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RFXCOM USB or Serial Gateway for PIR Sensors
Posted: Wednesday 06 April 2016 12:12
by philkent
Hi all,
Just needing a bit of advice as after reading a lot of posts / topics am not sure what is best for my needs ...
I have indoors a couple of PIR sensors, along with some window / door ones that came with an alarm system that I never got round to installing.
I am now wanting to use them and integrate them with Domoticz instead.
What I am not sure about is whether I need to use a Serial Gateway from MySensors, or do I need to use a RFXCOM USB instead like this one below:
http://www.uk-automation.co.uk/rfxcom-rfxtrx433e/
Any help or advice on what would be better would be much appreciated.
Thanks.
Phil.
Re: RFXCOM USB or Serial Gateway for PIR Sensors
Posted: Wednesday 06 April 2016 15:52
by b_weijenberg
Which alarm system?
X10, Visonic 433MHz and Chuango are supported by the RFXtrx433E
Re: RFXCOM USB or Serial Gateway for PIR Sensors
Posted: Wednesday 06 April 2016 16:48
by philkent
Thanks for the reply
I have just had a look, and the Alarm system is just called: Mobile Call GSM Alarm System, not sure how much that helps.
Picked it up on Ebay a couple of years back, but never got round to using / installing it. Was just planning now on using the PIR sensors that it came with, together with Domoticz, but was not sure how to integrate the sensors.
Re: RFXCOM USB or Serial Gateway for PIR Sensors
Posted: Wednesday 06 April 2016 18:20
by philkent
So has anyone else got any idea which way is best to go for me please?
You can reply with any suggestions as am new to all this and wanting to learn.
Cheers.
Phil.
Re: RFXCOM USB or Serial Gateway for PIR Sensors
Posted: Wednesday 06 April 2016 18:49
by manjh
Check the PIR sensors to see if they give you any information about frequency. If it says 433MHz then you have a good chance.
You'll need to get a bridge into USB to receive it.
Personally, I have an RFLink attached to my Domoticz Windows server through USB. Have several PIR sensors working.
Re: RFXCOM USB or Serial Gateway for PIR Sensors
Posted: Wednesday 06 April 2016 18:57
by philkent
OK Thanks manjh for that info. I will take a look at them and see.
So if so, is that RFXCOM USB adapter that I linked to in the first post what I will be needing?
Cheers.
Re: RFXCOM USB or Serial Gateway for PIR Sensors
Posted: Wednesday 06 April 2016 21:19
by manjh
either that, or the RFLink. Not sure, but I think there is a considerable difference in price.
Re: RE: Re: RFXCOM USB or Serial Gateway for PIR Sensors
Posted: Friday 08 April 2016 18:34
by deennoo
manjh wrote:either that, or the RFLink. Not sure, but I think there is a considerable difference in price.
Yeap but if he already dont know how to open a box, take a pic, share it or use search on Google...not sûre that Rflink will help him.
His problem isn't a price one, but a curiosity one...
Re: RE: Re: RFXCOM USB or Serial Gateway for PIR Sensors
Posted: Friday 08 April 2016 18:50
by philkent
deennoo wrote:manjh wrote:either that, or the RFLink. Not sure, but I think there is a considerable difference in price.
Yeap but if he already dont know how to open a box, take a pic, share it or use search on Google...not sûre that Rflink will help him.
His problem isn't a price one, but a curiosity one...
Hi - Yes, that is exactly right. I was just wanting to know which was the correct one to use. I do not mind investing in the RFXCOM USB if it would more than likely be the correct one for what I need.
Was not sure between that or building the gateway through mysensors.
From what I can gather from the responses, the RFXCOM would be the better option, am I right on that thinking?
Re: RFXCOM USB or Serial Gateway for PIR Sensors
Posted: Sunday 10 April 2016 10:02
by manjh
As I understand it, they are functionally the same.
Re: RFXCOM USB or Serial Gateway for PIR Sensors
Posted: Sunday 10 April 2016 10:42
by Mediacj
Functionally they are indeed the same, they both form an interface to Domoticz.
The difference is the way you connect your Rfxcom to Domoticz, with USB you connect it directly to your physically Domoticz server and with serial there is another system (second Pi or whatever) which sends the serial messages of Rfxcom to the Domoticz server over the network.
Re: RFXCOM USB or Serial Gateway for PIR Sensors
Posted: Sunday 10 April 2016 13:04
by philkent
manjh wrote:As I understand it, they are functionally the same.
Mediacj wrote:Functionally they are indeed the same, they both form an interface to Domoticz.
The difference is the way you connect your Rfxcom to Domoticz, with USB you connect it directly to your physically Domoticz server and with serial there is another system (second Pi or whatever) which sends the serial messages of Rfxcom to the Domoticz server over the network.
Thanks for all the help and responses, appreciated, is a lot clearer now. I think I will more than likely go with the RFXCOM route, even though the cost is more, it seems like it would be better for me functionality-wise.
Cheers for all the help and feedback. Learning it all slowly, bit by bit.

Re: RFXCOM USB or Serial Gateway for PIR Sensors
Posted: Monday 11 April 2016 18:57
by Shaggie_NB
And still, you don't know if your alarm system is gone work with this solution...
