RFXtrx433 and OS Sensors

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Mon May 14, 2012 11:37 am
AlaskaDave offline
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RFXtrx433 and OS Sensors

I have an RFXtrx422 on the way for use with Oregon Scientific Sensors. In my case I have several THGR810 sensors for my rooms and refrigerator that is on the fritz and needs help. Currently I have the sensors being picked up by a WMR100 that is plugged into my MacMini with Indigo. I will be retiring the WMR100 as I don't need to track the data and only need triggers for current temp/humidity, hi/low...etc.

By moving to the RFXtrx422 I can save an A/C plug which is in demand near/around my MacMini and save WeatherSnoop for my outdoor Weather sensors.

For those using RFXtrx422 or OS sensors what can I expect when installing? Sounds like documentation is slim and being worked on so having what to expect would be really nice.

Posted on
Mon May 14, 2012 12:57 pm
johnpolasek offline
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Re: RFXtrx433 and OS Sensors

AlaskaDave wrote:
For those using RFXtrx422 or OS sensors what can I expect when installing? Sounds like documentation is slim and being worked on so having what to expect would be really nice.


The temperature (and wind) sensors worked out very well for me;I ordered a WMR80a along with the RFXtrx, and as soon as I plugged it in and brought up the plugin, it started telling me that it was detecting "unknown sensor on channel xxx, type yy. Define a <temperature, wind, rain,etc> device for this channel." I started adding devices typed as it recommended, and the OSI temperature/humidity sensor, wind sensor, and rain sensor came up and started giving me min, max, and current states in Indigo (movable to variables via Jay's Plugin). AND it also detected a neighbor's (apparently LaCrosse) rain sensor and the pair of Radio Shack 63-1088s that I am using to get a temperature difference across the ac coil. It doesn't have the range to get to the RS temp sensor I have in the freezer, but moving the Radio Shack display away from the freezer shows that it doesn't work either if it's mroe than 10 ft from the freezer. The OSI rain sensor appears to be sick, (but it's being weird on the WMR80 as well, and OSI told me to try a HARD reset... batteries out for 10 minutes, then reset, which I haven't had time to get up on the roof and try). So the RFX seems to be working pretty flawlessly (except for as some people are questioning determining when the min/max resets and so forth, but the basic info seems to be solid) and I'm actually logging all my weather data once a minute as a csv file to compare to the Davis that's using weathersnoop(using Berkinet's suggestion to >> through an Applescript makes it trivial; thanks).

Posted on
Mon May 14, 2012 2:20 pm
AlaskaDave offline
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Re: RFXtrx433 and OS Sensors

The most temperamental sensor I have is the one in the refrigerator although I believe it's the battery life more than anything. I have always wanted to place a sensor in a side building (workshop) so as to prevent freezing if the heater goes out so having one there would be nice. I'll try the range as is and if that doesn't work I'm considering on adding a Ground Plan Antenna that I could place in my crawlspace: http://www.abacom-tech.com/%2FGround-Plane-Antenna-GP-BNC-P93259.aspx

Can you point me to the script you mentioned so as to log data to a .csv file? That might be nice to have when I switch over from the WMR100 to the RFXtrx433. Although not having the data in making the switch isn't a major deal it might be nice to track/refer to when needed. Curious, when you have the file open does the script indicate errors or are you making a copy and opening that?

Posted on
Mon May 14, 2012 3:18 pm
johnpolasek offline
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Re: RFXtrx433 and OS Sensors

The script isn't anything special; I just took the one that Berkinet recommended to log driveway arrivals and modified it to
Code: Select all
set theLogEntry to the value of variable "LogTime" & ",  " & the value of variable "AVGWind" & ",  " & the value of variable "OSIDir" & ",  " & the value of variable "OutTemp" & ",  " & the value of variable "RH" & ",  " & the value of variable "DayRain" & ",  " & the value of variable "OSIRainRate" & ",  " & the value of variable "ACTemp" & ",  " & the value of variable ReturnTemp" & ",  " & the value of variable "TempDif"
do shell script ("/bin/echo \"" & theLogEntry & " \">>$HOME/Documents/OSIWeather/Log.csv")


in an action group called logOSIVars;

The variables have all been copied from the various RFX devices in another action group (CopyOSIVars) that uses a series of "Insert state into variable" commands out of the action collection plugin except for the TempDif that is calculated in a script as ReturnTemp-ACTemp. And I've got a schedule to execute the action groups in series once per minute. And I don't know what would happen if I had the file open when the command attempts to do the append; So far when I want to look at it, I just do a duplicate and then look at the copy... eventually, I hope to add to the script so it will create a new file every month and put header info in it automatically, allowing me (eventually) to keep appending each month to an SQL database...

The output looks like
    2012-05-10 05:38:00.028393, 0.0, 67, 64.0, 88, 0.0, 0.0, 76.0, 78.0, -2
    2012-05-10 05:39:00.031326, 0.0, 67, 64.0, 88, 0.0, 0.0, 76.0, 78.0, -2
    2012-05-10 05:40:00.036942, 0.0, 67, 64.0, 88, 0.0, 0.0, 76.0, 78.0, -2
    2012-05-10 05:41:00.054535, 0.0, 67, 64.0, 88, 0.0, 0.0, 76.0, 78.0, -2
    2012-05-10 05:42:00.039010, 0.0, 67, 64.0, 88, 0.0, 0.0, 76.0, 78.0, -2
    2012-05-10 05:43:00.040325, 0.0, 67, 64.0, 88, 0.0, 0.0, 76.0, 69.0, 7
    2012-05-10 05:44:00.040423, 0.0, 67, 64.0, 88, 0.0, 0.0, 76.0, 66.0, 10
    2012-05-10 05:45:00.047570, 0.0, 67, 64.0, 89, 0.0, 0.0, 76.0, 63.0, 13
    2012-05-10 05:46:00.044802, 0.0, 67, 64.0, 89, 0.0, 0.0, 76.0, 63.0, 13
    2012-05-10 05:47:00.049480, 0.0, 67, 64.0, 88, 0.0, 0.0, 75.0, 62.0, 14
    2012-05-10 05:48:00.050487, 0.0, 67, 64.0, 89, 0.0, 0.0, 75.0, 61.0, 14
    2012-05-10 05:49:00.052992, 0.0, 67, 64.0, 89, 0.0, 0.0, 75.0, 61.0, 14
    2012-05-10 05:50:00.058147, 0.0, 67, 64.0, 89, 0.0, 0.0, 75.0, 60.0, 15
    2012-05-10 05:51:00.057789, 0.0, 67, 64.0, 89, 0.0, 0.0, 75.0, 60.0, 15
    2012-05-10 05:52:00.060234, 0.0, 67, 64.0, 89, 0.0, 0.0, 75.0, 60.0, 15
    2012-05-10 05:53:00.063185, 0.0, 67, 64.0, 89, 0.0, 0.0, 74.0, 59.0, 16
    2012-05-10 05:54:00.063504, 0.0, 67, 64.0, 89, 0.0, 0.0, 74.0, 59.0, 15
    2012-05-10 05:55:00.069207, 0.0, 67, 64.0, 89, 0.0, 0.0, 74.0, 59.0, 15
    2012-05-10 05:56:00.066642, 0.0, 67, 64.0, 89, 0.0, 0.0, 74.0, 59.0, 15
    2012-05-10 05:57:00.071025, 0.0, 67, 64.0, 89, 0.0, 0.0, 74.0, 61.0, 13
    2012-05-10 05:58:00.072605, 0.0, 67, 64.0, 89, 0.0, 0.0, 74.0, 65.0, 9

and I'm also working onsetting up a trigger on the delta going over say 8 degrees to mark the AC going on and off to see just how bad it actually is in the summer...

Posted on
Mon May 14, 2012 8:03 pm
Dewster35 offline
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Re: RFXtrx433 and OS Sensors

I'm using three Oregon scientific temp/humidity sensors and a wind sensor that I'm logging with. All have done well. Might consider a differen type of battery if your temp sensor is constantly out in the cold. I've head lithium ion rechargables hold up better to the colder temps.

Setup was really straightforward. The developers are very responsive to issues/questions.

Posted on
Tue May 15, 2012 5:57 am
johnpolasek offline
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Re: RFXtrx433 and OS Sensors

I believe it's the battery life more than anything.


One of the state variables in the RFX devices is battery level (0-10), so at least you'll get some advance notice when you need to think about changing it.

Posted on
Tue May 15, 2012 8:54 am
AlaskaDave offline
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Re: RFXtrx433 and OS Sensors

More on battery life. Are you referring to the battery life of the RFXtrx433 itself or connected sensors? All good info to know...

Posted on
Tue May 15, 2012 9:02 am
johnpolasek offline
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Re: RFXtrx433 and OS Sensors

AlaskaDave wrote:
More on battery life. Are you referring to the battery life of the RFXtrx433 itself or connected sensors? All good info to know...


The sensors; the RFX doesn't have batteries as far as I know, it's usb. But in the devices, battery is a state variable with the new OSIs showing 10, and the Radio Shack temperature sensors showing 8 and 9... The "stray" rain bucket, which is located I have no idea where, is showing a 6.

Posted on
Tue May 15, 2012 8:05 pm
Dewster35 offline
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Re: RFXtrx433 and OS Sensors

No more beer and posting :-/

Yup, sensors only. Rfx run n USB power. You can setup a trigger to notify you once the battery level gets too low.

Pretty straightforward stuff. I think it definitely pays for itself once you get 3-4 sensors...I'm looking at it for the flexibility in devices it offers now and down the road.

Posted on
Tue May 15, 2012 10:14 pm
AlaskaDave offline
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Re: RFXtrx433 and OS Sensors

Beer will do that. Great info to know. I'm anxious to get the RFXtrx422 up and running. Norm says their on the way the MacHomeStore and is expecting them in the next week or so. Aside from the RFXtrx422 and sensors (433mhz units which I have several) and plug-in is there anything else I'll need to get it up and running? Do I need the FTDI driver if using the PowerLinc Modem 2413U?

Posted on
Thu May 17, 2012 4:53 am
Dewster35 offline
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Re: RFXtrx433 and OS Sensors

All I had to do was plug in the receiver and install the plugin and I was set.

Posted on
Thu May 17, 2012 10:15 am
AlaskaDave offline
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Re: RFXtrx433 and OS Sensors

Dewster35 wrote:
All I had to do was plug in the receiver and install the plugin and I was set.

I'm assuming that it was earlier versions of Indigo that the FTDI driver install was needed?

Posted on
Thu May 17, 2012 10:21 am
jay (support) offline
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Re: RFXtrx433 and OS Sensors

The FTDI driver is required for any of the more recent PowerLincs (and for all currently shipping PowerLincs). So if you're using a PowerLinc 2412, 2413, or 2448 then you already have the FTDI driver installed or they wouldn't be working... :)

Jay (Indigo Support)
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Posted on
Mon May 21, 2012 11:50 am
AlaskaDave offline
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Re: RFXtrx433 and OS Sensors

I have a question about the OS Sensors themselves when used with the RFXtrx422. With my WMR100 station I have several of the 433mhz THGR810 sensors. Each of these sensors have a unique ID that is set in the sensor with the WMR100 capable of up to 10 sensors.

With the RFXtrx433 is there a limit of sensors? If not, how do you distinguish between sensors using the dip switches?

I see from the OS Sensor chart that there are several protocol's (1.0, 2.1 and 3). With the WMR100 I was restricted to protocol 3, so sensors THGR810, UVN800, THWR800, WGR800, PCR800, THGN801 and STC800. The THC138 sensors using 1.0 Protocol and could not be used with my station. Will this sensor be picked up by the RFXtrx433? Currently my THGR810 in the freezer is hit and miss when it comes to being picked up. Having the sensor outside the freezer with the probe inside would be ideal.

Thanks for any clarification on the issue.

Posted on
Mon May 21, 2012 12:07 pm
Dewster35 offline
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Re: RFXtrx433 and OS Sensors

My understanding from previous posts is that the number of channels is limited based on the sensor itself. 3 channels for 3 and 10 for 10. Each one will show up differently in the receiver.

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