I just moved into a new house with 3 of the same Hampton Bay ceiling fans (each with an RF remote) and I want to automate them (similar to other projects using 433Mhz transmitters/receivers)

I have very little knowledge about RF and bought a 433Mhz transmitter/receiver set on amazon only to find out that my fans are using 303.217
https://fccid.io/CHQ7083T and why I'm not receiving any RF codes in the sniffer. I tried looking for a SAW matching what's in my remotes by I think it's just too specific and uncommon. Is there any *smart* way for me to achieve communication with these fans because I don't know where to look. Hopefully you guys can shed some light. Thanks!

 

Hack the original remote transmitters to use an input signal instead of the buttons.

 

I just moved into a new house with 3 of the same Hampton Bay ceiling fans (each with an RF remote) and I want to automate them (similar to other projects using 433Mhz transmitters/receivers)

I have very little knowledge about RF and bought a 433Mhz transmitter/receiver set on amazon only to find out that my fans are using 303.217
https://fccid.io/CHQ7083T and why I'm not receiving any RF codes in the sniffer. I tried looking for a SAW matching what's in my remotes by I think it's just too specific and uncommon. Is there any *smart* way for me to achieve communication with these fans because I don't know where to look. Hopefully you guys can shed some light. Thanks!

A couple approaches you might try:

I have had success using simple 433s to control RF power outlets with an Arduino using this library. Basically, you hold the remote right up to the receiver and it will clone the codes and spit them back out the transmitter under your program's control. Its success may depend on the controller chip's encoding scheme in the fan.

You would need to get the 315 version of the transmitter/receiver pairs and hope there is enough coverage for 302 - I have no idea but someone else here may have information on that, and they are cheap to buy.

A different approach, which has been very well documented here, is to control the remote digitally. That is, using an rs232/USB interface to digitally operate the buttons. It is a nice project and the guy who wrote it was very thorough in his documentation. It does require a commercial interface and software for the mod.

Hope this helps and let us know how it works out.

 

@AlbertHall any good tutorials you might be able to share? a replacement remote is 25$ and it would be worth it if it were easy enough to control it with the Raspberry Pi GPIO

@Raymond Genovese would 315Mhz transmitter/receiver work? again I'm not very knowledgeable but i thought it had to be exact or pretty close to it. for 9$ i guess I could give it a shot.

 

Connect wires to the button contacts and connect the wires to the photo-transistor side of an opto-coupler then connect the LED side via a resistor to a digital output. Now, when the MCU output pin goes high, the photo-transistor will be switched on across the button contacts.

 

Connect wires to the button contacts and connect the wires to the photo-transistor side of an opto-coupler then connect the LED side via a resistor to a digital output. Now, when the MCU output pin goes high, the photo-transistor will be switched on across the button contacts.

Opto-FETS work nicely. The VTL-5C1 was a cool one because it had wire leads. They are obsolete, but available. The transistor opto may activate on leakage alone.

Just remember to check ON resistance. i.e. check with a resistor.

A long time ago, I used the OPTO-FET and put an LM334 and a diode inside the product. It does make the minimum voltage higher, but you can use up to 32 V. The diode is just for protection. In the application, it MIGHT be possible to reverse the leads.

An OPTOMOS relay would work just as well.

 

@AlbertHall /--/
@Raymond Genovese would 315Mhz transmitter/receiver work? again I'm not very knowledgeable but i thought it had to be exact or pretty close to it. for 9$ i guess I could give it a shot.

I don't know if it would (probably not I am now thinking) or if that library could read it, if it could - a challenge for sure. This thread has a little bit of info in addition to that fellow who documented his approach that I linked earlier.