Brifit Fridge Freezer thermometer - tested with RTL_433

Just wanted to add a quick note about an RTL_433 compatible device I got yesterday, which is available throughout Europe as well.

433Mhz (my European version), recognised as

“model”:“TFA-303221”

with the two sensors having

“channel”:1,
and
“channel”:2,

respectively.

Also, while not shown on the included display, the two sensors also send the humidity values.

Maybe someone else is interested in monitoring their fridge/freezer temps :wink:

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Is this working well for you? I only got 2 messages, one for each sensor in 6+ hours. Even putting the sensors in the same room as the sdr stick doesnt help.

This has been working very well for me since I got them, using OpenMQTTGateway on an ESP32 with a 433Mhz CC1101 connected - placed near the fridge freezer on top of the kitchen cabinets.

I’ve never tested them with an SDR stick however. Is yours set to 433Mhz for testing, or possibly another frequency, depending on the country you got your thermometers in?

With the OMG set up I’m getting all the signals which the thermometers send out, roughly once a minute.

I hope you can find out what your issue might be only getting so few messages.

Here’s a typical history over the last 24 hours.

P.S.: How is the included receiver and display unit doing for you? Does it get regular temperature updates from the thermometers?

I monitored the frequency by looking at the waterfall graph and adjusted it a little, but its really close to where it should be and changing it doesnt really help. The signal is very strong, it seems its the decoding in rtl433 that is unreliable. Most transmissions are ignored, some are identified as a TFA-303221 some as a LaCrosse TX141THBv2. I have some other 433 MHz devices, like motion sensors, tire pressure sensors etc and those are decoded perfectly.

And yes, the display unit works fine. Oh well, its not a drama. Ill try some other sensors, and if that fails, maybe try a CC1101; which is probably what I should have bought since Im only interested in 433 MHz :slight_smile:
BTW, you really like to keep your fridge and freezer cold !

When you get a CC1101 make sure you get a dedicated 433Mhz one for your purpose. I have both 433Mhz and 868Mhz CC1101s for my various sensors, and while they both can be set to the respectively other frequency, the reception and range for their dedicated frequency use is much better.

Just keeping them at the recommended food safety temperatures. 4º C for the lower shelf of the fridge and at or below -18º C for the freezer :wink: It’s actually one of the reasons why I got these thermometers and implemented the average temperatures over the last 4 hours in my set up.

For the record, I bought these sensors:

They work perfectly with my RTL433, although interestingly, they are also recognized as LaCrosse-TX141THBv2 most of the time and as TFA-303221 occasionally. My LCD unit (same as yours) also picked up one of the new sensors, but not reliably. So they seem similar but something is a little different somehow.

Good to hear that these sensors are working for you now with your RTL433 and SDR stick setup.

I know that both the TFA-303221 and LaCrosse-TX work nicely for me with OpenMQTTGateway and a CC1101, as the first are my fridge/freezer thermometers and the latter is my neighbour’s outdoor weather station sensor, which I also pick up, but don’t process in my home setup.

So if you ever decide to switch to OMG with CC1101, you can feel confident, that all your sensors will be recognised :slight_smile:

rtl_433_ESP - TFA-303221

rtl_433_ESP - LaCrosse-TX141THBv2

The above linked included device decoders are from the OpenMQTTGateway included rtl_433_ESP. They do differ slightly from the rtl_433 decoders, especially in the LaCrosse one it says

Also TFA 30.3221.02 (a TX141TH-Bv2),
also TFA 30.3222.02 (a LaCrosse-TX141W).

and in the tfa_30_3221

This is the same as LaCrosse-TX141THBv2 and should be merged.

That’s probably why you are seeing these occasional different recognitions, and might also be a reason for your initial problems with the Brifit recognitions. Since this doesn’t seem to affect the rtl_433_ESP decoders from my experience it might be better addressed in the rtl_433 github issues section - which it might already have been done with the above comments in the decoder files :wink:

@R5fan - Since you seem to have been using rtl_433 directly, and now that these changes have been propagated to rtl_433_ESP I have the same issues with TFA-303221 and LaCrosse TX141THBv2 being recognised alternatively and randomly.

I have logged the following issue and propose a PR to exclude the TFA-303221 decoder,

as this also seems to be the proposed rtl_433 change.

All the best.