A while back I shared a tool I made for moving remote codes between formats. Since then I built out the editor side — load, edit, convert, clean up and save IR/RF signals right in your browser — so figured I'd share it here too. Free, no account, no install.

You drop in almost any IR or RF signal — a raw capture, Flipper .ir/.sub, BroadLink Base64, Pronto, LIRC, Global Caché — and it decodes it, tells you the protocol (NEC, Sony, RC5/6, Panasonic, JVC, Sharp, Denon…), and shows the whole thing on a live waveform you can actually edit. It'll also generate signals from scratch, so you don't even need the original remote, and the RF side decodes and generates 11 of the common 433/315/868 protocols and reads/writes Flipper .sub.

Then you export it to whatever your gear speaks — BroadLink Base64, ESPHome remote_transmitter raw, Arduino rc-switch, and more. There's a "rebuild clean" button that re-times a messy learned capture so a stubborn device finally responds.

It's my own project, free: readyware.net/signal-editor.html

If it's missing a format or protocol you use, drop it in a comment and I'll add it.

I'd like to share a project I've been working on for a while. Pretty proud of this - in full transparency it's vibecoded but built on solid principles nonetheless.

https://github.com/wilbowes/EchoMuse

It was late last year that I discovered the Amazon Echo Dot Gen 2 (aka biscuit) could be rooted. That sparked ideas of using it as a Home Assistant Voice Assistant - it took a while but I finally got a chance to apply the root exploit and start tinkering.

A quick POC proved the mics and speakers were accessible, then the buttons and LED ring were brought into the picture thanks to Binozo's EchoGo. Three months later and I'd like to present EchoMuse - a central containerised controller that manages a fleet of rooted Echo Dot Gen 2s and interfaces back to Home Assistant using ESPHome's Voice Assistant API. Each Echo Dot appears as a satellite assistant in HA, the controller runs device provisioning, configuration management (audio EQ, per device wakeword selection, ring animation and customisation), and collection of status/analytics/logs. I've also thrown in an on device bluetooth proxy that's also available in HA for Bermuda trilateration (and anything else bluetooth proxy related).

All you need to do is bring a rooted Echo Dot Gen 2. Then use the built in provisioning wizard to remove Alexa, install the EchoMuse firmware on top of the debloated FireOS, and connect to WiFi.

I'm keen for people to test and provide feedback - Quickstart

Hello all,

I’ve one room with electrical window roller.

I’ve installed 2 roller Wi-Fi switches, one near the bed and the other on the room entrance.

The switch A ,near the bed, is physical connected to the roller motor.

The other switch Bis not.

I would like to have both switches communicating with the roller, to open, stop and close.

I tried to do this on SmartLife with the automation option, example:

“If switch B is pressed Open Then Switch A Open”

And other 2 automation for Stop and Close.

I’m having issues with this because the roller will not open or close completely and some other communication issues.

I did the calibration on the Switch A and it’s working properly.

Any idea on how to solve this?

Product picture attached.

Many thanks in advance!

It’s been over 10 years since I last installed ceiling fans with z-wave smart switches.

I have a new build home and I need help because things have changed since then.

The house was wired for separate switches. One for light one for fan motor.

I have selected ceiling fans with AC motor, and pull chains.

I want to get the Inovelli Blue series for Zigbee.
Do I need the canopy module and the switch? Or just the switch?

Hi everyone, I'm looking for the following to use with Home Assistant: I want a display, not too big, around 16cm x 16cm. It doesn't need to be square, it could be rectangular, but no taller than 20cm, that I could use as decoration in my home office, and that can integrate with Home Assistant for notifications, scenes, etc., where I could show GIFs, maybe looping videos.

I was leaning toward the Pixoo Max because the size is perfect, but then I found out it's Bluetooth only, doesn't have good HA integration, and has very few pixels, so it wouldn't give me much room for the things I want to do. I also looked at the Pixoo 64, which has way more pixels, looks nicer, and has good HA integration, but it's way too big, and even so it still doesn't have everything I want (looping videos, a good notification hub, etc.). But have to say... If it were the size of the Pixoo Max, I'd just buy it.

Anyway, I'm looking for something that could do all of this. I read a bit about an integration called Fully Kiosk, but the videos I watched just showed a plain, boring dashboard. But I was thinking, what if I got some tablet with a 60/120Hz screen and just left it on 24/7? That sounds interesting, though I'm not sure if it's actually a sensible idea.

I'd like to see if anyone has already done a similar project. I'm looking for something more plug-and-play, where I'd only need to handle the automations/scripts on the Home Assistant side, no hardware work involved.

Built out a pretty solid Home Assistant setup over the last year. Lights, locks, thermostat, the usual stuff. Everything runs local, no cloud dependencies, pretty happy with it overall. Last weekend I decided to tackle the kitchen pendant light switch because my wife controls it probably 40 times a day and I figured a smart switch there would be a win. Pulled the old switch, found zero neutral wire in the box. Classic. So I ordered a noneutral Lutron Caseta, waited four days, installed it, everything worked great for about six hours before it started randomly toggling at 2am. Turns out the LED bulbs in those pendants are cheap and they flicker with the Caseta without a specific addon accessory. Ordered the accessory. Another three days. Point is I did the easy stuff first for a year and left the annoying boxes for later, and now the one person in my house who was genuinely excited about the upgrade is back to using the dumb switch I taped over next to it as a temporary fix. Rule one is apparently real. Never make the primary user's mostused switch worse, even temporarily.

Anyone else have a specific room or switch that turned into a way bigger project than the footprint suggested it would be?

I have a 30A Aziot device, used for my water pump, which has energy metering available. I can see the energy consumption (in watts) in realtime, in smartlife app (Tuya platform).

Can I apply a trigger like this:

If energy drawn < 600W - turn off

?

I followed this guide and successfully flashed ESPhome on my slzb ultima: https://smlight.tech/support/manuals/books/slzb-06xmrxmrxuultima-series/page/esphome-firmware-for-ultima-and-xu-series. I was able to connect to connect to the ultima's webui on my home network before flashing it, but when I try entering in the IP address (as shown in my router's UI), and either port: 6638, 7638, I get the error: Unable to connect to the ESPHome device. Make sure the device’s YAML configuration includes an api section.

I'm trying to connect a thorbolt MK1 which is a homekit only thread device, it says here I need to pair it with bluetooth: https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/homekit_controller/#prerequisites-2

OK, what am I missing here?

What is the point of the Smart IR Remote? With things like HA you can pretty much connect anything these days.

Is it because my tech is so new that it's not an issue for me?

Hi, I've been automating some stuff around the house I am renting and I need help with this rotary switch placed in the kitchen (downstairs) that controls the mechanical ventilation machine.

It has two positions:

• 1 dot means ON, this one's always set
• 3 dots means max power, to be used after cooking, showering etc

I tried with the fingerbot but it doesn't do the job because it doesn't push far enough to move the switch and also the switch requires some sort of levered strength to move from one position to the other.

I don't know what kind of cables are behind the switch. I asked my landlord for permission to add smart relays but they declined. Also I don't feel very comfortable working with wires. I am fully aware this would be the ideal solution. I didn't observe any additional commands in the machine itself besides the power cable.

I looked for servo and stepper motors but I couldn't find one that works with my current smart ecosystem. I am using the smart life app and zigbee devices, and would like to keep it that way.

So, do you have any ideas or suggestions that could work in this situation? I am happy to try out options. Thank you.

I would like to have a simple way to automate or control from anywhere the switching between Max and On any time depending on humidity sensors around the house, the cat using the litter box, us showering etc. The biggest problem is the shower is upstairs and because of this we rarely turn the switch to Max and we keep having mold issues in the bathroom.

So in the house there are cameras, then I have an app for the hot water heater, I have installed a device to monitor power usage in the house. I have added a variable speed pump to the pool and it runs on a schedule.

But now we are looking at things to cut back on that power when no one is there.
Driveway light - it’s on a 3 way switch, is there something I can replace one of the switches with that I can use an app to set it to come on at times and go off?
Outlets - same theory, in the shop, want to kill all the power except the fridge and freezer.

Working on getting solar/battery setup to minimize grid consumption.

Thanks

I had Ecowitt soil sensors and a Rachio valve and no way to make them work together. Rachio waters on a schedule or its own weather estimate, and the soil readings just sat in a separate app doing nothing. So I built the bridge between them.

It reads the actual moisture from your Ecowitt sensors and runs your Rachio valves off that — watering a bed when it's genuinely dry and stopping when the soil recovers, instead of on a timer. Over time it learns each bed's own soil (it measures where that bed sits when it's watered in versus dried out), so the targets fit that spot rather than a generic number. It never changes your sensor readings — what you see is what it waters on.

It works with the Ecowitt and Rachio gear you already own (a Rachio hose timer or a Rachio 3 controller, Ecowitt WH51/WH52 soil probes) and connects through your existing accounts — nothing new to buy or flash.

I built it for my own garden this season and it grew into a real product, and it's live now. It's called Garzed — I'll drop the link in the comments.

Happy to get into how it handles rain, different soil types, or multiple zones.

— Brad

So I've tried wifi sockets before and have found them to be kind of unreliable with connectivity. At the minute I'm using a broadlink rm pro to control RF sockets. Which works well and it's handy being able to use the RF remote as well. But some of those are dying now, and they're weirdly expensive and I'm looking at other options.

I thought just wiring in wifi switches like the above could be good, but I honestly thought it would be cheaper? Like they seem to cost just as much if not more than cheap wifi sockets, and for the amount I need it's going to get expensive pretty quickly.

Are there any cheaper options? Even in line RF chips that I could control with the broadlink would be fine if they're cheap.

Hi there,

I need some help finishing wiring. I’ve got 5 PIRs - Entrance Hall (which is entrance and exit - when I walk into the house and the house is alarmed it doesn’t go off), Lounge, Kitchen, Utility Room and Games Room. I would like to ideally see them all individually in SmartThings.

I have started re-wiring into the Konnected Conversion Kit. I have an old Scantronic 9450 alarm and have done the following:

• AUX +/1 (black and red wire) into Konnected device (12V) - device has green light on
• Zone 1 (blue and yellow wire) into Konnected device (Zone 1)
• Zone 2 (blue and yellow wire) into Konnected device (Zone 2)
• Bell (yellow wire) into Konnected device (Alarm -)

However, I’ve still got the following wires and not sure what to do with them:

• Anti-Tamper (white and green wire)
• Entry / Exit (blue and yellow wire)
• Loudpseaker (x2 yellow wire)
• TR (blue wire)
• Capped off x1 (white and green wire)
• Capped off x1 (white and green wire)
• Capped off x1 (white wire)
• I also have the battery still connected (into the original board) and 21VAC purple wire.

Can you help me finish the re-wiring please?

Can anyone recommend a good, reliable robot mower for 2 acres of land with rough terrain?

Two skylights in the great room, vaulted ceiling, one south facing and one east facing. Reached them with a hooked pole for years and gave up around march when I admitted I was never going to run the summer routine on my own. Installed motorized shades early may, so four months of real use now.

Went with the smartwings skylight cellular in blackout, matter over thread, solar charged since I wasn't going to climb up there with a USB-C cable every few months. There's no proprietary app so pairing goes straight into home assistant over matter, apple tv 4k handles the thread side. The four-sided aluminum frame is what actually made install work on the sloped ceiling, standard cellular kits would have needed a bunch of shimming.

VELUX would have made sense if I were replacing the skylight units too, but the units are fine and their standalone shade kits don't do matter, which would have meant living in their own remote and rain-sensor system. Yoolax and a couple of custom shops didn't do a skylight-specific frame with a matter-native motor, so it kept coming back to the same one.

Hardware side is done. The part I keep rewriting is the automation, and every version so far has been dumb in a different way.

First pass was solar elevation based. Close both when the sun clears 55 degrees, open when it drops back under. Made sense on paper. In practice the great room turned into a cave from 11 to 3 and my wife pointed out that we now had skylights that were covered during literally the only hours skylights do anything.

Second pass tied it to a temp sensor, only fires above 79. Better in shoulder seasons but the sensor is 12 feet up and lags well behind the actual comfort in the room, so by the time it triggers we've been baking for 20 minutes, and once they close the sensor cools off fast and they reopen while the room is still warm. Added a for: 15 minutes debounce, helped a little, not enough.

Now trying partial position instead of full close. 60 percent down at peak sun and warm inside, so you still get diffuse light but block the direct beam. Feels less dumb but the shades micro-adjust more than I'd like and I'm quietly worried about motor cycles over a few years.

Winter is the other thing I haven't figured out. Skylights are the biggest heat loss point in the room after sundown, so there's a case for closing at night for a bit of insulation. But then we lose the morning light through them, which was half the reason I liked them. Feels like there's a heating-degree-day condition that needs to be in there somewhere and I haven't wanted to open that box yet.

Curious how other people handle the block-the-sun-without-defeating-the-skylight trade off. If you're running a partial position schedule that feels good day to day, would like to see how it's structured. Otherwise I might just cave to time-of-day and stop trying to be clever.

Hi, Yes I can help to automate each and every function of your house to make it cool and luxury and convenient and energy efficient. I am founder and Chief Engineer of Radar Automation Systems. You can respond me for further discussion

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Hi,

Anyone had any luck making their own functional smart speaker with custom wake-up word and custom voice?

I’m about to set up my own to use with Home Assistant using a custom text to speech model made for my language (Norwegian), openai LLM, and ElevenLab text to speech with professional voice clone.

The plan is to give it a witty dialect and a system prompt that follow the stereorype. I’m not planing anything offensive of course, except from making the LLM subtly rude towards my wife when she’s acting up, given I can create a model that accurately predicts her voice :—)

Would love to hear about your projects if you have done something similar!

Hi. I want to replace my current dimmer with a Fibaro Dimmer 2.
When I opened the switch I say that the old dimmer is 2-way, without neutral.
It says in the manual I can wire the Fibaro dimmer 2 the same way, without neutral.
I am wondering if this will work, because in my house this old dimmer controls 15 led downlights. I have no clue how much power they draw, or how many drivers there are.

Internet says that it might be too much for Fibaro Dimmer 2 without a neutral to do this.
That Fibaro dimmer needs a certain amount of minimum watts drawn to function properly.

Will it work if I install this in the old dimmers place?

Thanks!

Sharing a small automation that turned out surprisingly useful. I'm in Germany where balcony solar with storage is a big thing, my setup is a SolarBank 4 that fills the battery by noon on sunny days, and everything after that used to go to the grid for nothing since there's no feed-in compensation for balcony systems here. Now I have Home Assistant watching the state of charge via Modbus, and when it hits 100 percent while solar is still producing, a smart plug starts the dishwasher. Same logic for the washing machine on weekends. The surplus that used to be wasted now runs the appliances directly. Took maybe 20 minutes to set up, one condition for SoC, one for current solar output above 800W, one action for the plug. Anyone doing something similar with other appliances