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Anyone know where to buy a remote control xmitter and receiver system? — Parallax Forums

Anyone know where to buy a remote control xmitter and receiver system?

T ChapT Chap Posts: 4,223
edited 2012-02-28 08:36 in Accessories
I need a hand held device with a single button on it that will momentarily close contacts or output a pulse on the receiver for use with a Propeller.
The goal is to press the button and the receiver outputs a voltage or closes contacts momentarily. It would easy to build this with an Xbee but in this case I need a keychain type button that looks nice. A garage door type opener(larger) may be adequate as well. Thanks for any suggestions.

Comments

  • Ron CzapalaRon Czapala Posts: 2,418
    edited 2012-02-10 09:03
    You might want to look at these Nordic nRF24L01+ KeyFob & Transceiver modules...

    KeyFob
    http://www.sparkfun.com/products/8602

    Transceiver
    http://www.sparkfun.com/products/705

    With BS2 http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?133053-Nordic-nRF24L01-BS2-Code-example&highlight=sparkfun+nordic
    With Propeller http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?132849-Propeller-Powered-Panic-Buttons&highlight=sparkfun+nordic
  • Duane DegnDuane Degn Posts: 10,588
    edited 2012-02-10 10:03
    Ron beat me to it.

    I have several of SparkFun's key fobs. There's a link in post #1 of my index to Nordic modules that cost less then $3 that can receive the fobs transmission. I plug the $3 muodules directly into a QuickStart's header and power the transceiver with I/O pins.

    I think I have firmware to update the fob's firmware to use larger packets than the standard four bytes. (I say "I think" because after I got the fob to send larger packets, it died on me.)
  • T ChapT Chap Posts: 4,223
    edited 2012-02-10 10:07
    Thanks for posting that system. I can only dedicate a pin to read the device, and was hoping to only dedicate code for the pin state. It looks like that device would require a bit more code to read and parse the data, but I will explore it further and probably get one just to have on hand.

    Edit. Just saw Duanes info. I will read look at that thread more closely, is there a method to just read a serial input with one pin? Power is no problem.
  • Duane DegnDuane Degn Posts: 10,588
    edited 2012-02-10 10:23
    The current Propeller (and BS2?) driver for nRF24L01+ modules use six IO pins. By polling the module, it would be possible to eliminate the irq line and it might be possible to share the SPI input on output lines but that would still require four pins.

    It would still be less expensive to use a slave uC to comunicate with the Nordic module than using a XBee. The slave uC could be a second Prop or one of the inexpensive AVR chips.
  • T ChapT Chap Posts: 4,223
    edited 2012-02-10 10:48
    Ok good call on the extra Prop. Just set it to poll, and output on a received button.
  • Duane DegnDuane Degn Posts: 10,588
    edited 2012-02-10 11:30
    T Chap wrote: »
    Ok good call on the extra Prop. Just set it to poll, and output on a received button.

    Oh, and think of feature creep you could have!:smile:

    As much as I like adding a second Prop to project, I'd bet there are other one-pin alternatives.
  • WBA ConsultingWBA Consulting Posts: 2,934
    edited 2012-02-10 12:56
    This came to mind:
    http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-CH-433M-RF-Wireless-Remote-Control-Controller-4-Relay-Transmitter-Receiver-T4-/140648575190?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20bf4ef0d6
  • Tracy AllenTracy Allen Posts: 6,664
    edited 2012-02-10 13:43
    RFDigital offers programmable keyfobs. One button, one pulse is an option.
  • T ChapT Chap Posts: 4,223
    edited 2012-02-11 17:27
    Tracy Allen wrote: »
    RFDigital offers programmable keyfobs. One button, one pulse is an option.

    This is perfect. Basically this device will serve as a 32bit keyless access with the touch of a button. Thanks for the info everyone.
  • eod_punkeod_punk Posts: 146
    edited 2012-02-26 06:52
    I found these guys have pretty good prices for RF transmitters. Single button remote with relay board $12.00, add a second remote for just $4.00. They offer remotes and relay boards with 1,2, 4, 8, and 12 buttons that will toggle, momentary, latched, or combinations of them depending on the number of relays on the receiving end.
    http://www.lightobject.com/RF-Controller-C8.aspx
  • T ChapT Chap Posts: 4,223
    edited 2012-02-28 08:36
    Thanks that link eod, interesting remotes. I just got in the RF Digital remote and receiver. This allows for a pretty secure remote control, easy to set up. I used the RFD21733 xceiver in mode 7, which will learn the remote device(maybe up to 60 devices can be learned). This mode outputs a 500ms high on an output pin when the remote button is pressed, 3 outputs are available to mate with the 3 button version. I got the SMT version which required a little bit of wiring, but there is an eval version that has header pins on it for much easier set up.
    photo(7).JPG
    482 x 408 - 74K
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