logitech discontinues harmony remotes

[mulu]

I didn't find a repeater but just a "blaster" which seems a single device that acts as a remote control (through your phone or I guess through the HS plugin). That's not exactly what I was looking for because I wanted everything controlled through the logitech. But I guess I could consider separating (actually duplicating) things through another HW device. It just makes things more complicated.

[Michael McSharry]

I am not familiar with Harmony Hub, but I do use Broadlink RM Pro ($40) and RM Mini ($20) for both IR and RF control of equipment via HS. mcsMQTT plugin supports these devices, including library management, Pronto formats as well as learning.

[TC1]

I am not familiar with Harmony Hub, but I do use Broadlink RM Pro ($40) and RM Mini ($20) for both IR and RF control of equipment via HS. mcsMQTT plugin supports these devices, including library management, Pronto formats as well as learning.

Hi Michael, what about going the other way? I'm currently trying out your PI and the Broadlink RM Pro, but I also want to be able to produce HS triggers by pointing my IR remote at a receiver and having HS process that. Any ideas appreciated.

[Michael McSharry]

The Broadlink devices have a read mode and a send mode. Their firmware has a timeout on the read mode so the best that could be done is continuously restart the read mode. This means that there would be cases of IR being missed during the time the mode change was in process.


I had good luck with ESP8266 (Wemos D1 Mini) and IR Diode that was used with my Notification frame (mcsMQTT.pdf Section 18.11). In this case I had it learn 16 different IR codes for the 16 positions of the sign. When the IR code was received the sign delivered MQTT message. This is a DIY solution and not prepackaged as the Broadlink RM series.

I did the same thing with another ESP8266 as a dedicated IR receiver that would deliver the hex IR code via MQTT message rather than learn and interpret the IR Code. Same construction with cost under $10 with the ESP8266 and a TSOP4838 connected to one of the GPIO of the ESP8266. The TSOP would decode the IR and ESP8266 would transmit the code via MQTT. On the HS Side it is a set of events based upon the Hex IR code values.

[Michael McSharry]

As a follow- up to the dedicated IR Receiver -> MQTT the following is my setup in Tasmota. I use a Wemos D1 mini that accepts a USB mini connector for power. It could also have been done with a Sonoff Basic that already has a case and power is supplied with 120VAC. The Sonoff Basic has solder connections for GPIO14, Power and Ground so it is an easy DIY project to make a IR Receiver.



Below it is an example of a received IR code in the /RESULT topic. In this case it was Data for 00FF30CF.

The normal setup in mcsMQTT for this is to map the IRReceive/RESULT.Data to a HS device as a List Control Status UI. This will be one device with a HS DeviceValue for each IR code that has been received. Event triggers can be setup for this Device with a specific value to indicate a specific IR code received.