Recent Posts

81

Tubular Motors: General Discussion / Re: Questions about controlling Rollertrol Motors with Vera as of Nov 2016

« Last post by spudz72 on November 03, 2016, 12:08:35 PM »

Thanks again for the quick response.  I will look into that.  In the meantime I was thinking about giving the RFXTRX unit a try since I already have it.  However my question/concern about that is that when I use the remote control for the one battery powered shade I have setup currently it will only work inside the room and maybe just outside the room but not very far.  I wonder if it is because the battery is getting low on the remote or that is just only how far the remotes will go?  My concern is my Vera is about another 25ft away from where the battery powered rollertrol shade is in another room.  I am wondering if the RFXTRX has a stronger transmit power then the remote so it would operate the motor that distance when the remote won't?

82

Tubular Motors: General Discussion / Re: Questions about controlling Rollertrol Motors with Vera as of Nov 2016

« Last post by admin on November 02, 2016, 09:32:02 PM »

Hi Spudz, I don't know the answer to that, but you could check the Vera forum. I know that there is a bridge that someone has written for it that apparently works with SmartThings:

http://milillicuti.com/an-api-to-connect-your-broadlink-rm-pro-irrf-wifi-bridge-to-your-home-automation-system/

We have several Vera units here, but we found that the Broadlink unit has made them relatively obselete, but we didn't already have a big investment in z-wave, so it may be different for you.

Regards, Adrian

83

Tubular Motors: General Discussion / Re: Questions about controlling Rollertrol Motors with Vera as of Nov 2016

« Last post by spudz72 on November 02, 2016, 08:46:05 PM »

Thanks for the fast reply.  I understand the difference in the motors now. 

What I am still confused is does this Broadlink hub have any way to integrate with my Vera hub?  I would like to be able to run scenes on my Vera and have it open and Close the blinds, or just have the blinds show up on my Vera so I can press Open Close or Stop.  Please clarify.  Thanks.

84

Tubular Motors: General Discussion / Re: Questions about controlling Rollertrol Motors with Vera as of Nov 2016

« Last post by admin on November 02, 2016, 08:31:11 PM »

Hi Spudz, thanks for your message, I think your questions are very valid as we have all experienced some confusion around these issues. Up until now it has really been quite complicated to get things working the way you want, if you want to go further than our simple remote controls.

I say "up until now" because our new controller hub from BroadLink goes a very long way to making things easy, and quite affordable too.

The older R series motors use a different radio protocol because we have introduced the ability to "clone" remotes with the new G series. This means the new remotes don't work with the old series, and the old remotes don't work with the new series.

This can be problematic, especially if both types will be in the same room, when you have the older series and want to add some of the newer G series motors.

But the BroadLink hub solves this problem because it can "learn" the remote control signals from either type.

Thus you can turn any phone or tablet (even older phones without sim cards) into a very sophisticated remote control, and our wall or hand held remotes still work too (with their respective motor types).

I hope that clarifies things for you, but feel free to send me an email message if you need more info; here's that link that explains more, as well as the IFTTT capability (if-this-then-that):

http://rollertrol.com/blind-motor-phone-app-introduction

Regards, Adrian

85

Tubular Motors: General Discussion / Questions about controlling Rollertrol Motors with Vera as of Nov 2016

« Last post by spudz72 on November 02, 2016, 08:14:39 PM »

Hi Adrian,

I was going to send an email with my questions but figured it would be better to post here publicly on your forum and that way if anyone else has the same questions they will see the answers here..

To start with I have a some of your radio motors from years back which I guess would mean they are older R series motors whereas the new ones are the G series?  What is exactly is the diff?

Next I have never gotten around to setting up the motors to operate from my Vera with UI7 but I'm finally ready to do that, but getting very confused with all the options.  I did order an RFXTRX way back but have never gotten around to setting that up and now not sure if I should be using that or something else?   Since I purchased the RFXTRX from you I see there is some other Z-Wave option you sell but confused what is the difference?

To further confuse me I found the page below just now.. 

http://rollertrol.com/blind-motor-phone-app-introduction

I have been trying to wrap my head around this thing..  Will it work in conjunction with my Vera controller?  I would prefer to be able to operate everything from the one app on my phone and not have to use a seperate app just for operating the shades which from what I can read about this new inexpensive Broadlink automation hub it has it's own app and has nothing to do with Vera and doesn't have any way to work with Vera? 

Sorry for all the questions but once I wrap my head around all this I should be able to decide which way is best to go. 

86

Selecting the right material for your application / Re: Blackout Fabric Choices...

« Last post by alyshasmith on October 18, 2016, 10:59:52 PM »

Here are some reasons to choose Blackout Roller Blinds for your home.
These are the perfect window covering solutions.

Source : https://www.ewfblinds.com.au/blog/blinds/why-might-i-need-blackout-roller-blinds

87

Voltage, polarity, wire size, etc. / Re: New design help requested

« Last post by admin on September 04, 2016, 10:47:20 AM »

Hello @eas, thanks for your interest. I have posted your answers below ...

Please feel free to contact me directly at any time, through the contact form on our website.

Regards, Andy

Andy Mityok
Account Manager
RollerTrol Automation Systems
--------------
Hi,
I have a clerestory with 14 windows that are about 48" wide x 18" tall. The middle two on the front and back are awning type operable and I'd like to make these motorized and connect them and the ceiling fan to the upstairs thermostat (Ecobee or WiserAir) and also have the ability to open them via a remote control. They need not be operated separately. One signal would open & close all four.

I have a few questions about parts and wiring to accomplish this.
Does the kit come with a 120VAC - 12VDC transformer?

- Yes.

I assume the window kit is an actuator plus a motor controller. Is that right and would I then need one kit, three more add-on acuators and one remote?

- Yes that is correct, and we will up-size the power supply for you to 8 amps

Do I simply wire all four actuators in parallel to the one motor controller?

- Yes, that is correct, the controller (receiver) that comes with the kit can handle all 4 actuators.

Here are the general instructions for the remote control setup for the window opener:

http://rollertrol.com/instructions-radio-receiver-15-amp-motor-control-G-series-actuator.php


Is it possible to connect the motor controller to my thermostat's A/C circuit? (The house has no A/C, only FAU heat).

- You can't really do that directly, without designing some custom circuitry, but you could use that thermostat relay signal as a trigger input to a home automation unit such as Vera or Smart Things. We have a group transmitter module that can be operated with 3 relays re open/close/stop. You would need to have a relay module of some kind to act as a trigger for the group transmitter. We also have a Z-Wave trigger module that can be used to do this, if you use a hub that supports z-wave. Here's an article we wrote about how to do it:

http://rollertrol.com/z-wave-blind-motor-control-part1g

The above discusses the system used with our roller shade motors, but the principle is the same (reversing DC motors).

If I also want to trigger the windows to open when the kitchen stove vent is turned on (it has a trigger output), are there any other parts needed?

As above, you could use your automation hub to do this, but it is not a trivial undertaking ...

88

Voltage, polarity, wire size, etc. / New design help requested

« Last post by eas on September 04, 2016, 08:09:40 AM »

Hi,
I have a clerestory with 14 windows that are about 48" wide x 18" tall. The middle two on the front and back are awning type operable and I'd like to make these motorized and connect them and the ceiling fan to the upstairs thermostat (Ecobee or WiserAir) and also have the ability to open them via a remote control. They need not be operated separately. One signal would open & close all four.

I have a few questions about parts and wiring to accomplish this.
Does the kit come with a 120VAC - 12VDC transformer?
I assume the window kit is an actuator plus a motor controller. Is that right and would I then need one kit, three more add-on acuators and one remote?
Do I simply wire all four actuators in parallel to the one motor controller?
Is it possible to connect the motor controller to my thermostat's A/C circuit? (The house has no A/C, only FAU heat).
If I also want to trigger the windows to open when the kitchen stove vent is turned on (it has a trigger output), are there any other parts needed?

Many thanks!

89

Choosing a home automation system / Re: Z-Wave Relay Controller Raw Commands

« Last post by admin on August 23, 2016, 11:30:50 PM »

Hello Cory, I was able to get some further information that seems to agree with what you found regarding Z-Wave control of blind motors with our Z-Wave trigger module for controlling blind and shade motors.

As you know, we use that Z-Wave module to trigger our group transmitter, so the one second default 'on time' duration of each of the 3 relays works really well for controlling radio motors.

This was of interest because although Vera has no problem with the 3 OPEN/STOP/CLOSE commands, we found that SmartThings can only do OPEN/CLOSE, using their 'valve' widget.

The info I got suggested this, but your info sounds more complete:

OPEN: 0xFF
CLOSED: 0x00
STOP: 0x04

This apparently is directly related to the Z-Wave Multilevel Switch command, and I could see where others were having similar difficulties with the STOP command in some other Z-Wave related forum discussions, like this one:

https://forum.z-wave.me/viewtopic.php?t=23674&p=63409

Regards, Adrian

90

Choosing a home automation system / Re: Z-Wave Relay Controller Raw Commands

« Last post by Chompy on August 21, 2016, 12:06:52 PM »

Thanks Adrian!  I did a little more investigating and found the raw commands for open/close.  It seems the unit is configured to issue a 1 second stop command first any time open or close are called.  If I find a pragmatic way around this, I'll be sure to post it.

For anyone interested, the raw commands are as follows:

Open: 0x26 0x01 0xFF
Middle/Stop: 0x26 0x04 0xFF
Close: 0x26 0x01 0x00