Hi guys
Can someone advise me what the best package for my ESP32 (wroom32) and RF433mhz combination would be from the list. Looking to use the OMG firmware with the RF library with the most device compatibility but cant seem to work out which package i should be flashing! Can anyone help? Pictures below:
Hi @thestraychow,
Nicely done RF setup! Looking at the RF compatibility chart
you will not be able to receive any rtl_433 devices with your SRX882/STX882 combo, but, depending on the 433Mhz devices you have, you can chose to install RF(RCSwitch), RF2(KaKu) or Pilight gateways, or the multi-RF gateway, which allows switching between these protocols.
RF - esp32dev-rf
Pilight - esp32dev-pilight
multi - esp32dev-multi_receiver
with the last one it says to use with a CC1101, and I haven’t tested it myself, but would assume with the SRX882/STX882 it should also allow switching between the RF, RF2 and Pilight protocols, apart from obviously rtl_433.
That is assuming the wiring of your setup adheres to the pre-build default pins
Let us know how you get on.
@DigiH Thank you for this! Is the RTL_433 the newest and greatest library per chance? Or do i have any life left in my setup?
Thanks for the link, i like the idea of being able to switch between the different RF libraries! I take it the multi image will also enable the blutooth on my board too?
Do you know what the default library that is loaded on the multi -esp32dev-multi_receiver image is?
While @NorthernMan54’s implemenation of rtl_433_ESP ist the greatest, it really depends on the 433 Mhz devices which you have and want to use with OpemMQTTGateway 
Each module/library (RF, RF2, Pilight and rtl_433_ESP) is only compatible with certain devices, so my ESP8266 RF library gateway will be needed and be useful for as long as I have my compatible RF power sockets. The same with yours, depending on what 433 Mhz devices you have.
Again, the multi-gateway is only really necessary if you have devices which are only supported by multiple modules/libraries. The important thing to remember though is that only the active module can then receive and send to devices, not ideal for RF contact or motion sensors. The same applies to bluetooth, which is not compatible with the mutil-gateway, due to size restrictions, but also due to the fact that RF reception/transmissions would be impossible during BT active time and vice versa.
Sorry, I don’t actually.
What kind of RF devices do you actually have? Looking at the compatibility list you might actully find that a single protovol gateway might be enough for your purpose.
Blockquote
While @NorthernMan54’s implemenation of rtl_433_ESP ist the greatest, it really depends on the 433 Mhz devices which you have and want to use with OpemMQTTGateway
Sorry do you mean NorthernMan54’s implementation of rtl_433_ESP “IS or ISNT” the greatest? 
Blockquote
Each module/library (RF, RF2, Pilight and rtl_433_ESP) is only compatible with certain devices, so my ESP8266 RF library gateway will be needed and be useful for as long as I have my compatible RF power sockets. The same with yours, depending on what 433 Mhz devices you have.
I get that the librarys are specific to the devices that they support… but at the moment, i’m at the beginning of my smart home building process and have no idea what other devices i might acquire so would rather side with the library that the largest support for the most devices. If RTL_433 is that library than i might need to look at that. Is there crossover between the libraries? So for example a certain RF433 reed window sensor could work under 3 different libraries if its particularly well supported?
Blockquote
Again, the multi-gateway is only really necessary if you have devices which are only supported by multiple modules/libraries. The important thing to remember though is that only the active module can then receive and send to devices, not ideal for RF contact or motion sensors.
Hmmm. So does this mean that once i set my gateway up on say pilight on the multi image it will only talk to devices over the pilight library until i change the library over via mqtt to say RF? Or does it mean that all 4 libraries can exist on the ESP32 and can fight for air time but only one device can talk at a time to each library.
The same applies to bluetooth, which is not compatible with the mutil-gateway, due to size restrictions, but also due to the fact that RF reception/transmissions would be impossible during BT active time and vice versa.
Thats strange, i’ve been using OMG v0.93 with RF and BLE both on the same device for a year now and havn’t noticed any particular issues with running both on the device? could that be due to me using the larger antenae?
Sorry, I don’t actually.
What kind of RF devices do you actually have? Looking at the compatibility list you might actully find that a single protovol gateway might be enough for your purpose.
I have an BSSB RF315MHZ actuated bed
A load of GS-WDS07 reed 433mhz magnetic reed switches
Ilumos 433mhz Dimmer Switches
I’m pretty sure there’s no single library that covers those 3… Am i right in thinking that the RM4 Pro supports more RF devices than the OpenMQTTGateway? Just curious as i believe all 3 three of those devices were learnable by the device and whatever RF library is relies on…
IS, my German slipped through there with the ist
There is some crossover, but it really is device specific and cannot be generalised for device groups.
Correct, only ever one library will be active. So it might be more appropriate to have separate gateways for each library, if you want to use them simultaneously. Or restrict the 433Mhz devices you will be buying to one library/protocol.
Then you precede my discovery of OpenMQTTGateway and while an RF libray and BLE is possible, during the BLE scan duration, which defaults to 10 seconds, there is no RF reception or transmission possible. Depending on which RF devices you have this might be ok, but for anything like motion or contact sensors this would mean missing events during the BLE scan time. Unless the version 0.9.3 was so completely different, which I very much doubt
Not having any knowledge about the RM Pro, and only briefly finding
Support RF (433MHz fixed code)
I have no idea what protocols it supports or not.
A bit the same with your existing devices, but with the device list link I posted above your GS-WDS07 comes up as
@DigiH - Thanks for confirming all the above!
Yeah i’ve been kicking around for a while (2019) i think? But hadn’t used the gateway much until the last week where i’ve had the time to start putting everything together. But it seems the hardware i have is already conflicting with the direction of the new rtl_433 project.
I had no idea that the bluetooth and RF features of the board would confilict with each other in that way. That’s a shame… I cant quite fathom why that would be? Surely they are different components, seperate aerials, and i would have thought that the ESP32 has the power to do both simultaneously? Is that a software (OMG) restriction do you think?
I want to use the OMG Gateway as i really love the open nature of the project. But if the RM4 Pro can talk to all 3 of my current devices it’s a bit of a tough ask to potentially build 3 more of these to use with the now 4 biggest RF Library’s to make sure i’m covered for future devices. I’m assuming something like the RM4Pro has a custom proprietry library that has many, many devices baked into the firmare that it can talk to? I know mine is a rarer variant that covers 315mhz too…
This one might be for you Florian, as it’s more of an OMG v0.92 question
Looking through the firmware available on the upload page i don’t see any firmware stating that it includes RF and Bluetooth. However when i look in MQTT Explorer and browse to my OMG v0.95 topic i clearly see BTtoMQTT and 433toMQTT both running on the same device…
What’s the history here? Was bluetooth omitted from later firmwares due to clashes between both technologies? Just trying to work out what firmware i need to upload to my device to keep the same feature set…
We did not propose an RF + BLE in v0.9.2
You may have defined your own environment ?
You can try the last version with Bluetooth with RF and see if it works for you.
Thanks for the pointers, it’s been a long time since i’ve looked at the project (4years?)
Here are some excerts from the platformio notes
build_flags =
${com-esp.build_flags}
'-DZgatewayRF="RF"'
'-DZgatewayBT="BT"'
'-DZactuatorONOFF="ONOFF"'
'-DGateway_Name="OpenMQTTGateway_ESP32"'
[env:esp32dev-all]
platform = ${com.esp32_platform}
board = esp32dev
upload_port = /dev/cu.SLAB_USBtoUART
board_build.partitions = min_spiffs.csv
So to summarize:
If i want RF and Bluetooth - There is no precompiled firmware image for me to use.
And going forward, Bluetooth and RF shouldnt be used on the same OMG gateway as the general consensus is they create issues?
The real differences between the OMG Gateway and the RM4 Pro+ is that the RM Pro+ is RF learnable and has a larger library of devices it recognizes out the box but the OMG gateway has the ability the sniff the RF traffic and so can act on observing the traffic as opposed to just sending/recieving RF signals like the RM Pro does.
Safe assumptions?
Not for the moment
I have try BLE + RTL_433 and I know that we are short in memory and that it requires optimization. But I haven’t tried BLE + RF, this is why I suggest to try it.
I’m surprised not more people have tried to run bluetooth and rf on the same device as that seems like the mantra / projects goal:
" OpenMQTTGateway project goal is to concentrate in one firmware different technologies and protocols, decreasing by the way the number of physical bridges needed, and hiding the different technologies singularity behind a simple & wide spread communication protocol; MQTT (opens new window)."
I didnt think i’d be breaking new ground by testing bluetooth and rf together after 4 years:) But for what it’s worth - It’s worked ok for me thus far on v0.92 to anyone interested
I was however hoping to upgrade the firmware to v1.51 as i thought i might be missing a lot of stability, features and device compatibility. I’m sure there’s been a lot of good changes since.
Why did you opt for RTL_433 and not RF? Device compatibility?
It is a question of time before we get RTL_433 + BLE working, RF is less used these days with the traction for RTL_433.
RTL_433 is a more evolved decoder which also identify devices and status, versus RF mainly identifies a list of protocols with values.
@1technophle - Sorry if this question is a little broken… When you said 433_RTL identifies devices and status…
Would it add or expose new features of older RF devices in anyway? for example would it identify state on a RF switch even though that functionality wasnt necessarily available via legacy RF libraries for that switch? (I hope that makes sense!)
Yes it could if the switch is supported, but note that RTL_433 gateway does not send data, just receive
Ah really… That’s a shame. As i would need that functionality as i issue RF send requests to things like RF lights and RF bed actuators etc.
Is sending data on the roadmap for RTL_433 or does it fundamentally go against the purpose of the project?