Curtains/blinds motors. Part 2

[Jethro_uk]

So having discovered the first unit would not connect to the smart app and thence to Google, I ordered another (which was cheaper) on Friday

This came yesterday (from China ???)

Identical casing, but no battery or solar panel. This needs a permanent

12V PSU.

Have no idea how I got it into pairing mode - a series of pressing the "set" button. The LED blinks red, not blue. But it paired immediately and showed up in my Tuya Smart app, and thence Google Home.

After some limits fiddling, it works *almost* fine. The only snag being that Google seems to think it's reversed. So to open them it's "Hey Google, close the curtains".

I shall fix this by reversing the cords and not telling Google :)

But for <£40 (when some places will happily sell the same solution for £120) seems a win for d-i-y. And now SWMBO can work these curtains (since she can't get close enough to pull the cords).

These curtains are on the east side of the property. Which means when they are open on a bright day the sunlight does a damn good job of warming the room and thence the house.

I find myself wondering if opening them at sunrise could save 'leccy ?

[Andy Burns]

They sometimes keep stock in a UK warehouse, other times they air-freight over a bulk container containing the individual orders, then handover to royalmail for delivery ... reasonably organised these days, I've even had separate alixpress orders combined into a single royal mail grey plastic "envelope".

[Jethro_uk]

For the price and speed, it's practically throwaway !

I am sorely tempted to buy 2 more now. They won't be needed yet, but given the POC works.

The only - not insurmountable - niggle is needing a permanent power supply. The non-wifi one with a battery and solar charger* is a neat idea.

*The community are rather dismissive of this. It's about 4cmx15cm. Sticks on the window. Should pick up enough milliamps over 12+ hours to keep the battery happy ?

[Jethro_uk]

When the wifi was stable, the "reverse motor" slider worked. This was the secret sauce to flip the open/closed status in google.

Now "open curtains" does that :)