Ambient Weather Sensors

Plugins & Plugin Development USB RFXtrx Transceiver
21

So I flashed the Ext2 firmware successfully, but then when loading the rfxmngr program, it stated no RFX433E hardware detected. But then sensor data started flowing like magic! Day=made! I just got 8 temp+hum sensors with a firmware update. Still can’t believe these have all been sitting here in my house with Vera since 2014. LOL

Thanks guys! and special thanks to @tinman for maintaining the plugin files!

22

The error indicates that you do not have the RFXtrx433E but an older RFXtrx433 or a hardware problem in the RFXtrx433E.
The RFXtrx433 can only be flashed with Type1 or Type2 firmware which do not have the possibility to receive your sensor.

If the label on the enclosure indicates a RFXtrx433E contact support rfxcom.com.
If the label indicates RFXtrx433 the only option is to replace the RFXtrx433 by a RFXtrx433XL.

23

I wonder if it was just as it was being recognized by the pc, such as I started the app too fast, etc.
It’s been running like a champ and pulling in sensor data great!
Question though - these sensors (F007TH) are numbered (1-8) (controlled via dip switches in battery compartment) - and the numbers themselves aren’t coming in as the RFX Plugin creates new devices - is there any way to enable this? Right now they come in under this naming convention: TS/T10/15617
So I am just renaming them as I put batteries in and they pop up, but then they come in again, like new devices… but I now have more devices in Vera than in real life. Any suggestions or ideas on that front?

24

The last part of the name that appears using auto create is the numeric ID of the device - 1576 in your example. This is created randomly by the device and it will change whenever you replace batteries in the device. So when you replace batteries and you enable auto create to have the ‘new’ device appear you can either delete the old device or note the numeric part of the ‘new’ device, turn off auto create, delete the ‘new’ device and then go to the advanced tab of the existing device and edit its altid to reflect the new ID number. Once Vera reloads the existing device will be receiving data using the new ID. The RFXtrx plugin maintains max and min values for temperature and humidity devices. Updating the ID of an existing device to the new one will maintain these min and max values. Also, if you take a look at the Temperature and Humidity Sensor Data tab of the RFXtrx device you can see which device data is being updated regularly. If the age of the data gets beyond 30 minutes, the device is probably no longer transmitting data (or is a device that has a new ID because of a battery change).

25

Ah, ok - that is very helpful to understand. I don’t need to keep the min/max values for any crazy reason, but it still might just be easier to update the ID like that so I don’t have to go through the renaming process when the batteries run out.
I took a screenshot of the table here -
Some of these devices seem incorrect based on the min/max and age… thoughts? All but 2 are in the house and its still only around 50 degrees outside.

image
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26

When the age of sensor data is large it usually means that the device is no longer transmitting. So if you don’t think you have any devices with failing batteries you should delete those devices. I occasionally see min and max values that are obviously incorrect. These Ambient sensors sometimes appear to send bad data - or perhaps the transceiver decodes it incorrectly. For those devices you can if you wish reset all values to the current temperature or humidity value using the button on the right.
I normally have auto-create disabled and only enable it when I’ve replaced a battery or I’m attempting to add a new sensor.

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27

For what it’s worth, I have this one:

And according to the manual it updates every minute. Watching it, shows a blinking led every minute.

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