Help needed with decoding 433 Mhz signal

BartOtten

Currently I am trying to add support for a motion sensor I found at Hornbach (Unitec CR2477). It communicates with RF at 433 Mhz, so I was able to record it's signals (see attachment)

I took a look at https://github.com/athombv/node-homey-433/blob/master/HOWTO_CREATE_SIGNAL.md and got lost quite early.

You define words by starting at the first value after the start of frame and assign all values to a word of your wanted length until there are not enough values left to create a word. For instance if we use sof = [255, 400] for the example data above and start with a word length of 2 we would get the words [110, 1002] and [1100, 111]. If we would use a word length of 3 we would get the words [110, 1002, 1100], [111, 108, 1010], [109, 1102, 112] which are more words and represent less data.

This will probably be enough guidance for tech-savvy devs, but for John Joe this is describing rocket science. However, Athom does require an app for every device, so it would be nice if the tutorial would not require too much pre-existing knowledge about signal handling.

Could somebody guide me though it using the data attached? Would be nice if I could push an app to the store to support this motion detector available at your local hardware store

bvdbos

I assume you sent multiple times the same signal... Then I'd say it's (see file):
000010011001011100000001
With 0 being [302;913] and 1 being [915;301]
SOF: [312,933] and EOF: [307;2587]

Could also be an extra 0 in front of the signal but the 428 as first digit seems strange. You might want to take another recording for confirmation..

BartOtten

@bvdbos thanks for the colored sheet. 

For those reading this thread I've created an extended explanation and added more colors to the sheet ;-)

Words should be defined as small as possible without increasing the amount of needed words.

Aka: You should find a rhythm of value pairs. The length of the value pairs (called words) should be as short as possible so as many as possible will fit in one row.

In the attached example, the difference is clearly visible:

On the first row the words are 2 values long:
word 1: low, high (yellow)
word 2: high, low (orange)

Using this rhythm, the first row leads to: word 1, word 1,  word 1, word 2, word 1 etc.

What happens when was chosen for words of 3 values length, is shown on the last row.

word 1: low, high, low (purple)
word 2: high, low, high (green)
word 3: high, low, low (grey)
word 4: low, low, high (yellow)
word5: low, high, high (blue)
(and possibly more)

Using this rhythm, the last lines leads to: 
word 1, word 2, word 3, word 2, word 2, word 4, word 5...etc

Not only are there less words in the last line, the variation of words is also huge!

TonD83

I'm trying to do pretty much the same as you. Stuck as well. Could someone please have a look at the Excel file and possibly identify the sof, words and eof?

Thanks a lot! 

JPe

I agree with @BartOtten , where he says:  "This will probably be enough guidance for tech-savvy devs, but for John Joe, this is describing rocket science. However, Athom does require an app for every device, so it would be nice if the tutorial would not require too much pre-existing knowledge about signal handling."
A more "low level" description would stimulate much more people to finish the steps to a new app.
Maybe @Bram can take this up?  @Athom

TonD83

@bvdbos Any chance you could have a look at my excel file? Thanks. 

bvdbos

I'd say its:
10001010 10110011 01110101
with
SOF = [ ]
1 = [313,959]
0 = [948,324]
EOF = [321,3042]
1 and 0 may be the other way round, no way to know...

TonD83

Thanks, I'll experiment a bit more later. Had figured the same but haven't tried swapping 0 and 1 yet. 

cbh

Anyone who already made the most basic app of all: The app of one button sending the same 433 MHz-signal every time without listening for anything?

I have the signal (recorded) and all I need is a way to send it - and if someone already made that kind of "one button app" that could be used (and only substitute the code for the signal) - it would be fantastic - then I'd have a chance of getting there ;-)

bvdbos

https://github.com/BasKiers/com.a.doorbell

cbh

Cool!
When trying to upload via CLI I get an error message "signals.433.aDoorbell: invalid_sensitivity"
Guess I should edit the code somewhere first (?) - but I can't figure out where?
A little word of guidance available? :-)

GeurtDijker

The App is created with the 433 generator ( https://github.com/athombv/node-homey-433 ) 
in Homey firmware  1.3 or so the max Sensitivity changed:

https://github.com/athombv/node-homey-433/blob/740394d076554a15d361e009c7b92f85cc8a84b7/src/configParser.js#L519

So Lower the value here: https://github.com/BasKiers/com.a.doorbell/blob/47695f1865a8cf121598b8c34b276c1ed39afa19/433_generator/config.js#L15 and generate the app again. 
(Homey checks the value in the app.json https://github.com/BasKiers/com.a.doorbell/blob/47695f1865a8cf121598b8c34b276c1ed39afa19/app.json#L30 )

cbh

Would never have found out by myself - thank you, indeed!
The app installs fine now - but when trying to add a device in Homey, the signal is not recognised - and the device therefore not made.
I'm a total rookie, I know, but if I can't add a device, then I can't get a way to generate an outbound signal - even if I get the figures right with sof, message and eof in the code - right?
Guess there might be some compability issues from when the app was made and now (running 1.5.5)?

(Hmm - am I actually hijacking the original thread and should the latter messages be moved to a seperate thread 'bout this app?)

bvdbos

What device are you working on? And what is your signal-definition? Maybe it's better to use the 433-generator to create to config-file?

cbh

Thank you for your replies @bvdbos and @GeurtDijker ,

What I have is: 1) a gate, 2) a remote (Tedsen SKX1WD), and 3) Homey.

It's only one-way communication from the remote to the gate on the 433 MHz band and the code it not rolling.
I can record the code via developer.athom.com as well as copy the remote to another remote - and know what the actual dip switches are set to if that helps.
My only wish is to be able to make a button that I can press in Homey (or a flow that can) so that I can trigger opening the gate va Homey :-)

I've been looking at the 433-generator - but I got los as @BartOtten...
I'm sure it is better to - but for now just too complicated for me - therefore my little hope, that it could be possible to more or less copy-paste som of the recorded signal into an existing app :-)

Guess I'll just have to read on the hard way :-)

maurice_ot

Hope that somebody is 'smart' enough to make such an app, so that in general everybody can use it <span></span>

christian1976

I am also stuck in 433 country... I bought a motor for a rollerblind, but stuck with the same signal problem.

I now bought a broadlink device that can learn 433 just like you can do with IR. You just point and click and then it knows the signal. So for now i dont use my blinds with Homey, but i would really love to !!!!..

So if anyone can work on a generic app for this it would be great... It must be possible, if broadlink can do it so can Athom ;-)

Drops

Initiated by this Topic I have also tried to get uesed to the 433 Generator. Unfortuately I am also stuck in this.

One question. If I use the developer Tools, then signals and 433 recording, does this give me the same values as using the 433 Generator? If so, it is quite easy to get the values, not saying it is easy to Analyse them an build up the app.

But at least one easy step. Can anyone confirm or deny?

anne

The 433 generator does not create any signal at all, it just generates drivers files you can use as a starting point for an app. The recording in the developer tools is the signal you need to analyze in order to arrive at a working signal definition. 

Whether it is easy or hard depends a lot on the signal itself, and whether you want send and receive or only send. If you only want to send you can skip most of the signal definition and just include the entire (recorded) signal in the 'SOF' field. The following link will give you an idea of what it involves: https://forum.athom.com/uploads/editor/g8/qe7swz0tr4h9.pdf. There are various posts and topics about this on the forum as well.

And as mentioned elsewhere, if you get on the Athom slack channel help is always nearby

k1s

Hello, I'm one step further behind than @BartOtten, I read the same guide and got lost.  I don't how he/she got a file from the console?

I entered this:
var recordData; api('POST', '/manager/rf/record', {}, (err, result) => {console.log('done recording'); recordData = result; });
 
and then pressed my door bell button about 20-25 times and got:
done recording

And then I entered this:
recordData.reduce((lengths, recordEntry) => Object.assign(lengths, { [recordEntry.length]: (lengths[recordEntry.length] || 0) + 1 }), {});

and got:
Object {32: 3, 34: 7, 37: 1, 38: 2, 40: 1, 41: 1, 42: 2, 46: 1, 48: 1, 49: 1, 50: 39, 52: 1, 58: 1, 70: 1, 72: 1}.

Then, because length 50 apparently came up 39 times, I entered:
var fl = 50; recordData = recordData.filter(recordEntry => recordEntry.length === fl)

and got:
(39) [Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50), Array(50)]

When I clicked the little arrow in the console I can see each Array(50) contains a list of numbers (example below), but I don't know how to get them into an excel file or then exactly what to do to identify the Start of frame, Words, End of frame, etc.  because I don't see the square brackets like in the example in David Thornley's guide.  Instead I see this:

1. 0:657
2. 1:249
3. 2:194
4. 3:693
5. 4:641
6. 5:233
7. 6:644
8. 7:247
9. 8:199
10. 9:679
11. 10:210
12. 11:666
13. 12:217
14. 13:673
15. 14:214
16. 15:664
17. 16:214
18. 17:673
19. 18:653
20. 19:222
21. 20:224
22. 21:666
23. 22:217
24. 23:662
25. 24:663
26. 25:223
27. 26:661
28. 27:227
29. 28:652
30. 29:228
31. 30:654
32. 31:227
33. 32:217
34. 33:663
35. 34:662
36. 35:224
37. 36:659
38. 37:222
39. 38:662
40. 39:225
41. 40:214
42. 41:669
43. 42:221
44. 43:661
45. 44:659
46. 45:227
47. 46:662
48. 47:225
49. 48:211
50. 49:1770

k1s

I found on another postmaxxie01 that  entering JSON.stringify(recordData); produces the square brackets and raw numbers, so now I have the full list (below), but don't understand how looking at it I can determine the 'words'.  

Would greatly appreciate some help. Perhaps @bvdbos is still here?

[645,259,194,681,640,242,645,236,213,670,210,676,205,672,214,672,214,670,652,225,215,666,217,673,655,224,661,229,655,220,662,225,211,670,662,226,661,215,662,226,214,669,221,665,653,228,660,224,221,1794],
[657,249,194,693,641,233,644,247,199,679,210,666,217,673,214,664,214,673,653,222,224,666,217,662,663,223,661,227,652,228,654,227,217,663,662,224,659,222,662,225,214,669,221,661,659,227,662,225,211,1770],
[656,250,195,693,639,243,634,247,204,677,209,667,216,663,223,661,224,659,659,232,215,661,225,665,660,223,658,226,652,233,650,227,219,666,664,217,661,228,654,226,224,664,216,665,661,217,662,227,212,1770],
[637,273,175,694,641,243,645,235,203,681,201,683,204,675,214,662,225,666,657,224,214,666,213,674,654,225,666,220,663,218,661,225,221,661,661,227,654,227,653,233,214,666,218,661,662,223,660,227,217,1788],
[631,281,175,703,631,241,643,237,201,687,197,678,206,672,224,664,215,663,666,220,214,673,215,662,665,223,659,222,662,225,663,213,221,664,662,228,652,232,659,217,220,665,222,665,653,229,663,225,211,1770],
[645,259,194,693,631,253,646,258,195,706,214,702,222,700,217,708,222,706,707,240,227,725,239,724,716,248,736,264,746,263,747,264,234,740,696,224,621,218,621,216,215,660,206,684,723,277,899,360,371,2658],
[641,259,184,693,641,241,645,248,189,686,208,665,212,673,215,662,223,662,666,224,214,666,215,673,654,224,655,227,655,224,659,227,217,663,663,224,660,228,652,233,214,667,214,663,664,223,661,228,217,1788],
[643,258,194,691,632,242,643,245,199,678,210,675,213,663,216,673,214,666,663,224,214,666,217,662,664,223,660,228,652,222,662,224,221,661,662,226,661,215,661,226,214,669,221,662,661,226,659,222,222,1038],
[662,251,185,692,633,251,643,235,202,682,212,664,213,672,214,663,226,666,660,216,226,657,221,664,660,227,661,224,660,223,659,226,214,663,664,221,663,225,660,227,215,659,222,665,663,220,662,224,212,1602],
[643,260,195,693,632,242,643,237,205,676,217,665,213,674,214,662,223,666,654,222,224,666,217,663,664,224,656,223,659,227,653,227,217,663,663,223,660,227,663,223,214,666,217,662,663,224,662,217,226,1578],
[647,259,185,693,640,241,643,247,194,675,219,667,216,669,210,664,222,663,664,220,224,666,215,661,662,224,660,228,652,222,662,224,222,661,661,226,661,225,655,225,213,669,211,671,660,227,653,227,215,1776],
[639,269,175,702,630,250,643,234,203,679,210,676,205,675,214,662,223,666,655,221,223,661,223,664,656,225,665,219,665,219,663,225,211,671,660,227,652,227,662,224,213,666,214,674,655,224,660,227,217,1788],
[649,258,185,693,639,241,643,237,203,679,210,675,212,665,215,673,214,666,655,221,224,661,223,663,656,225,665,217,662,227,662,225,213,665,656,225,661,227,663,224,213,666,214,673,653,224,659,222,218,1782],
[642,280,184,725,646,269,363,31,261,280,196,739,201,739,214,734,226,737,223,733,726,249,237,754,243,749,759,257,755,257,712,228,646,218,196,635,618,221,663,246,764,301,285,932,329,1033,1398,683,932,5436],
[642,270,185,692,640,240,642,237,202,680,210,676,203,674,215,672,213,665,663,225,214,666,218,662,663,223,661,227,654,222,662,224,221,662,661,227,652,227,662,224,213,665,218,662,663,224,660,228,214,1782],
[640,259,194,683,640,242,643,247,205,676,208,667,217,663,223,664,214,666,664,220,224,666,217,662,663,222,660,218,664,221,661,222,222,663,662,226,661,225,661,218,218,666,216,674,652,227,663,215,218,1776],
[652,257,184,693,640,241,643,237,205,675,217,664,212,671,212,675,215,664,664,219,214,676,215,662,662,224,650,227,662,227,653,226,214,673,655,224,661,228,652,232,214,665,217,662,662,224,661,218,216,1770],
[634,269,182,699,637,238,643,244,202,675,207,674,217,665,218,666,212,675,653,227,214,665,215,673,653,224,658,228,660,226,660,222,211,671,658,227,654,227,653,234,214,666,214,674,654,224,660,227,217,1788],
[648,269,186,681,650,240,642,238,202,675,207,678,207,672,222,664,214,663,664,220,214,675,215,663,664,224,660,218,663,221,662,224,212,672,660,226,661,215,669,217,219,664,222,664,654,229,653,226,223,1800],
[647,257,184,693,641,240,645,238,202,676,206,677,212,663,224,663,214,673,652,233,214,667,217,662,664,223,659,228,656,221,663,224,222,661,661,227,654,227,664,223,214,667,218,662,664,223,662,227,213,1776],
[642,257,183,702,639,239,643,235,202,680,210,675,213,674,215,673,219,686,673,238,224,697,226,703,694,234,715,245,712,259,727,260,241,760,754,263,745,252,690,227,207,644,214,633,617,217,644,225,223,1776],
[651,249,196,682,642,241,646,237,205,675,217,665,212,674,215,663,213,673,653,233,214,660,218,666,657,225,660,227,663,223,663,223,211,674,652,228,654,226,662,224,214,666,224,663,655,224,661,227,214,1776],
[642,259,195,681,640,241,644,237,211,676,208,665,216,674,213,663,213,676,655,221,224,666,215,662,664,224,657,228,649,225,666,218,226,661,663,223,660,217,663,226,215,666,215,663,663,225,660,228,210,1770],
[654,257,183,690,640,238,649,234,211,677,209,666,216,663,224,664,214,666,664,221,224,666,215,663,664,224,662,217,661,227,652,226,224,663,654,224,660,226,663,225,214,666,214,674,653,224,661,227,214,1776],
[641,259,184,693,641,242,642,244,203,680,201,675,213,664,215,672,214,669,659,217,220,665,222,665,653,228,662,225,661,216,663,224,222,665,653,227,663,225,650,225,220,665,216,674,651,228,663,215,222,1788],
[653,248,195,682,640,240,645,236,211,676,208,665,213,674,215,663,224,666,653,222,224,661,217,673,653,224,661,227,677,238,680,235,230,704,704,239,712,250,728,246,245,745,244,757,756,257,754,252,244,2016],
[650,258,183,692,641,241,643,237,201,686,198,677,217,661,223,663,212,666,665,220,224,661,213,674,653,224,660,227,657,221,663,224,222,661,659,227,654,226,661,225,214,666,214,674,655,224,660,227,214,1776],
[647,269,175,702,629,249,641,234,213,670,211,676,205,675,214,663,224,666,653,222,225,662,214,673,654,225,666,217,662,227,654,227,217,663,663,224,660,227,654,233,214,666,215,673,654,224,661,228,217,1788],
[649,257,194,683,641,241,643,237,211,676,208,666,212,675,214,663,224,665,653,232,214,665,215,663,662,223,661,228,653,221,662,225,221,666,657,225,660,225,649,227,218,665,217,663,663,228,652,232,211,1770],
[651,261,185,691,641,243,641,236,203,681,212,664,214,665,227,662,214,670,660,227,216,666,212,674,651,227,661,225,660,218,667,226,214,665,653,228,662,225,659,228,210,665,216,674,653,229,654,226,214,1770],
[641,269,174,693,641,241,643,237,205,675,207,681,202,673,214,672,213,666,663,224,214,669,211,674,651,228,661,224,661,228,658,226,215,664,653,229,663,225,659,217,219,665,222,665,664,218,661,224,222,1638],
[653,260,184,683,651,232,646,236,213,670,210,674,212,662,225,661,214,669,659,225,219,665,217,662,671,231,674,237,682,242,695,247,224,725,712,246,735,256,738,256,251,771,246,764,757,255,681,234,208,1830],
[647,258,184,691,640,241,643,237,205,686,197,674,217,665,219,665,222,664,662,219,214,676,215,662,664,224,655,222,664,220,664,225,212,666,657,224,661,227,661,225,214,669,211,673,652,229,661,225,211,1764],
[646,258,194,683,642,241,643,237,203,679,210,675,212,663,216,673,213,666,655,233,214,666,215,662,663,224,660,222,661,224,662,224,212,663,663,227,654,226,661,224,214,666,214,674,654,224,661,227,217,1788],
[650,269,174,702,630,242,642,244,203,681,201,674,213,664,215,672,214,666,662,225,214,670,217,662,662,227,654,227,653,233,653,224,220,669,659,226,653,227,662,223,214,666,214,672,655,224,661,227,217,1788],
[640,268,184,692,640,240,642,236,205,686,197,675,212,672,223,663,214,665,665,220,214,676,217,663,664,224,656,221,663,220,663,224,211,671,661,227,653,227,662,224,214,669,212,671,660,227,654,227,215,1776],
[649,258,184,691,640,242,644,237,211,676,209,666,217,663,224,663,215,666,664,219,223,660,224,663,655,225,665,219,664,219,661,224,222,661,659,227,661,225,660,224,211,676,215,665,653,229,662,225,211,1770],
[650,249,194,694,640,232,654,235,203,671,212,675,215,665,215,673,214,666,656,233,213,666,214,673,653,223,663,228,653,232,653,224,211,671,660,227,653,227,656,233,214,665,217,663,662,224,660,228,215,1782],
[649,258,194,683,641,241,641,247,199,677,210,676,205,675,214,662,224,672,666,226,219,695,218,696,688,246,689,244,715,243,726,252,242,748,749,251,756,265,736,248,215,702,221,664,631,206,621,226,204,1704]

bvdbos

Too busy at work and a wedding of a friend atm but a quick reply... For the lower line:
0 : 650,258
1 : 194,683
gives

no SOF
649,258,194,683,641,241,641,247,199,677,210,676,205,675,214,662,224,672,666,226,219,695,218,696
0             1             0             0             1            1              1             1             1             0             1             1
688,246,689,244,715,243,726,252,242,748,749,251,756,265,736,248,215,702,221,664,631,206,621,226,204,1704
0             0             0              0             1            0              0            0              1            1             0             0     

which leaves 204,1704 as EOF

The values in the 0 and 1 should be calculated from the averages to get a better (stronger) signal...