Automate Blinds by hacking 433 mhz Remote?

I have been looking for a simple and inexpensive way to automate my blinds. I have way too many windows to blow $100+ per window. I currently have very nice wood blinds that are opened and closed with a rod. I have seen some DIY options that look promising but usually still cost a bit to build, etc. I found this simple option called EZ Wand. The main downfall is it runs on 433 mhz remotes. Is it possible to somehow control these with Smartthings thru arduino or something? I know this isn’t the most high end solution, but we all aren’t rich. :smile: I have been reading the forum and there are a lot of very smart folks on here so thought I would ask if anyone had tackled the 433 frequency already. Thanks for the info.

Would an Arduino + ThingShield + this library (GitHub - sui77/rc-switch: Arduino lib to operate 433/315Mhz devices like power outlet sockets.) get you something close to what you’re looking for?

I am currently working with another member on adding RCSwitch support to my ST_Anything Arduino library. IT may provide a decent starting point once he tests it. I do not have any 433Mhz remote controlled devices to test it with… :blush: We are adding a new “Switch Device” that uses the RCSwitch library instead of just turning an Arduino pin on/off.

You can take a look at my ST_Anything project at

I’ll start looking into Broadlink RM2 Pro once I get my unit. It’s on route from China.

Wow, here are a couple of the smart folks I was referring to that have already replied. Thank you both. @ogiewon your option looks very robust and very much over my head, hehe. But may be exactly what will be needed to automate the 433 mhz remote. And @copyninja those Broadlink options do look interesting. Please keep me in the loop once you receive yours.

I Also I did a project where I purchased some products from adafruit to remotely control 1 of my blinds with 315mhz remote. The rc-switch project does support 315mhz so I was looking to work on that next with @ogiewon.

Adafruit Trinket
+
RF Receiver
+
NPN Resistor
+
Continuous Rotation Servo.

Let me know if you would like the sketch, I hope I still have it floating around somewhere. it’s on my list of things to do, so I could help you out.

That project is very cool btw I didn’t notice the link at first. Beats trying to use a servo plus a shaft coupler that might be different for each set of blinds.

@keithcroshaw sounds like a pretty slick solution. So you feel it would be possible to build something to interface with SmartThings that would mimic the commands the EZ Wand remote would be sending? How would you know what codes the remote was sending to mimic them? Goodness, the more I talk about it the more I realize I don’t have a clue about the “maker” scene. :smile:

Haha I’m really not that experienced myself. I was blown out of my shoes with how easy intercepting and resending RF codes was with the rc-switch project. I bought this receiver transmitter pack and followed the instructions on the rc-switch wiki page to first intercept the codes, then swapped the receiver for the transmitter, downloaded the “Send example” code with my captured codes in it and boom my outlet turned off and on. From that point it’s a matter of hooking it up to ST, which I’m hoping to accomplish with @ogiewon’s help.

Last problem being there’s a major shortage of ST Arduino Shields. Although many people have integrated Spark Core controllers to ST any libraries, like rc-switch have to be ported, which it appears someone has.

As I make progress with my current project I’ll keep you updated. I signed up to pre-order those EZ-Wands so I might do that once I get one.

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How did you get on with this, seems exactly what I want to do, control 433mhz devices I already have around the house

I’m actually waiting for my Particle Photons that I ordered. Decided not to go with the EZ Blinds.

Has anyone managed to get the EZ Wand working with Smartthings? Id be interested if this was supported.

As I understand EZ wand will have a version that works with the Broadlink RM2 in Oct 2016 but I can’t see it working directly with ST unless you have Android and tasker. If you have IOS you can use your iPhone or iPad to control the shade. I have EZ-Wand now but I can’t get it to open or close my shades as my Bali 2" Faux shades have a very tight twist rod. the rod has a hook that goes into a thin rod with a hole that comes out of the shade. And I haven’t figured out which adapter will work with it.