Can Other 433 MHz bridges control Lutron devices?

Here is an interesting article on the why Homey does not yet have 433 MHz in America (ITU region 2) yet.

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It’s a very interesting read, but I’m not sure it explains it, unless they just haven’t decided to manufacture using FCC-compliant chips.

BroadLink, for example, makes several home automation hubs for the US utilizing 433 mhz. They just limit the device classes to meet the regulatory requirements. Light switch, projector screen, fan control, yes. Sensors, no. I use one to control an automatic door opener with Alexa.

The very popular bond bridge remote, originally developed to easily add voice assistant integration for ceiling fan control, also handles 433 mhz in the US market. Again, it’s for a limited set of devices, but it works well for those.

So it can definitely be done, but for whatever business or technical reasons Homey has decided not to do it for the US market at this time. :thinking:

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https://www.microtronicscontrols.com/which-radio-bands-are-used-around-the-world#:~:text=433%20MHz,when%20operating%20in%20larger%20networks.

Here is a USA based company also saying about regulations, scroll to 433 MHz. Not adding, just aligned with previous post.

So in essence, you are right, we do not know if the chips are not already certified or other reason?

Lutron with its 433.92 MHz clear connect (rounds off to 434) would not necessarily need the bridge if Homey makes it to the America’s with their radio? I am getting this right?

Lutron’s Clear Connect is a proprietary system that only they use, not a generic 434 mhz. Bond and BroadLink can’t control Lutron devices, for example.

Homey connects with Lutron the same way that SmartThings does: via the Lutron SmartBridge device. Not directly to the Lutron end devices. So it doesn’t matter whether Homey supports 433 mhz or not.

Lutron Caséta App for Homey | Homey.

Thanks, for the clarification on the bridge!

433.925 Mhz is what caseta is using . It is channel 35 of the 433 MHz Band…

433.925 MHz Wireless Frequency Explorer

Sure, it’s the same band, but it’s like having a different Zigbee profile: the Lutron devices may hear the transmission from a nonLutron device, but they will just ignore it.

Again, neither BroadLink nor Bond can control Lutron devices even though all use the same frequency.

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I think you nailed it. the radio in Homey could probably do Channel 35 433.925 MHz, but the firmware needs work or since it is registered in the usa, Lutron Electronics Company Inc FCC ID Applications (JPZ) (not sure if implications or not), this may be a legal issue.

The hacker article does mention he was capable of controlling with his controller radio. So not hardware issue.

Why! yes!, let’s hope Lutron does a matter bridge. I have so much devices Lutron!

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As the article also points out, Lutron does have a public API for telnet access to the SmartBridge device. Using that isn’t hacking of any kind (or illegal), even if the author calls it that.

Before I started making any hardware, I had to make sure I could integrate with the Lutron bridge. It turns out the bridge is pretty hackable. It is possible to enable telnet integration which can receive commands and broadcast state change events to connected clients.
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Lutron’s protocol is documented in the “Lutron® integration protocol”, which is a superset of what the Caseta devices actually implement.

That’s the same method Hubitat uses for its Lutron integration.

And the author of that article is still using the Lutron SmartBridge to communicate with the Lutron end devices. The goal of his project was to add some additional offbrand light strips to his setup. That’s what he’s controlling, not his Lutron devices.

So again, it doesn’t remove the need for the Lutron SmartBridge.

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He mentions something like …my first step is to integrated to the bridge and then goes on saying
“Next step was figuring out how to decode the RF protocol used to control the string lights.”?

"
A lot of these devices use really simple modulation schemes, the simplest being known as On-Off Keying or Amplitude Shift Keying (OOK or ASK), which is extremely simple to understand and decode – at some pre-determined time base the radio module is either screaming as loud as it can at 433.92 MHz for a digital ‘1’ or off for a ‘0’. Some variants of this encode a ‘0’ as a shorter pulse than a ‘1’, but the idea is the same" he is talking of devices , things at this point, I believe.

He is, but those aren’t his Lutron devices. They’re the cheap third party light strips he’s trying to add into his setup. He wants to get rid of the handheld remote that came with those third party devices.

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Thank you, I just saw the project introduction, my link did not have it. nice chat!:slightly_smiling_face:

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He’s capturing an off command sent by the Lutron SmartBridge and then passing it along to his thirdparty light strip. Thus getting rid of the third-party handheld remote.

Next step was figuring out how to decode the RF protocol used to control the string lights….

events from the Lutron bridge were streaming in

(Emphasis added)

So he’s using the publicly available Lutron telnet output from the Lutron SmartBridge as input to the device that he built, which then sends a signal to his third-party string lights. Thus, allowing his Lutron setup to control the third-party lights via the bridge that he built. Which again, is how a lot of Lutron integrations work, including Hubitat, and is why you can use a luton pico remote to control other Hubitat devices. But all the communication is going through the Lutron SmartBridge at some point.

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