com and see that they have a LAN model.  I wonder how hard it would be to incorporate this device with the ISY.  RFXCOM supports a wide range of wireless devices such as Oregon Scientific etc.  It even communicated with my bathroom scale.

 

I hope that the UD Team can take a look at this device and maybe come up with a way to integrate it in our solution.

 

Thanks

Bernie

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi Barnie,

 

Thank you. I responded to your other post. Currently the issue is that ISY does not have a USB port.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[bernieb]

Michel,

 

If you take a look ... they have a LAN model of their unit.

http://rfxcom.com/store/Transceivers/11201

 

I would think that this would work ...  hope you at least consider it.

[Teken]

Hello Bernie, 

 

Can you provide a little more detail(s) about your current system and how its configured? I quickly reviewed the vendors site and to be honest their isn't a lot of information about the product and what products can be interfaced with it. It seems to have a very short blurb about how it does but really no actual details about how and what it takes to do so.

 

Some photo's of the install and how its integrated into your current environment would be helpful.

[bernieb]

Hi Teken,

 

My setup was quite simple but was looking to expand.  I just moved in a new house just a few weeks ago and don't have anything setup.  When i do, I am migrating everything to the ISY and not leaving much on my other system.

 

But I can tell you what I was doing, and what I was hoping to get into in the new house.

I had a very basic setup as a said and only monitored a few Oregon Scientific temperature sensors around the house, some outdoors (back and front of the house) and a few indoors.

I was planning to incorporate one that also monitored humidity in my humidor to check on the humidity of the box and my cigars.

I also had found a cheap pool thermometer that worked well and reported the temp of the backyard pool.

Finally I also had it setup to record (and speak) my weight from the Oregon Scientific scale (Scale no longer being sold - mine is now defective) but was a cook feature.

 

What I would like to do now is be able to control roller shades (http://rollertrol.com/) we all know that this is a big gap in Home automation.

And know that the newer version of RFXCOM also can talk to the Somfy motors.

I also wanted to be able to remotely connect to LED Strips around the house

 

All this can be done with the RFXCOM with the right plugin.

 

For more items supported and maybe to give you an indea of what can be done with this unit, Check out the version history of the Homeseer plugin.

I think that this would be a great addition to ISY ... any others think the same?  I assume that the LAN model would work fo us.

 

Link to HS3 Plugin Version History:

http://www.rfxcom.com/hs3rfxcom.htm

 

By the way, I am not sure that you can pick up X-10 signals with the newer version of the RFXCOM.  We'd have to double check on all of that.

 

Thanks folks

Bernie

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi Bernie,

 

We'll definitely consider. This said, their documentation suggests that they support UDP packets. If this is indeed the case, you can easily use the Network Module to communicate with this device through ISY. Bert sent me the developer guide for the USB version. I'll ask him whether or not we can have the developer guide for the networked version and let you know.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[bernieb]

Michel,

 

That would be great and appreciate you at least looking into it. 

My first choice would be to have native support (even Plugin) but if my workaroud would be throught the network module, this may work.

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi Barnie,

 

I am so very sorry. This is what I got back from Bert:

The RFXLAN support only a limit set of sensors and actors. The interface protocol is bit oriented and totally different from the RFXtrx. We do not advise you to add support for the RFXLAN TCP/IP. An option would be to use the xPL protocol but you still have a very limit set of supported sensors.

 

Best is to use the RFXtrx and if required add a Raspberry PI for LAN support. This is still cheaper than the RFXLAN and supports more protocols.

Perhaps we can get io_guy to add support for this?

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[bernieb]

that's still a viable solution for me, how do we bribe io_guy to take a look at this ?

[Teken]

Just ask him!

 

 

Encrypted By: Phoenix Security Solutions

[paulbates]

that's still a viable solution for me, how do we bribe io_guy to take a look at this ?

Bernie... Think of io_guy like one of the major hs plugin developers. His part of this board is called automation shack. Start there. My observation is that the x10 ancillary products like rfx are not known here as well as at hs. You might have some selling to do on the many advantages of the rfxcom.

[MWareman]

Where can I get a rfxtrx in the US? And is it even useful, given it seems to be mostly European frequency biased?

[paulbates]

Not sure where you get it, however, HS users take advantage of Oregon Scientific brand as well as Oregon Scientific protocol weather stations and sensors that operate at 433mhz. rfx products bridge from these devices to a computer. Its a very specific x10rf technical solution with a big following that's been around a very long time in HA years.

 

For HS users it was historically accessed via serial or usb connected serial ports... that's probably where Michele was going with his potential solution. Similar to automation shack designs; it would be a thin .net client that reads from the serial port and pushes values into the ISY. I believe there are netduion and pi solutions for this too. Might need some coding, but thats another way.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[bernieb]

Thanks paulbates, being new to this board, I didn't know who io_guy was, I try to please my case.  Personally the biggest "hole" in home automation right now is window shades/blinds or even curtain automation.  For this only, this RFXCOM plugin would be worth it.  I also really enjoyed being able to monitor my Oregon Scientific temperature sensors and was looking forward to getting my humidity sensor going in my humidor.  With the addition of the LED strips, this makes the RFXCOM a great multi device controller.

 

MWareman,

You can order a US version of the RFXCOM from the website and it will be shipped to you.

 

Maybe reading the HomeSeer board would give everyone more ideas on what's being done with the unit.

[thardie]

Hi guys,

 

I'm currently using HS and have a LOT of devices connected through it (My status page has around 300 items on it). I am also a software developer, and have written several plugins for HS.

 

I'm considering replacing HS with the ISY994i, and RFXCom is one of the devices I'd like to support. I've got the USB version plugged into a wireless router running OpenWRT and ser2net, which means I connect to it on the network on a specific TCP port, and I'm directly talking to the RFXcom on serial (but over TCP). I use this with the HS RFXCom plugin and just tell it it's a RFXCom at the network location, and it works great.

 

I'd consider writing the plugin to use this method of communication for the ISY, but I'd also need the developer documentation.

 

Let's see what io_guy says?

 

Terry

[paulbates]

Hi thardie

 

I recently converted from HS to ISY. However had moved off or X10RF beforehand.

 

Not sure if you saw this, the conversation on RFX picked up over here.

 

Paul

[bernieb]

Hi Thardie, welcome to the board.

 

Seems like there are quite a few of us making the move from HS to the ISY.

I think that in the end, I'll be much happier and less frustrated.  Seems like updates come out frequently and developpers are active on the board listening to suggestions.

 

If you do decide to make the swictch, I hope that you can share your talents with some of your good plugins

 

bernie

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi thardie,

 

Welcome to our world!

 

If you already have OpenWRT and communications with RFXCom, the first step would be to develop a simple REST client which publishes events to ISY variables. Once we have 5.x out, this will be much easier and with defined values (instead of generic variables).

 

You are welcome to contact me directly at support@universal-devices.com. Also, developer docs are here under Developer Links:

http://forum.universal-devices.com/topic/11538-whats-in-4215-rc5/

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[thardie]

Hi thardie,

 

Welcome to our world!

 

If you already have OpenWRT and communications with RFXCom, the first step would be to develop a simple REST client which publishes events to ISY variables. Once we have 5.x out, this will be much easier and with defined values (instead of generic variables).

 

You are welcome to contact me directly at support@universal-devices.com. Also, developer docs are here under Developer Links:

http://forum.universal-devices.com/topic/11538-whats-in-4215-rc5/

 

With kind regards,

Michel

Thanks for the welcome!

 

I could make it work from a raspberry Pi or a Beaglebone (connected over USB to the RFXCom and to the local network) - Would that make it useful to anyone else?

 

I'll still need to developer docs, and it sounds like io_guy has them. I'll reply in the other thread.

 

Terry

[bernieb]

Making it work through a Raspberry Pi (possibly a B+) would be fine for me.