How To add Rollertrol blinds to Indigo with RFXCOM

Hello all,

I have gotten the blinds installed. They work with the remote. I have gotten the RFXtrx433 transceiver and RFXCOM plugin installed in Indigo. Indigo sees it and can communicate with it.

I am stuck at how to add the actual blind motor and control it from indigo

I see where 2 others (who are both smarter than me : ) ) solved the issues I am having but did not leave instructions....

What protocol do the rollortrol motors use under the configure tab of the plugin? Best practice recommends disabling all except the on rollertrol requires.

What is the housecode and where do I find it?

Once I have created the blind as a device what are the commands I can send?

Noticed where someone asked for a stop command. Has this been implemented?

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

Apologies if there is a thread that outlines what I am asking for. I could not find it when I searched. Thanks.

Howdy,

I can understand your frustration Took me a bit to figure this out. But here you go. Under configuration of the plug-in select the log options (just for this process) and then hit a key on your remote for the blind (up or down). The log will show a bunch of numbers but pay close attention to what's after processing: in particular what's in the brackets. For example mine says processing: 9 25 0 3 0 63 103 6 2 96 (09 19 00 03 00 3F 67 06 02 60). The 003F67 is the house code and 06 is the channel. The house code will remain the same for all your blinds. Just your channel changes per blind(s) (obviously) so you can turn logging off when your done. When you program your other blinds to a different channel just use that same house code and type in the channel you have selected in your remote.

After creating your device, controlling is done by device actions,"Control Light/Appliance" which will give you turn on and off choices. I've also set up a separate variable to show the blinds as "open" or "closed" as the "On" selection means the blind is closed and vice versa for "OFF". For me anyway.

As far as I know the stop function hasn't been implemented as of yet. So make sure you have your up/down limits set prior to running your blinds from Indigo

Let me know if you need anything else. I'm just finishing installing the remaining blinds now. Shipment just arrived.

First and foremost thank you for your help. I really appreciate it. I have furhther issues apparently though.

Following your instructions I have tried pushing the button on the remote for both blinds (on both channels) up and down. The blinds work. But nothing shows in the log. As if the RFXCOM is not seeing the radio traffic.

All 3 boxes are checked for logging under configure screen. See image.

I also attached the startup log entries from the RFXCOM plugin as maybe this will help.

If I could bother you for yet another thing. Do you know what protocols should be checked for the rollertrol blinds? According to the RFXCOM install page, only the protocol(s) used should be checked for best performance.

Thanks again for all your help so far and in advance for more help. I think I am really close.

Seems I need the BlindsT0 protocol. As this is the one RFXCOM lists as being used with rollertrol. Do you show this protocol as an option with your plugin?

I am using version 1.3.5. What version are you running. Thanks again.

I apologize. I assumed you had already done that. Download the RFXCOMMGR software and install it on a windows machine. (Hopefully you have one). Plug the RFXCOM into that machine. Open the program and you'll see a bunch of options including the blindsTo options. Save and exit. Reconnect to your Mac. Then do the previous instructions.

With regards to all those protocols picked. Those are for the receiving part of the rfxcom. Roller troll blinds don't send information so it really doesn't matter what u have picked on the receiving side.

I'm just quickly scratching this out as I'm work. Let me know if u get stuck.

Well that explains a LOT! Hahaha

I bought this RFXtrx433 from rollertrol you would think it would be preloaded with compatible protocol. Jeeez!

Thanks for the info. I do not have a PC but I can borrow one later today.

This project has been much more involved than I expected....but so is the way with Indigo, plugins and 3rd party hardware.

Once I have this working I think I will write a How To for others.

Another quick question. What brand/type of blinds do you use?

I thought I had the right size tube for the motors I ordered but did not and had to transplant the blinds onto a 1.5" conduit pipe. Works great but was a pain to cut and remount the blinds for a straight alignment.

Do you buy yours on 1.5" tubes already?

Thanks again.

I hear what your saying with regards to the preloaded software. Being that this is extensive software and hardware integration there seems to be some "fend for yourself" lol

As for the blinds. I chose the 6lb motors with radio(no battery). They required a 1 1/4 inch conduit. For fabric I purchased the 95 % Shearweave product from a fabric store. Measured and cut myself and then took them to tent and awning place to have them sew the weight bar pocket. Yes, it's a little more challenging then expected. Alignment etc. but once there set up its great. I put ours on a schedule that when the sun hits the front of the house they come down and with sunset they rise.

A tip: if your windows are big or the fabric is heavy, I would install the locking screw (as per rollertrol's website).

Finally got it working. Just needed to the program the RFXtrf433 on a PC!

Thanks again for your help. I have now scheduled the blinds to open in the morning when we know we have to be up and close at night so the new streetlight no longer invades our room.

Wife is happy...even with motorized/scheduled/automated overkill.

Hopefully I'll find time to write that How To as I had planned to do it today...ha!

Thanks for the info on the shades. I am impressed with the amount of effort you went to. Bet they look great as well.

No problem whatsoever. Glad you got it. It's all new to me Learn as we go. We have 9 windows facing the west and so you can imagine the heat. So I convinced my wife to entertain the idea. Fills my need for the tech toys too. Plus not having to walk to every blind is great. Albeit lazy lol.

Todd

Necessity is the mother of invention and laziness is a distant cousin!

Given the number of views this thread has gotten I have now written an actual step by step how to on installing the rollertrol blinds. It is an involved process but hopefully I have saved someone else the problems and time I ran into. I created a new thread. You can find it here.


viewtopic.php?f=28&t=10199

Apologies for the misleading title of this thread!