Interesting relay solution.
How many of these blinds.com blinds can you can you control with one remote? How do you select between blind #1, #2, #3, etc? And can you set it to groups or all?
I am not sure that there is limit. I’m sure signal strength and distance would be contributing factors but…
How do you select between blind #1, #2, #3, etc? And can you set it to groups or all?
The remote has 3 channels. The blinds are grouped into channels. You change the channel on the remote by hitting the right or left button. There are LED’s on the remote that allow you to see what channel is selected. You can group blinds as you need (all in one group or separate groups).
I am sure it is similar to a Somfy remote where any channel can be a group or an individual shade. Typically the remote is a dumb transmitter and the remote’s ID is stored in the motor so there isn’t a limit to how many motors’ memory that remote’s ID could reside in. You might be able to have a second set of relays switch channels, but if they cycle through the channels in a loop like Somfy’s you won’t have a reference point and the GUI and remote might get out of sync. If the remotes are cheap enough, you might just have one USB to serial, quad relay, and modded-remote set for each group of shades you want to control, or put all on the same group/channel and operate together.
For people into soldering we offer a motor module, Z-Wave to dry contact.
Shows as a shade motor on Vera, has 3 outputs open/stop/close you can solder to an existing transmitter, low-voltage wires into relays… Needs separate power supply 12-24VDC
info@zwavemotors.com
I still think the rfxcom would be the best solution if it works.
It probably would be a better solution if it worked. When I inquired about another motor working with the RFXCom, they wanted me to send them a motor and remote and it would not be returned to me, FYI. If you could convince Blinds.com to do that for you that would be ideal.
Shady, maybe you should mention that 433MHz is the carrier frequency, then every manufacturer encodes their signal differently.If you have different brands 433MHz transmitters or receivers, most likely they are not compatible. In the old times it was possible to tweak them to talk to each other, but today most are rolling code, not possible unless you crack the algorithm.
I ordered one of these blinds to try out. it is about 3 weeks til delivery.
@knewmania, how’s yours holding up?
They are operating well. I only really use them twice in 24 hours (down in the PM, up in the AM). But I’m happy.
I ordered the parts that @Shady outlined, so I’m looking forward to trying to get Vera integration to work. If all works out I plan to document a how-to.
That’s great! I ordered an ebay quad relay, too.
If I can have a two zones (potential) with 3 shades (on one zone to start with) for about $350, I’ll be thrilled. I can see these shades being battery eaters, though. My 3 will be on the same wall so a power supply may be an option there.
Thank you! I’m going to order them, too (although, I need a 21" wide one, which is smaller than they make, so I’m not sure what I’m going to do for that window…). My electrician is going to hardwire them.
And do let us know about connecting it to Vera. My brain spins with all of this.
Anyone find any solutions for vertical blinds that will work with Vera
i got an email from blinds about order delays due to new parts.
Dear Valued Customer,We were recently notified by our manufacturer that our motorized cellular shades have some components that were faulty and causing the shades to raise unevenly. We are having the parts made in a mold and produced from scratch so all orders will be shipping about 30 days from the date of purchase. It is with deep regret that there will be a delay on your order as we are working very hard to get the parts correctly made for use in your shades.
This was an unforeseen event that has happened and we would much rather delay the orders than to send out faulty products to you. We are very sorry for this happening and will be shipping out all of the orders as quickly as possible. Please contact us at your convenience if you have any other questions or concerns.
Best Regards,
I received my ebay 4 relay board already.
Thanks for the update, Intrepid! I’m hoping to place my order tomorrow once I decide on the color.
Still unsure of what to do about my 21" window though…
I got my 1/2" motorized cellular blind today and it installed very easily. Not too bad, actually pretty darn good. It is definitely not commercial quality, but is on par with the other cellular blackout blind I have in another room as far as build quality. I got the base 1/2" white model, and it lets a good amount of light through when it is sunny outside (this is what I want for my living room…not a room-darkening shade).
The battery pack (8 AAs) clips on the back out of sight. Good design.
There is no pull string for manual control. This gives it a very clean look. The only question is if the battery dies when it is down it may be tricky to pull off and replace the batts.
When closed, it is very compact and is almost invisible. I like this.
When lowered, it was a perfect 71" length fit. At first it was not even by about a 1/4". You can pull the high side and it will adjust the bottom back to even. There are 2 internal draw strings like a normal mini blind, and they apparently wrap through the bottom, allowing for manual adjustment.
I have three 31x71 2" plastic blinds on my front window that I’m replacing. It looks funny with 2 old and one new…but I wanted to try one. With the manual blinds, I never, ever opened the blinds. I’m already convinced the convenience of having remote control blinds will make opening the three blinds and brightening up the room easy and routine. As soon as these go back on sale (seem to every other month), I’ll order two more.
I have the relay switch mentioned earlier in this thread, but have not messed with it yet. I’m sure that will work great.
Intrepid, thanks for the update! Do you plan on hardwiring them? Or connecting them to Vera?
I placed an order during the June sale. They should arrive in August. I’m planning on having our electrician hardwire them and then have to figure out a way to connect to Vera. I’m not interested in spending a bunch of $$ to connect them to Vera, though.
Yes, I’ll definitely connect them to vera one way or another (either relay board with a spare remote or look at an RFCOM-type solution.
I will probably hardwire them at some point. i’m not a fan of changing batteries, or worrying about battery life. It should be simple to do with a DC wall wart. The hardest part will be concealing the wiring.
Also, you have to specify the channel (1-5) of each blind when ordered. this does not seem to be user-changeable.
[quote=“knewmania, post:20, topic:172697”]Thank you Shady!
I will give that a shot one the spare remote arrives.[/quote]
I finally got my spare remote, the RS232 Quad Relay Controller, a Serial to USB cable and most importantly some spare time to fiddle with this.
I am working on getting the RS232 Quad Relay Controller and associated plugin (had to manually install) functional and have run into a problem.
Vera doesn’t seem to see the RS232 Quad Relay Controller. I have the controller connected to USB2 (USB1 has my logging thumb drive) on the back of the Vera and it is powered on. The Power light is lit.
The Quad Relay plugin reports that I must ‘Choose the Serial Port for the URTSI’, but when I go to Apps>Develop Apps>Serial Port Configuration it says ‘Not available’.
Any thoughts?
*Edit: There is a separate thread regarding how to get Vera to recognize the serial to USB adapter. My adapter isn’t on the ‘approved’ list, so I will resolve that and see where I’m at.
I received one of the supported serial to USB adapters and that resolved the problem with Vera not seeing the Quad Relay unit.
I modded one of my remotes, hooked it to the Quad Relay but I can’t get the Blind control to issue an Up or Down action. The remote does work if I jump power directly to the button.
I soldered a wire to the up button on the remote, then connected that wire to relay one on the Quad Relay. I did similar with the down button, connected to relay two. Does that sound correct?
I must be missing something.
Thanks for any help.