Remotes and receivers

[ians]

Not as simple as one thinks ... considering the frequencies ... different brands and setup procedures ... it actually get rather complicated.

I bought an ET receiver and remotes ... linked the receiver to a system ... no problem linking the remotes to the ET receiver.

The site has a centurion gate ... the ET remotes doesnt work with the gate (433 Mhz)

I contacted ET nice SA ... I was informed that the ET remotes DO NOT WORK with any other receivers or remotes ... because they are rolling code ... I would have to install an ET receiver at the gate.

It gets rather interesting when you start scratching around on site and find all these receivers linked to the gate ... one site for example has 3 different receivers in the gate housing ... 4 different receivers hanging off the spider web of wiring in the roof space ... time to standardise a little ... out with the side cutter ... 300 m of wiring (scrap pile) later we have a simple 8 channel wired alarm with 8 wireless zones and 1 remote brand

[Justloadit]

Just remember that the code hoping remote can not be cloned, and is used for security. The code changes every time you press the button.
What the thieves do they have a 433MHz listening device, and when you press the button, they record the signal. Then when you gone, they play back the recorded signal and walla they are in.
The code hopping does not work like that, as the code changes, so what gets recorded is a used code.

You also must remember that you have to match the remote to the receiver for it to function.

[ians]

I thought all the new remotes and receivers were code hoping ... you live and learn ... what you are saying is the ET remotes and receivers are the safer option?

What we did learn today was never assume because the Sun is shining ... you wont get wet ... arrived on site took out all the equipment to start work and it pissed down with rain

You cannot use a remote from any other brand to activate an ET RX3 2019 - RC 434 Mhz.

However you can use an ET remote with other 433 Mhz receiver ... but there is a catch you have to press and hold the button until it stops flashing rapidly only then will it be compatible with other receivers.

I was trying to figue out why the ET remotes are so popular ... I thought it might be the fact that there is a 6 button remote ... which is rather handy when you use it for the following:

Arm/disarm the alarm

stay arm at night

arm/disarm the outside beams

the red for the panic

blue to open the gate

green to open the garage door.

As much as it is cool to have the apps on the phone to do stuff ... it is still way better to use a remote to open/close the gate ... garage door ... unless you set it up as a widget on the home screen ...even then scratching for the phone while driving to open the gate ... not cool.

A remote next to the bed with a panic linked to the security lights just makes sense ... or you can just have a button for the security lights.

A tip ... it makes sense to have a short delay for alarm activation to prevent false alarms ... your alarm system becomes pretty useless to your neighbours if it goes off all the time ... they start ignoring it after the 3 rd 4th 5 th time.

[adrianh]

The latest ET remotes and receivers are a right pain. Programming them is an exercise in figuring out hieroglyphics with their stupid cryptic LED displays. They are happy to get confused and totally toss their configurations. The silly things are like little magic boxes - I also noticed that the wiring diagrams on some of the receivers don't make sense. If you program 30 remotes into a receiver and the thing tosses its config you have to get hold of all the transmitters and do it all over again - You can't download the config or anything like that.

[ians]

I have one on my desk this morning trying to make sense of it ... I dont know if I should waste my time.

The only reason I am even considering tinkering with the unit ... they seem to be quite popular ... I think it has to do with the 6 buttons and other others only have 4 buttons ...

Personally I prefer the nova/centurion remotes.

Doing a few tests last night ... I found the remote ... even when set to the old configuration ... is not very responsive with other receivers ... you have to hold the button for at least 1 -2 seconds.

[adrianh]

I have one on my desk this morning trying to make sense of it ... I dont know if I should waste my time.

The only reason I am even considering tinkering with the unit ... they seem to be quite popular ... I think it has to do with the 6 buttons and other others only have 4 buttons ...

Personally I prefer the nova/centurion remotes.

Doing a few tests last night ... I found the remote ... even when set to the old configuration ... is not very responsive with other receivers ... you have to hold the button for at least 1 -2 seconds.

Those things are really terrible. I went round and round in circles with the crypic 7 segment display and the cockeyed programming. Although I own a couple of ET remotes and receivers I would never buy them again. They are only popular because they have flooded the market - The products are crap and a right pain.

The light blue transmitters have 2 modes - Rolling code and some other code. If you hold the transmit button down too long the silly thing changes mode for that button and then of course that button stops working. The only thing to do is to hold the button down for a long time to flip the mode back. Of course the user doesn't know this so a lot of time can be wasted faffing with a remote and receiver that stopped working because it got flipped.

[ians]

If you hold a button for more than 20 seconds it will change the remote coding ... IE ... if the light is flashing fast it is the new coding and will change to the old coding (on solid) ... a note it only changes the coding of the button you press not all 6 buttons ... you have to press and hold each button to change the coding.

[adrianh]

If you hold a button for more than 20 seconds it will change the remote coding ... IE ... if the light is flashing fast it is the new coding and will change to the old coding (on solid) ... a note it only changes the coding of the button you press not all 6 buttons ... you have to press and hold each button to change the coding.

Yes I know. The problem is that the average user doesn't know this. They inadvertently change the mode and then people waste their time trying trying to figure out why the remote doesn't work. Think of a 70 year old lady at a gate holding the remote down too long - she doesn't know that the programming has changed.

[ians]

The idea of remotes and apps is to make life easier ... however like everything there are pros and cons

Remote pros:

easy to apply the action ... like arming and disarming alarms ... security lights ... gates doors etd when at the location or driving up to the gate or garage.

Remote cons:

If you forget which button operates which application ... as what happened to me today ... a mate asked me to keep an eye on his house ... press the wrong button and the armed response have you hand cuffed because you dont know the challenge code or how to switch off the alarm ... because the remote is not programed to reset panic activations ... I should know better than to press a red button .

App pros:

Easy to control stuff when not at home .. .the house executive's remote is not working ... simple ... open the CCTV app and alarm app ... go to automation ... open the gate.

You heading home and like me there no lights on around the house ... I dont believe in lighting up my property to make it easy for criminals to see where they are walking ... it makes it easier for me to identify their location as the sensors activate.

App cons:

A mission to open apps just to open the gate or switch on lights ... ther eare much easier ways to do that kind of stuff ... like motion sensors with time delays etc.

no internet no control ... unless you are smart and have a system which can operate on a local network.

[adrianh]

That is why one should create a bidirectional LoRa system like my friend developed for their queue control - it doesn't need the internet.