[SOLVED] Rollertrol blinds added but commands are not sent

[XJezreel]

I installed the RFXCOM and pushed the button in the remote control of my Rollertrol blind motor and the device was added to the vera.When I press buttons  on the remote the device status is updated but when I press the open, close, up, down buttons on the Vera dashboard nothing  happens, no command is sent and the status doesn't change. I would appreciate any help with this.

[rollertrol]

Hi @XJezreel, sorry to hear you are having this difficulty. It used to be such an easy process - I have a UI5 unit running fine here, with the older USB transceiver.

So today I pulled a new Vera unit with UI7 from our stock + a new version of the USB transceiver. I'll set them up on my test bench to see what's up with that. If necessary, I will write a new plugin for it, after I finish the current wifi relay project.

I doubt that I will have to do that as @lolodomo is an expert with the RFXCOM plugin, so it's probably some minor glitch.

Writing a plugin for Vera is not trivial, I was amazed to find out how difficult it is, especially if you want to control how the tabbed interface works. I had to dust off my programming skills and ended up using 8 different language protocols: LUA, html, xml, JSON, Javascript, css, jQuery, php - and, you have to juggle all these things simultaneously in several editors/IDE's  to make it work the way you want.

It is certainly a big help to use the excellent Zerobrane IDE for the LUA component, it saves a huge amount of time in the code/upload/test/debug cycle:

http://studio.zerobrane.com/vera.html

So stay tuned, I'll report what I find here ...

Regards, Adrian

Adrian Biffen
Tech Support
RollerTrol Automation Systems
http://RollerTrol.com

[rollertrol]

Hi @XJezreel, I've asked Bert at RFXCOM tech support to weigh in on this, and here's what he said (below).

One thing I did not realize is that the new version of the RFXCOM default firmware it ships with  only has the RollerTrol TRANSMIT protocol enabled (not RECEIVE). This would certainly explain why the RF signal from the remote control of our blind motors is not showing up in the Vera interface.

In Type2 firmware you can enable the Blinds T0 protocol for receive. All other protocols are disabled at that time, so it should be used temporarily to receive the remote control transmission codes so that you can use the same code in the application as the remote to control that motor.

If you don't need to use the RFXCOM transceiver for any other purpose, you can leave it with this firmware installed.

I'll be checking this as I run the bench tests here, and I will report on the procedure, but here I have summarized what Bert had to say, which may resolve the problem for you at this point:

1. The RFXtrx433E is default delivered with Ext firmware which supports Rollertrol TRANSMIT, not RECEIVE.

2. Type2 is the only firmware that supports Rollertrol RECEIVE so that the channel ID of the remote control transmission can be received.

3. If the RFXtrx433(E) does not contain firmware Type2, then you can re-flash Type2 firmware in the RFXtrx433E.

4. If you have a Windows system you can test the RFXtrx433E functions with our Rollertrol radio motors very easily using the stand-alone RFX Manager program. You do not need Vera to control our shade motors if you prefer to do it with a PC, but using Vera will provide a lot of extra functionality. The RFX Manager program is also a good way to test that the transceiver and motors are working, if you have a problem with Vera.

5. The RFXtrx User Guide, RFXflash and the latest RFXtrx433 Type2 firmware are available at www.rfxcom.com/Downloads

6. See the RFXtrx User Guide chapter 6 for instructions how to flash firmware, here's a summary of the setup with RFX manager:

  A. Click Get Status in RFXmngr and you can check the firmware version.
  B. Type2 firmware has a firmware version between 163 and 186

   Packettype = Interface Message
   subtype = Interface Response
   Sequence nbr = 1
   response on cmnd = Get Status
   Transceiver type = 433.92MHz
   Firmware version = 186

  C. Enable Blind T0 and click Set Mode, screen example is here:

    http://rollertrol.com/images/instructions/rfxcom/rfxmanager/image001.jpg

   D. Transmit a command with the Rollertrol remote.

   E. On the Blinds1 tab select the same ID and unit Code as received from the remote (12 17 and 1 in the screen example below)

    http://rollertrol.com/images/instructions/rfxcom/rfxmanager/image002.jpg

   F. You should be able to control this Rollertrol motor now using RFXmngr with up/down/stop commands.

   G. If you transmit a command the red LED should blink on the RFXtrx.

Regards, Adrian

[XJezreel]

Hi Adrian, Thank you so much for your help! I just got around to working on this today and after updating the firmware I can now control the blinds with the Vera! your instructions were perfect!

[waltzer11]

I am a newbie about blinds and shades automation. I've been going through the forums and RollerTrol and RFXCOM websites and still confused. My understanding is that if I buy Z-wave motor controller DCC-ZWAVE-12R for $59 from RollerTrol, I don't need to get RFXtrx433E which cost $199.95 anymore. Am I right?

[b_weijenberg]

What I understand is that you also need a DCG-1R-RFT (total $139)
"When using the DCC-ZWAVE-12R Z-WAVE? controller with our blind and shade radio motors, it is used to trigger our DCG-1R-RFT"

The RFXtrx433E (111 euro world-wide shipping) can control the Rollertrol G-type motors and has in addition the possibility to receive weather sensors and control appliance and dimmer modules, Somfy and much more.
For the full list of supported devices see chapter 2: http://www.rfxcom.com/WebRoot/StoreNL2/Shops/78165469/MediaGallery/Downloads/RFXtrx_User_Guide.pdf

[waltzer11]

you are correct, i still need the DCG-1R-RFT total $139. my typo RFXtrx433E is $119.95 not $199. these are not cheap. i am still waiting for the 2 MOVEZ that i ordered (only $118); shipments were delayed. now they say i will get them in april 2017