Somfy 16 Channel Universal RTS Interface - IR, RS232, RS485

[labium]

he is availble in holland:

Zoals beloofd kom ik terug op uw vraag over de RTS interface.
Deze is vanaf volgende week leverbaar onder artikelnummer 1810803
Voor verdere informatie en levering verwijzen wij u graag naar de firma Roelandschap BV
Als Somfy leverancier zullen zij de verkoop en ondersteuning verzorgen.

Hierbij da adresgegevens van de firma Roelandschap BV
Zuiderweg-Oost 1a, 1676 GN Twisk, Telefoon: 06-54930469


Met vriendelijke groeten,

Margot Warning

Somfy Nederland B.V.
Telefoon: 023. 5544931 - Fax: 023. 5615823

[edek]

Labium,

you just beat me to it, received the same message this afternoon. Hope this will finally give me the possibility to control my Somfy screens and shades from my pc using Homeseer. The Impresario Chronis remote is just to hard to program.

[edek]

De prijs van de Somfy RTS interface is bekend, hij kost € 480,- ex. BTW en verzendkosten. Ik vind dat een redelijk hoge prijs, maar er zijn geen alternatieven voor zover ik weet.

specs zijn hier te vinden, maar is summier: somfy.co.in/downloads/in/somfy_india_gu ... debook.pdf.

[labium]

i bought one, he will be delivered this week. i dont think there is an other choise except the one you can buy in the usa, i believe they use the same frequencies etc in the usa as in europe the one or only firm on this globe (except oregon scientific ?). I think that is ander older model, it is the model with which i started this discussion a year ago. i think the electronics from the nw could be better and the software newer maybe not , maybe alone to ease my conscience.

maybe this model also will be sold in the usa when the old stocks are used

labium

[edek]

any idea if this new interface will work with all european blinds, shades, sunscreens? According to the documentation this new interface uses the RTS U80 protocol, don't know if this is a new standard or if it's been used for some time now. I now use the Impresario Chronis RTS remote for most of the screens, but not for my patio sunscreen (knikarm) yet.

Ah, while I was typing this message Roelandschap answered my question by email, all RTS motors are supported.
I'm going to order one too, anyone in need of an Impresario Chronis RTS remote (hardly used)?

[labium]

my knikarm (articulated) sunshade is controled by an x10 sw 10 now the motor is from a different brand and was delivered with a sole vente switch connected with wind and sun detectors, i now use a oregon wind meter. the sun meter i didnt use at all, if there are clouds , and in holland that is often he keeps going in and out.

i have 12 somfy sunscreen groups with 4 telis remotes, so 12 switches x10 sw10 would be a lot more expensive i think then one rts interfase and a lot less work. I use the somfy sunscreen also for isolation at night, saves a lot energy.

i intend to use it with homeseer.

and i use homeseer because of the remote control capacities of the webserver.


labium

[edek]

Received the Somfy RS485 RTS Interface no 1810803, Labium and myself are trying to get this thing to work for about 2 or 3 weeks now. Getting it to work using a "dry switch" is no problem, I can pair a sunscreen with the interface and control it with my dry switch (ie: just 3 wires, holding 2 together).
The problem is the RS485 interface, this is not very well documented, at least the manual is not enough.
First of all we ordered two different types of USB to serial RS485 converters, don't know exactly which model Labium is using, but I think we are both using one with a FTDI chip on it.
Roelandschap however states that they are using a "Hexin HXSP-2108F: USB naar RS 485 converter", he guarantees this one will work. The problem is obtaining one of these interfaces, you have to order in the US, and it will be shipped from Hong Kong. Labium ordered two pieces, we're waiting for that.
We both can't get it to work with our FTDI RS485 interfaces, there are no indicating LED's on the Somfy device, so you can't even check if your communication reaches the Somfy device. The RS485 commandset is briefly explained in the manual, we tried almost every combination, no response from the Somfy device. Before you can control screens you have to pair with a screen of course, and the manual only remark about that is that "Send by the RS485 control, the corresponding RTS frame on the desired channel". No information on the content of this frame however.
Reclamation with Somfy on the poor documentation didn't help, they tell us to contact Roelandschap, because they can't deal with every home automation system in the world. I tried explaining them that this is not a problem tied to a home automation system, but simply controlling their RTS interface with a terminal emulator at firts, to see if it works. Their RS485 protocol is the problem, documentation is not clear on this; also if you can't control it with every standard RS485 interface and you have buy a specific one, i doubt if it's following standards. The Somfy rep in the Netherlands contacted Roelandschap for me, and they are now trying to help us out (small company, they were abroad and didn't have time to answer us directly, that's solved now).
So that's the status at this moment, very frustrating, we both bought a 500 euro device and can't do anything with it yet. We did manage to get a manual on the Somfy RS485 protocol last week, but we have to wait for the RS485 interface to test it. Should arrive end of this week probably.
Will keep you posted.

[labium]

i wrote a complaint letter to the headoffice of somfy in france. Because of the lack of information on the web and the lack of support.


http://www.domoticaforum.eu/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=6252



labium

[labium]

complaining works, and the transmitter is working

the documents needed to create the coorect commands are to be viewed at

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=6252

labium