Ceiling Fan RF Remote Compatibilty

A couple of years ago, I bought some ceiling fan RF remote controls from Mal-Wart for $25 each. I have three fans, but they only had two controls, so that's all I got. Those two are installed and working well, and I would like to find another that would be compatible, even if it were a different brand name, so I could use the same software/transmitter to control it as well as the others.

The brand name of the ones I have is Mainstays. The FCC registration number is M8CRL202; can't link directly to the search results page, but here is the search page where that number can be searched:

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you can find frequency, photos, block diagram, etc.

So, how can I find another control that will be compatible?

Reply to
Just Another Joe
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Unless someone else has one with a different brand name but same FCC ID, it will be next to impossible. Perhaps you can contact the manufacturer and they can tell you where to find one.

OTOH, building your own is not entirely beyond the realm of possibility. The only thing not shown on the schematic is the value of the oscillator resistor and you can get that from one of your remotes. They use a Holtec encoder chip and 315.54MHz. The Holtec chip is well documented and small

315MHz SAW controlled transmitter modules are readily available.

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Reply to
Dave Houston

Hi Dave. Yes, I hope to build the transmitter portion to allow the Ocelot to control the fans. Right now, the Ocelot can do so by sending IR to the hand-held remote control, using a small interface that Guy designed. But I hope to use one of those small transmitter modules to free up the hand-held remote.

What I am really in need of, is the receiver which goes in the fan housing and controls the fan/lights. There are, of course, many different ones available, but I would like to get one compatible with the ones I already have, so they can all be (individually) controlled by the same transmitter/protocol.

In searching the web, I've seen other ones which /look/ identical, but not for sale in N. America. I haven't had any luck with the manufacturer, either. If I can't find one that is compatible, perhaps I will at least be able to find another one that uses the same frequency, so that the same transmitter can be used, even if it means an additional protocol.

Reply to
Just Another Joe

Just get a 315MHz transmitter module and send it the IR signal. It will work just fine without any type of adapter. The superregenerative receiver used in the fans cannot switch on/off at the 38-40kHz rate of the IR so it will just output the baseband signal as if it had been transmitted that way which may even be the case if the transmitter switching rate is also low. Transmitter data rates tend to be less than 10Kbps.

From your first post, it seemed that you had 3 identical fans but were just missing the remote for one. Is there a receiver in the third fan?

This is the first one I've encountered that uses 315MHz so I would not be very optimistic. But, again, they use a Holtek decoder chip with the receiver so if you can find a receiver unit that fits in the housing and has the same number of speed settings you can probably modify it to work with your remotes and even replace the RF section with a receiver module.

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Reply to
Dave Houston

Look at the datasheet for whatever transmitter you choose. It should have data rates for ASK and OOK modulation. This application uses OOK. Here's the datasheet for one such transmitter.

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the OOK data rate is 2.4Kbps which is far below the 38kHz IR signal. The transmitter will operate exactly the same whether you drive it with a baseband (unmodulated) signal or with the IR signal.

Philips Pronto double modulates its RF signal, sending bursts of 418 or 434 MHz RF modulated at 38kHz and the uses an Atmel U-2538B chip in the receiver. This means the receiver will ignore any RF that is not modulated at 38kHz. This requires a fairly sophisticated receiver. The superregenerative receivers used in the fans will not respond fast enough to even see the 38kHz and will respond in the same way as if the RF was only modulated by the baseband data signal.

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Reply to
Dave Houston

Good. I am putting together a parts list for a large(ish) order from Mouser, but as you know they don't have the transmitter in 315MHz version, so I'm going to have to get that elsewhere. Unfortunately, digikey.ca also doesn't have it in that form factor, so it means more than one order to have to deal with customs and so on.

That could have been made more clear. The units I got at Mal-Wart included the hand-held remote control, as well as the receiver module which (just) fits within the fan cowling and connects to the fan/lights. For $25CDN, that's a pretty good deal.

Reply to
Just Another Joe

You can get them from Laipac in Canada. They have a $US25 minimum order but they also have the RF receivers so they may be your best source. Here's a direct link to Laipac...

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Get the RLP receivers (tunable) and TLP-A transmitter.

You can get the 4-pin or and older 6-pin model from several sources. All the sources I know of for the Wenshing designs are listed on this web page.

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You can find other small transmitters at Abacom (Canada) but I think they only have one model that is 315MHz and it's a bit pricey.

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Reply to
Dave Houston

Is your receiver like any of the ones manufactured by Rhine Electronics? Your remote, if it looks like the photo in the FCC file, doesn't resemble any of Rhines.

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Reply to
Dave Houston

The photo in the FCC file is accurate--that is what the hand-held remote looks like, and you are correct, none of those in the handheld.htm link above resemble it.

In the bottom link above (receiver.htm), the four units at the bottom of the page (the rectangular ones) look very much like my receivers, but am working from memory, so can't say confidently that they are identical.

Does that information help?

Reply to
Just Another Joe

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Yes, the Abacom one is expensive!

The Laipac ones look good, but I couldn't find any prices on the site, nor any way to order on-line. Guess one needs to contact them.

Reply to
Just Another Joe

Click "How To Order" on the upper right.

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Reply to
Dave Houston

Perhaps. I have a retrofit Hampton Bay remote and receiver that I bought from Lowes (I think). It uses the same type of code as yours and the RF section of the receiver is a separate module which it might be possible to replace in order to change the frequency. But I haven't a clue as to whether the electrical part that interfaces with the motor is similar.

The remote is the UC7078TX model (303.875MHz) on the Rhine site.

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Reply to
Dave Houston

Hampton Bay was most likely purchased at Home Depot.

sdb

Reply to
sylvan butler

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