FOSSPicks
Data receiver
rtl_433
Hundreds of small embedded devices receive small chunks of data transmitted at 433.92MHz from a sensor somewhere. Weather sensors commonly send data to a receiver located somewhere dry and warm, whereas different home automation systems can use the data from a variety of different temperature sensors to do things like stop pipes from freezing, warm a house before you get home, or open the gates as your car approaches. Home automation is one of the biggest consumers of this kind of technology, but every vendor seems to implement its own set of protocols for its own set of hardware, making it very difficult for those of us trying to implement an open source system that may integrate some of their kit.
Thanks to much of this hardware being built around the Realtek RTL2832 receiver chip, a chip that can also be found in many common USB DVB digital television receiver dongles, all that was needed to turn those proprietary dongles into open source data sources was an open source implementation of their driver protocols. This is exactly what rtl_433 does. It supports nearly 100 separate devices, from car key fobs to oil tank level monitors, and grabs the data those devices are broadcasting. With a simple rtl_433
command, that data can be output to your Linux command line and, from there, transformed into almost anything. With the Domoticz home automation system, for instance, you can very easily execute a read
command at set intervals and use this to update a virtual sensor within a home automation system, triggering an alarm, perhaps, or sending a new heating oil order. These small tools are the epitome of what's made Unix/Linux successful, and it's the best thing about open hardware in general.
Project Website
https://github.com/merbanan/rtl_433
![](/var/linux_magazin/storage/images/issues/2018/209/fosspicks/figc0ba6f2feb454a3976140ec8f89e7a97.png/723157-1-eng-US/figc0ba6f2feb454a3976140ec8f89e7a97.png1_large.png)
Bash alternative
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
![Learn More](https://www.linux-magazine.com/var/linux_magazin/storage/images/media/linux-magazine-eng-us/images/misc/learn-more/834592-1-eng-US/Learn-More_medium.png)
News
-
NVIDIA Released Driver for Upcoming NVIDIA 560 GPU for Linux
Not only has NVIDIA released the driver for its upcoming CPU series, it's the first release that defaults to using open-source GPU kernel modules.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 24.07 Released
If you’re into rolling release Linux distributions, OpenMandriva ROME has a new snapshot with a new kernel.
-
Kernel 6.10 Available for General Usage
Linus Torvalds has released the 6.10 kernel and it includes significant performance increases for Intel Core hybrid systems and more.
-
TUXEDO Computers Releases InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen9 Laptop
Sporting either AMD or Intel CPUs, the TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 is an extremely compact, lightweight, sturdy powerhouse.
-
Google Extends Support for Linux Kernels Used for Android
Because the LTS Linux kernel releases are so important to Android, Google has decided to extend the support period beyond that offered by the kernel development team.
-
Linux Mint 22 Stable Delayed
If you're anxious about getting your hands on the stable release of Linux Mint 22, it looks as if you're going to have to wait a bit longer.
-
Nitrux 3.5.1 Available for Install
The latest version of the immutable, systemd-free distribution includes an updated kernel and NVIDIA driver.
-
Debian 12.6 Released with Plenty of Bug Fixes and Updates
The sixth update to Debian "Bookworm" is all about security mitigations and making adjustments for some "serious problems."
-
Canonical Offers 12-Year LTS for Open Source Docker Images
Canonical is expanding its LTS offering to reach beyond the DEB packages with a new distro-less Docker image.
-
Plasma Desktop 6.1 Released with Several Enhancements
If you're a fan of Plasma Desktop, you should be excited about this new point release.