Decoding a 433 MHz energy monitor

Question

I am attempting to capture transmissions from my own energy monitor, a Watts Clever EW4009 for use with Home Assistant.

I believe it is an FSK signal, with 250 um packets.

I have captured several transmissions, and found the following variation between them:

0011 0011 00110 011 01000100 1101 1110 – 0 watts

0011 0011 00110 011 01000100 1101 1110 – 0 watts

0011 0101 00110 110 01000100 1110 0011 – 1335 watts

1110 0001 00110 101 01000100 1000 1110 – 1190 watts

1100 0001 00110 101 01000100 0110 1110 – 1134 watts

0000 1000 00110 100 01000100 1011 0100 – 813 watts

1100 0011 00110 100 01000100 0110 1111 – 693 watts

1101 0110 00110 100 01000100 1000 0010 – 726 watts

I think the transmission might have a different "watt" value, since the "watt" value displayed on the energy monitor base station depends on the base station settings for voltage etc.

Here is the full transmission (0 watts example): 101010101010101010101010001011011101010010001100011101001111100100010101001111101011001100110011001100110100010011011110010101010000000000000000

And a screenshot of the signal with the variation between them highlighted:

Update: My question is how can I decode the binary data to obtain the watt value above which is shown on the energy monitor? I have attempted to convert the watt value to binary, but it looks like the data is probably encrypted somehow

Answer 1

From what I have determined there is a serial TTL data stream on the RJ45 connector of the display. This when interfaced with a serial to USB convertor can be connected to a PC and the data displayed on a program which is supposed to be on the Watts Clever web site. This may be an easier way to go to get the data you are after once you work out the protocol which is more likely in ASCII and more readable.

Answer 2

Its fairly straightforward to get the EW4009 working in home assistant

1. To do so, you'll need the serial port working on ttyUSB0 on your home assistant
2. Create a python script EW4009.py, Save in your /config folder in Home Assistant

import serial
import time
import json

# Open serial port
ser = serial.Serial('/dev/ttyUSB0', 9600)

# Write hex characters
ser.write(bytearray.fromhex('AA 02 00 AD'))

# Wait for a response
time.sleep(1)

# Read response
response = ser.read(ser.inWaiting())


#CT Clamp 1
# Extract text between S02 and S03
starta = response.find(b'S02')
enda = response.find(b'S03')

#CT Clamp 2
# Extract text between S03 and S04
startb = response.find(b'S03')
endb = response.find(b'S04')

if starta != -1 and enda != -1:
    responsea = response[starta:enda]

if startb != -1 and endb != -1:
    responseb = response[startb:endb]

# Calculate the number from the 5th and 6th bytes
bytes_a = responsea[5:7]
bytes_b = responseb[5:7]

# Concatenate the bytes into a single string
output = bytes_a + bytes_b

# Convert the ASCII values to numeric values
ct_clamp1 = int(output[0])+256*int(output[1])
ct_clamp2 = int(output[2])+256*int(output[3])

#JSON Code to output format in JSON for multisensor
# Create a dictionary with the attributes
attributes = {
    'CTClamp1': ct_clamp1,
    'CTClamp2': ct_clamp2,
}

# Print the dictionary as a JSON object
print(json.dumps(attributes))

# Close serial port
ser.close()

3. in your configuration.yaml file in home assistant add this sensor:

   - platform: command_line
     name: Multisensor
     unique_id: 'Ew4009_2'
     command: 'python3 /config/EW4009.py'
     value_template: "{{ value }}"
     json_attributes:
       - CTClamp1
       - CTClamp2
     scan_interval: 30

template:

 - sensor:
        name: ew4009_ct_clamp1_power
        unique_id: 'clampct1'
        state_class: measurement
        icon: mdi:transmission-tower
        unit_of_measurement: W
        device_class: power
        state: >
            {{ state_attr('sensor.multisensor', 'CTClamp1'  ) | int }}

 - sensor:
        name: ew4009_ct_clamp2_power
        unique_id: 'clampct2'
        state_class: measurement
        icon: mdi:transmission-tower
        unit_of_measurement: W
        device_class: power
        state: >
            {{ state_attr('sensor.multisensor', 'CTClamp2'  ) | int }}

4. Restart home assistant

You need to make sure from a ssh terminal that the python code returns JSON data.

For example, executing:

python /config/EW4009.py returns {"CTClamp1":85, "CTClamp2": 150} where 85 and 150 are the power readings from your connected wireless CT clamps.

Good luck