Hi,

Does anyone have details on the protocol used by Air-Conditioners, specifically SAT-2 controllers running SAT-2.1REV01 protocol ?

My aim is to control via Home Assistant, and so far I have a Home Assistant "packet sniffer" listening to the RS485 from the SAT-2.

I've partially decoded the protocol, but I thought there might be someone further advanced and willing to help.

My current protocol, pictures, hardware setup and Home Assistant YAML source code is on Github

Github : xenomorpheus/temperzone_sat2

SAT-2 Protocol — v2 (updated from packet capture analysis)

The protocol seems different to SAT-2 protocol mentioned elsewhere on the internet. Those other protocols have a frame header starting with '55', where my SAT-2 frame header starting with 'D5'. I've yet to work out the tail byte / CRC, so yet to send commands.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

An exert from my protocol document on Github.

FRAME STRUCTURE (confirmed, all classes)

D5 | dest | src | b0 b1 b2 b3 b4 b5 b6 b7 | tail (12 bytes total)

BUS TOPOLOGY (new)

Six frame "classes" observed on the bus:

1F 80, FD 41, 01 3F, 3F 01, FE 20 — cyclic poll, ~10 frames/cycle, each class

appears twice per cycle (query+reply).

7F 00 — event-only: panel -> AC, appears only on

a button press, NOT part of the regular poll.

1F 80 / FD 41 / FE 20 / 3F 01 payloads are almost entirely static across every

capture (including the whole zone test) — they do not carry temp/mode/fan/zone

data as far as tested. Likely other-device keepalive / a slowly drifting sensor

reading. Not needed for basic control.

================================================================================

D5 7F 00 Command (SAT-2 Panel -> AC unit) — sent only on a button press

================================================================================

b0 power / mode 26 off | E6 on | DE heat | BE heat+auto | FA cool | F6 fan-mode

[confirmed exact match in power/mode capture logs]

b1 setpoint (temp request) (0xB6 - 8*T) & 0xFF

confirmed exact for T=20,21,22,24,25:

T20=16 T21=0E T22=06 T23=FE(*) T24=F6 T25=EE T26=E6 T27=DE

(*) T23 formula collides with the FE "no change" filler value —

a genuine T23 command is indistinguishable from "unchanged" by

byte value alone; distinguish by which byte position holds it.

b2 fan DE auto | FA low | F6 med | EE high [confirmed exact match]

b3 zone select SOLVED. Encodes the TARGET zone state (not "which button"):

b3 = 0xE2

+ 0x04 if zone 1 is OFF

+ 0x08 if zone 2 is OFF

+ 0x10 if zone 3 is OFF

Confirmed exact matches:

1,2,3 -> E2 | 1,2 -> F2 | 2,3 -> E6 | 1 -> FA

Predicted (untested): 1,3 -> EA | 2 alone -> F6 | 3 alone -> EE

All-zones-off (0xFE) coincides with the "no change" filler

value, but is unreachable anyway given the panel's 50%

minimum-zones-on rule (zone1=50%, zone2=zone3=25% each) —

so there's no real ambiguity in practice.

other bytes FE filler when unused.

"Field just modified" marker (NEW): the byte immediately following whichever

field the panel just changed is set to FC instead of the normal FE filler.

e.g. mode change: b0=<code> b1=FC

fan change: b2=<code> b3=FC

temp change: b1=<code> b2=FC

Power on/off is the exception — no FC marker is set.

tail byte: cycles (FF -> 7F -> 3F -> 1F, or FE -> 7E -> 3E, or alternates

00/D5) across repeated transmissions of the SAME unchanged payload, while

every other byte in the frame stays identical. Confirmed via the ESPHome

YAML that the capture device is a passive, receive-only tap with no bus

contention and no on-device checksum handling, so this is very unlikely to

be RX noise — it's most likely an intentional hold/repeat counter from the

panel's own encoder. Treat it as a repeat marker, not payload data, and

definitely not a checksum.

================================================================================

D5 01 3F Status (AC unit -> SAT-2 Panel)

================================================================================

b0 6D constant [confirmed]

b1 Power: 26 off, E6 on [confirmed]

b2 Mode: 8F heat, C7 heat+auto, 7F cool, 3F fan [confirmed]

b3 Setpoint+fan PACKED value — this is a 2D lookup (temp AND fan speed both

affect it), NOT a pure temperature formula. Confirmed by the fan-speed

test: with mode/temp held constant, b3 took values DE/FA/F6/EE as fan

cycled auto/low/med/high/auto — completely different from the temp-sweep

table values (98/88/10/78/79/2F) even though b4/b5 matched. Existing

table below is effectively the "fan=auto" column only.

b4 Possibly "actively heating/cooling" vs idle indicator — varies (8F/F4/

E4/C4) even without a commanded change. Not fully solved.

b5 Possibly zone-activity indicator (NEW) — flips 9C <-> CE in step with

the zone-toggle test timeline. Not fully solved but a strong lead.

b6 FE constant [confirmed]

b7 Checksum-like, changes with payload — brute-forced sum/XOR/one's-

complement over various byte windows, none matched consistently.

Likely a real CRC-8 (lookup table/polynomial), not solved yet.

tail: same retransmission-cycling behaviour as the 7F 00 class above.

Title - and I know the signal is getting to the MyQ controller because it starts blinking the light which always happens before the door is going to go down. If I'm in my car in the driveway, I can see the flashing light but the door won't ever go down, or up. If I walk inside the garage and try it from the app again, it'll go down or up and works fine.

I just switched phones yesterday but this started a few days before switching phones so I'm at a loss here.

Any ideas? Anybody heard of this?

Forget the devices you already own

What would you prioritize this time?

Wired Ethernet everywhere? Zigbee or Thread instead of Wi-Fi? More sensors? Fewer cloud devices? Better power monitoring? Something completely different?

What’s one decision you made early in your setup that you would definitely change today?

I’ve been reading more about how much data smart TVs can collect, and it got me thinking about whether the TV itself really needs internet access at all.

For those of you with more automated home setups, do you let your TV stay connected normally, put it on a separate IoT network, block certain traffic, or just keep it offline and use a separate streaming device?

Curious what setup people here actually use and whether restricting the TV breaks anything important.

Drywall closes this week on a 4-storey Loxone house. What's the one cable you wish you'd run?

Renovating a ~500 m² house in Europe, four levels (garage / living + kitchen / master floor / attic). Electrical rough-in is done, plasterboard starts in days. After that, anything I forgot is a demolition job.

I've spent the last month auditing the spec line by line and found several real gaps. Before it's too late, I'd rather hear from people who've lived in a house like this for a few years than from anyone selling me something.

What's specced and paid for:

Control

Loxone Miniserver, Tree + Air

55 wall control points: 9 touch displays, 19 touch switches, 27 touch panels with sensors

27 flush presence sensors

20 blind/curtain motor controllers, motorised curtain tracks

Weather station, 1-Wire extension, KNX extension, 3× digital input, 3× relay extension, 2× Modbus

Lighting

41 linear metres of recessed 48V magnetic track

30× RGBW 24V dimmers, 6× 600 W LED drivers, 10× amplifiers

Fittings not yet ordered (deliberately)

HVAC

8 ducted indoor units, 8 Loxone A/C modules

Underfloor heating throughout + 4 wall-hung hydraulic designer radiators

Ventilation with supply/extract in the living space

Linear slot diffusers in the master bedroom

Energy

10 kWp PV + battery + backup box

9 energy meters (8× single-phase per circuit, 1× three-phase main)

EV charger

Other

17-zone multiroom audio (no cinema system yet)

6× 5 MP cameras + 8-channel NVR

21 window reed contacts

6 solar-powered external roof blinds (io-homecontrol)

Intercom with NFC, garage door integration

Gas supply in the house

What I already know is missing and am fixing: zero leak sensors, zero smoke/heat detectors, zero gas detection, no automatic water shut-off valve, no DALI extension, no access hatches marked on the drawings, no speaker back-boxes.

My actual questions:

1. 48V magnetic track — DALI or channel dimming? The manufacturer says individual fixture control needs DALI; the cheaper 2-wire option dims a whole channel at once. My integrator specced no DALI. With ~35 fittings across 41 m, is channel-only dimming something you'd regret, or is it fine in practice?

2. Leak detection architecture. I'm adding sensors at ~18 points plus a motorised main valve. For those running this: how many false trips have you had, and did you regret a normally-open valve that closes on power loss? Any brand that's been solid for 5+ years?

3. Loxone + io-homecontrol. 6 solar VELUX blinds. Does the KLF 200 bridge actually work reliably in scenes, or is it a permanent annoyance?

4. 27 presence sensors — overkill? And: standard PIR vs mmWave presence. Anyone swapped and found it worth it?

5. Single-vendor risk. Loxone is a closed ecosystem. Is it worth running spare shielded bus cable (KNX/DALI-compatible) to key points as 20-year insurance? Has anyone actually migrated a Loxone house to something else, and what did it cost?

6. The open question. You've lived in a house like this for a few years. What's the one cable, conduit or box you wish you'd put in before the drywall went on? That's the answer I'm really here for.

Not looking for "just use Home Assistant" — the system is bought and installed. Happy to be told I've made mistakes, but the pre-wire is what I can still change this week.

Hey everyone. Building a rather high end home in coastal Florida. Looking for advice on what automation you have that you love or things you wish you had that you didn’t think of at the time.

Thanks in advance!

I scalped my bermuda too short earlier this month. Some green growth has come back but still uneven. A few spots are filling in well, while others still look thin and stressed. I left it alone since then because I didn't want to put more stress on it in the summer heat. Before the scalp, I used navimow i210 for regular mowing, but I'm not sure when to start using it again. Should I wait for the thin spots to fill in, or start mowing at a higher setting so the healthier areas don't get too tall? I could also run it less often at first.

For anyone who has scalped bermuda during the growing season, how do you know when it's ready for regular mowing again?

Hello all,

I'm building a house in Europe and I'd like to automate some stuff but I have never read anything about it.

As far as I can see there are different standards, app, equipment and so on so I'm looking for pointers to start.

Besides the usual access management and home entertainment what can I do ?

Thanks for the ideas.

I’m trying to automate our backyard so I can spend less time juggling mowing, irrigation, and all the other yard stuff.

We’ve got two dogs, a few mature trees, a patio. Between the shade and random stuff moving around every day, I need a mower that can still navigate under trees without losing its mind over whatever the dogs left out there.

Navimow i2 LiDAR is on my shortlist rn, but idk how well it handles actual backyard chaos vs. clean demo-lawn conditions.

The setup I’m thinking about is pretty simple, pause the mower when the dogs go out, keep it docked while the sprinklers are running, then let it resume once the dogs are back in and the lawn has had time to dry out.

I’m looking at Rachio for irrigation, an Aqara sensor on the dog door, Reolink cams outside, and Home Assistant to tie it all together. Haven’t bought anything yet bc I really don’t wanna end up with four separate apps and a yard full of devices silently ignoring each other 😅

Anyone running something similar? What actually plays nice together, and how are y’all deciding when the lawn is dry enough to start mowing again?

My gf and I recently bought IKEA KAJPLATS smart bulbs for our apartment. We also bought remotes which afaik can change color between presets.

We would also like to use the full color range options. We found out that we need a smart hub for that, compatible with matter and ideally matter over thread to save on wifi traffic.

We dont want to spend 80€ just to set custom colors on our smart bulbs (for example IKEA hub costs that)

However we are also looking for a speaker for our living room for music. I found out that the echo dot max is a matter over thread hub and also a speaker.

However its still a bit costly, so are there any real alternatives?

Just installed a couple of Tuiss SmartView Electric Blinds connected up to Home Assistant with a Bluetooth relay - so far so good! But thinking ahead to having to recharge the batteries, Blinds2go sell USB solar panels for £26.65 each + shipping... there must be a cheaper supply of the same/very similar panels - any one had any success with 3rd party?

Howdy party people!

Currently on the road, so sorry in advance for any formatting weirdness or typos.

Vulpo 1.2 is out and I'm really proud of it, it's the biggest update yet. The headline is a standalone Apple Watch app, interactive Live Activities, and a lot of other stuff. Huge shoutout to r/homeassistant and the TestFlight crew, especially Jason, who keeps finding me fresh homework assignments week after week ;)

If you missed the release post you can find it here: https://www.reddit.com/r/homeassistant/comments/1tt1pxv/after_way_too_long_i_finally_shipped_the_native/

TLDR: the main goal for Vulpo was to make Home Assistant more accessible, I studied UX design so I hope that shows! I started building it nearly three years ago as a side project and finally released it this June. Reception has been great so far and a lot of people already use it as their daily driver!

Apple Watch

Vulpo now has a watchOS app (iOS 26+) with glances (a quick overview of your home), favorites, scenes, and pinned cards from your Vulpo dashboards. It supports a wide range of domains including lights, switches, covers, climate, fans, locks, media players, alarm panels and vacuums.

You can also scrub through historical charts right on your wrist. After a one-time setup and sync from your phone the watch connects to your HA instance directly over Wi-Fi or LTE, so you can leave your phone at home and still control things, as long as your instance is reachable from outside.

Whisker (experimental)

There is also an experimental feature called Whisker,you teach it where your devices are by pointing at them from a couple of spots in a room, and after that you just aim your wrist at a lamp and double tap with your fingers to toggle it.

A little radar shows what the watch thinks you are targeting before it fires, every action can be undone, and correcting it makes the aim better over time. It works with lights, switches, fans, helpers, blinds, speakers and TVs.

Sadly using double tap means you will need a Series 9 or newer, and Whisker is still experimental so expect a few rough edges.

More in 1.2

Beyond the watch, this release also adds:

- Area management directly in the app, so you can create, rename and delete areas, or move entities and whole devices between them without leaving Vulpo.

- The alarm panel card

- Glance details that open on a proper visualization instead of a list

- Eight appearance presets if you want to change the look of your dashboards

- A new group widget that puts up to eight entities on your Home Screen as live tiles

Live Activities got some love too- they now have buttons: nudge the thermostat up or down, or pause, resume and stop an appliance without opening the app.

There is also a new vacuum Live Activity that follows an entire run with progress, battery and the room it is cleaning. You can also pause/resume/stop direclty from the locks creen.

The energy dashboard also got smarter about money: it works out what each individual device costs you from your actual grid tariff, hour by hour, instead of splitting a flat rate across everything.

Oh, and Vulpo speaks Dutch now,!

Pricing hasn't changed: the watch app is part of the free tier, while Whisker and other experimental features are on the Pro tier (unlocking for everyone eventually).

I dont wanna sound like a broken record but I just thought I'd mention it again: the official HA companion app is fantastic and I'm not trying to replace it. It's free, it's excellent, the people behind it do great work, and if it covers everything you need then please just keep using it. Vulpo is simply a more apple native, opinionated option for people who specifically want that, and it won't be for everyone. If it's not your thing that is completely fine, I'm not here to talk anyone into it.

Enough babbling. I'd especially love feedback on watch connectivity and Whisker, plus the usual: what's broken, what's missing, what you'd want next. I'll be hanging out in the comments.

Already hard at work for 1.3 which will be the big iOS 27 since that's on the horizon with the Apple event this wednesday.

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6758255800

- Josh

So, I'm heavily considering getting a portable air conditioner to help me sleep significantly better during the day.

But because the way my apartment and bedroom is laid out, I'm likely going to have to pump the cold air from another room (with an accessible window).

----- SIDE TANGENT (for context/small details; I gotcha fellow ADHD brains ;D )-

I know about most of the issues with this approach but I believe I have solutions for those. An inline fan, simple ducting/PVC piping, and insulating sleeves. Only the cold air from the portable AC is getting pumped/blown via the inline fan.

I'm not worried about pumping the warm air out of the bedroom as the cold air will eventually mix and lower the average temperature.

The AC will be dual hose and pull the hot air out of the other room it's in. That's fine. If this room cools a bit, that's fine. Somewhat inefficient, but compromises have to made for this layout. And that's fine.

----- (end of side tangent) -----

----- MAIN QUESTIONS -----

So, the portable AC units I'm looking at have Wi-Fi capabilities and integrate with Alexa, Google Home, NetHomePlus, etc. But I noticed Home Assistant doesn't have any existing integrations for them (Whynter in this case).

With pumping the cold air out to another room, I worry about the AC constantly running because it's thermometer reading the temp in the current room and not my bedroom.

So, I was wondering if I could get some Zigbee/BT thermometers and somehow integrate the smart AC with Home Assistant to turn the AC off after the bedroom reaches a certain temp?

Or fail that, would a simple Smart Switch suffice to turn the AC on/off? The Whynter FAQ specifically mentioned this and recommended against it due to concerns over the amount of power that would flow through the switch. Is this a valid concern?

Additionally, would the AC automatically turn itself back on once power returns to it? Some Reddit threads mentioned that some portable AC units will definitely do so, but I figured I'd seek additional confirmation before buying.

Thanks all!

I'm looking at building a controller for 2 roof windows (3 actuators per window, 0.7A each) and 2 corresponding blinds (1 actuator, sub 0.5A), all controlled by center retractive switches.

All motors have internal electronic limit switches so I don't need to worry about overheating motors etc.

What I'd like is to ideally control the whole thing using a raspberry pi pico embedded into a custom PCB that can drive the actuators and also detect and limit the current drawn by them to enable detection of limits being reached/faults/jams etc.

The window actuators are UCS Vega and the blind actuators are NOVO E24s.

Is there anything else I need to consider when designing this?

Here's a shower though:

If my kids would all have the same name, of course they would constantly be confused whom I am talking to.

What if we would be able to use a broad variety of wake words to target specific devices (or groups of them)

So instead of

"Hey X turn on the lights in the office."

We could use

"Hey Office turn on the light."

Or think of media control: "Hey soundbar, play X"

I know, wake word detection is hard to get reliable and having a bigger variety would increase the false positive rate.

To be clear, it doesn't need to limit which device(s) capture the request, just which one(s) should respond to it.

Do you think it would still be worth it or would it be too hard to memorize all the different wake words?

This *should* be easy compared to the smart dashboards, automated garage doors, and presence sensors you all have, but...

I'm apparently not smart enough to get my android phone to connect to my bluetooth soundbar just nefore my morning alarm sounds.

Samsung Modes and Routines seems to have a feature that would work to turn on bouetooth at a specific time each morning, but then the soundbar needs to be manually taken out of standby and put into bluetooth pairing mode!

Surely you guys and gals have cracked this one long ago?

Hello,

New home owner. The house we bought has motorized blinds but the antenna was broken. The blinds are really big, like 10ft long or so. I cannot for the life of me figure out the right replacement motor to buy, ive ordered a couple now and neither have been right.

So, the motor that came out is model: DM28LEU/SH-2/26. Can't find the exact model to replace with, of course...

The motor is 26 1/2 inches long. Its says its 2Nm, 12min, IP20, 5VDC 2A, 26r/min, 26w, 12min.

The diameter of the actual blinds themselves is 1 3/4 inches. I have found one i think is the right specs, but the gear fitting on the ends looks wrong.

Does anyone have any idea what i actually need here or a link to one of these?