433.92 Mhz garage gate opener

Hi all!

I'm working on a project that has to be mounted on my motorcycle, and in this project i wanted to include a clone of the gate opener, so I don't have to take off my gloves every time to open the pocket and search for the remote controller.

I searched a lot on this forum and on Google, but every discussion I found didn't provide a solution to this problem, so now I want to open this discussion to find a definitive solution to this problem.

So here is the problem: I have this remote controller (attachment) that as I read, should work on 433.93Mhz, transmitting a code to the gate's receiver. I have to intercept this code from the remote controller I have, but I don't know to do it.
Many discussions I read suggest to use a couple of RX TX wireless modules, but those discussions died there, as people said they couldn't read any signal using those modules.
What do I have to do?

Thank you guys!

Very hard to help here, as more information is needed.
Just having a transmitter on 433.92 Mhz isnt enough, as the type of receiver in the garage gate is needed.
Garage door openers frequently use rolling code transmitters for security, and if this is the case, then simply
recording the transmission wont help, as it changes every time you open the door.
If you can read the IC type in the transmitter , it may help determine what type it is.

I'm quite sure it doesn't use rolling code, because it's 20 years old. Also, we have many clones of this remote controllers, one of these coupled to the receiver using 9 3-state pins.

EDIT: photo attached

Daedalus1632:
What do I have to do?

hi Daedalus,

I've joined the thread as you requested, but as mauried has said, it's a bit difficult to give specific advice without more information. In particular: What have you already tried? Presumably you have already tried to read the code, so what setup (hardware and software) did you use, and what were the results?

I have done a similar thing for a gate entry system using an ATtiny85 and a cheap eBay 433MHz transmitter. I captured the key-fob output using a logic analyser (something like this but more expensive) and used it to work out the OOH timings and write them into an array to be used by the ATtiny85 to send.
I have attached the project folder that includes the schematic, sketch & logic grabs and hopefully you can make use of them.

Plipper.zip (108 KB)

Hi pico, thank you for joining!

Well, I got the idea yesterday when I realized I will have more free pins than I expected on my current project, so at the moment I don't have the necessary hardware. As I wrote to pico, the main question was whether this project was possible (now confirmed I think), and which hardware should I buy, that pico and now Riva seem to confirm to be a couple of RF transmitter and receiver.
My fear was waste 1/2 months waiting for something that doesn't work for my case, and then wait again til April/May to try again.
If you say this is the setup I need, I'll make the order =)

Thank you Riva for your attachment, I really appreciate it!
I have some questions:

  • in your code, you use a sequence of delays in ns:
    380,440,700,800,360,440,720,780,380,440,700,800,360,460,700,780,380,440,700,800,360,800,360,460,720,13000

is that he full sequence that the receiver needs to hear or is it repeated 3 times?
cause it's visible a sort of repetition
380,440,700,800,360,440,720,780,
380,440,700,800,360,460,700,780,
380,440,700,800,360,800,360,460,720
13000

but the last line, 130000 apart (that I think it's a pause), is different, why?

  • is it possible to obtain that sequence just using the receiver module?

Also, notice the first set of photos I attached: can that group of 5 pins be useful to the purpose?

Thank you guys!

Daedalus1632:
is that he full sequence that the receiver needs to hear or is it repeated 3 times?
cause it's visible a sort of repetition
380,440,700,800,360,440,720,780,
380,440,700,800,360,460,700,780,
380,440,700,800,360,800,360,460,720
13000
It is the full sequence. I have attached a grab of the logic output that shows the sequence then a long delay and the sequence repeating again. I could have maybe simplified the array to a binary list but the last section does something like a bit inversion so found it easier to just use the delay time array instead. Your plipper has two buttons so you may need to record both buttons and alter the hardware to playback the required sequence or if you only need the open command then use the same hardware as me.
As I only needed one command to open the gate (it closes automatically) I use the momentary switch to control power to the MCU and the sketch just repeats the TX sequence forever until power is removed. No need to worry about putting MCU into low power/sleep mode.

but the last line, 130000 apart (that I think it's a pause), is different, why?
End of sequence. Must be the remote code/design that it looks like the same sequence 3 times (apart from the inversion in the last section)

  • is it possible to obtain that sequence just using the receiver module?
    It probably is, though you would need to capture & decode the sequence using a sketch or logic analyser. Maybe this would help though the project was abandoned due to lack of help in doing the Processing code (and me getting a hardware device) :D.

Also, notice the first set of photos I attached: can that group of 5 pins be useful to the purpose?
Don't know. I would either analyse the receiver output or figure out what pin on the fob PIC chip sends the OOK sequence to the radio transmitter.

It has 2 buttons since it's a condominium with enter and exit gates, so I just have to repeat the operation =)

What should I do if I want to try to read from one of those pins?

Riva:
... the project was abandoned due to lack of help in doing the Processing code ...
well, I don't know Processing, just heard about, but I'm not bad at programming so if you want to explain me what was exactly that project, and what had to be done, I can consider picking it up :smiley:
if it's a matter of representing the data, I can do it easily with C# that I have a lot of experience with, just tell me where and how to gather these data

... (and me getting a hardware device)
can you show me the exact hardware you used? so I can evaluate it (and if it costs too much it's a point to Processing XD)

anyway, will this or this be correct purchases?

The logic analyser I bought first (now have 2) and used for this project is this though the much cheaper second device I have would do the job equally as well.
The hardware needed to use the processing version is simply an Arduino UNO and a receiver output connected to it's pin 2. You may also be interested in this thread where someone has worked on a more fully featured version compatible with pre-written SUMP software.

I cannot be sure what TX/RX module may be suitable for your setup but for mine the cheaper one is what I used.

I have been thinking about 2 button systems and you could still do it the same way as me but using a 3 position momentary rocker switch and a slight sketch change. Basically you rock the switch one way and it supplies power only (1 signal). Rock it the other way and it supplies power and pulls a spare input pin high (2 signal). The sketch would check if pin is high/low and send relevant signal.

Ok, then for now I'll order the RD modules, then when I have them I'll try to intercept the signal with the application shown in the thread you showed.

Just one more thing: since the gate's been recently fixed, my father wants to convert that old black plipper (I learnt a new word today :D) to work with the new gate's receiver, and he said that he just has to go the hardware store where they can read the transmitter code. Now I don't know which kind of code they read, since it can be used to set up those pins, but I'll ask them this Monday.

I'll post eventual updates! =)
Guys, thank you for now!

Daedalus1632:
Just one more thing: since the gate's been recently fixed, my father wants to convert that old black plipper (I learnt a new word today :D) to work with the new gate's receiver, and he said that he just has to go the hardware store where they can read the transmitter code.

A lot of these types of devices use DIP switches to select the transmit/receive code so gate entry can be changed should the plipper be lost. or replacement extra plippers can be programmed to a receiver.
I suspect the 5 pins in the image you initially posted are probably to re-program the PIC chip as the thing does not have DIP switches.

I think that too, and I was wondering if since you can write by there, you can also read the code

Daedalus1632:
I think that too, and I was wondering if since (if) you can write by there, you can also read the code

Maybe/maybe not. most all PIC chips have protection bits that prevent the code being read back if they are turned on.

Hey there!
I've been quite busy these months but now I'm picking this project up again.

Got the 433 MHz TX and RX modules, now I need a way to intercept/read the remote's signals in order to reproduce em via the TX module.

It seems the logic analyzer is mandatory, so I think I'm gonna buy something like this one. Will it do the job?

I'm sorry but I have to ask a couple more things: is there any other material I'll need in addition to TX RX 433Mhz modules, Logic Analyzer and Arduino?

How do I use the analyzer to read the signal emitted from the remote?

Thank you guys, you're awesome!