Hack an 433 MHz RF Wireless LED Controller.

An inexpensive RF wireless LED controller is easily adaptable to a controller for Arduino projects.

I opened it and found out what was the signal pin.

From the signal pin is a connection to the input pin of the arduino.

That was really all.

I removed the MOSFET and the processor from the PCB, because I did not need them.

The current at 5 volts went from 4,15 mA back to 3,63 mA which I also measure with another type of 433 Mhz receiver.

This remote control has 11 buttons and outputs 12 different codes.

The SPEED - and SPEED + buttons together give the 12th code.

Several remote controls of the same type produce different series of code.

See the photos and test with the ReceiveDemo_Simple.ino for more clarity.

Step 1:

Comments

[maurizio.butti]

This is based on a different model but might be of interest:
https://ydiaeresis.wordpress.com/2020/04/18/reverse-engineering-a-led-strip-rf-remote-controller/

[MarcR46]

Hey Jan
You still on here? I've gotten to the stage where I'm ready to make a custom controller for the lights in my cabin. I haven't done the chandelier yet, but I've put addressable LEDs in channels on my ceiling and with the exception of different mapping it's the same idea. This is what things look like right now https://imgur.com/gallery/ZtoOyNk

Can I pick your brain a bit?

[Jan5412]

Marc,

I don't see which LEDs you use, but I would divide the
lighting into a number of pieces and control them in parallel so that a simple
processor can handle it.
To program the whole thing, you can get inspiration from the
makers of a LED cube 8 * 8 * 8 and 16 * 16 * 16 with neon pixels and / or RGB
LEDs that can be found on the internet. Then you could make your own patterns,
the ability to control via audio and remote control.
The cubes have it all.

Kind regards,
Jan

[choucroutemelba]

Hello Jan5412
I found a 6mA consumption (4,5V without LED)
Since I want to use this controler on a battery, this consumption is much to high and I want to understand where this consumption comes from (decoder, regulator, µc, ...).
Where did you find the receiver reference (WL500P) I have no parking on it ? I don't know this chip and it's hard to find the datasheet.

[choucroutemelba]

Thanks Jan5412 for your feedback
I found out that WL500P has several equivalence incl.the RF83C from HOPE. You can the datasheet on google.
I discovered that you can put the receiver in sleep mode by pulling the VSHUT (pin 7) to low. This will drop the consumption du 0,9µA.
My assumption is that the µ doesn't have the polling operation needed to be able to manage the sleep mode.
I'll check the hardware if there is a link between pin 7 and µ.

Why did you use the arduino and not simply change for a known PIC with new code ?

[Jan5412]

choucroutemelba,
I needed an RF controller for an Arduino project. The used module was sufficient and was cheap.
I had the option to purchase a separate receiver or to use the corresponding receiver.
That is why I only use the receiver part.
Jan.

[Jan5412]

choucroutemelba,

I did not find the data sheet from WL500P either, but from ZY500.
http://www.pingjia-ic.com/uploadfiles/file/2017419...
Is in Chinese but Google translate is your friend.
I think this ic is similar and is used in cheap receiver modules.
According to the datasheet it uses 3,5 mA at 433 Mhz and 5 volts.
In the instructables you can see that I have removed the processor and the mosfet.
The consumption is then 3.63 mA, so it cannot get much less and is about the same as a cheap module.
The receiver comes with the remote control, so why would you buy a receiver module if it can also be used, I thought, and that is why I have adapted it to use with an Arduino.

The processor on the board has no code imprint so unknown.
I suspect that it is a simple PIC with a decoding program, which is now taken over by the Arduino.

Jan.

[choucroutemelba]

By the way do you get the reference of the transmitter chip (on my chip there is no marking) ?

[Jan5412]

choucroutemelba,

The processor on the board has no code imprint so unknown.
I suspect that it is a simple PIC with a decoding program.

Jan.

[Emirikol]

Can you post the code for each button? I do not have any Arduino to control it just a attiny si no serial monitor to debug :(

[Jan5412]

Hello SantiagoR68,
I have added a list of the codes.
From the illustrated RF transmitter I have two who both give other codes, in the list the number 1 and 2.
Hopefully one of the two is equal to yours, success.
The 3rd series is from a transmitter with 20 keys.
Basically you can use any RF transmitter, but you'll be able to read the codes in some way because there are so many.
Best regards,
Jan

[MarcR46]

Thanks Jan. I'm building a bunkie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FGE3AJgptA), and I'm planning on a programmable LED chandelier. I'm not at the phase where I need to build it now, but I will be in a few months. I'll be happy to bug you then.

[Jan5412]

Marc

That is Ok, I also want to think along with you, what demands you put on the chandelier.

Jan

[MarcR46]

Any advice on hacking the preset sequences that are in the controller. This controller + remote has all the functionality I need for an LED project, I just need to be able to generate and load arbitrary sequences into whatever memory chip is on there. If you don't have any time just giving me a serial number I can use for further searching would help. Thanks for your time.

Sincerely Marc

[Jan5412]

Marc,
If I understand correctly you want to change the code in the processor.
As I had indicated, the processor had no type of imprint.
It is therefore almost impossible to program it or expand it with a memory chip.
You could replace it with a known type (eg PIC 10F204) that meets your requirements and programs it according to your own wishes.
The easiest way is to have an arduino mini pro. This has many possibilities and is relatively easy to program and there is already a lot of software for this. The arduino receives the input from the WL500P and controls the mosfet.
If I can help let me know.
Jan.