Newbie - Watchman Oil Tank Monitor

Carl Swain

unread,

Feb 20, 2021, 8:57:53 AM2/20/21

to rtl_433

I have a Watchman oil tank monitor which appears to be working fine with its own receiver, but I'm unable to receive anything using RTL_433.

The monitor appear to transmit every couple of seconds when its reset, and gives the output below.

The captured output bears no resemblance to the test data at /merbanan/rtl_433_tests/blob/master/tests/oil_standard

Can anyone suggest where I'm going wrong?

Thanks,

rtl_433 version 20.11-76-g93e0a9c7 branch master at 202102150728 inputs file rtl_tcp RTL-SDR

Use -h for usage help and see https://triq.org/ for documentation.

Trying conf file at "rtl_433.conf"...

Trying conf file at "/home/pi/.config/rtl_433/rtl_433.conf"...

Trying conf file at "/usr/local/etc/rtl_433/rtl_433.conf"...

Trying conf file at "/etc/rtl_433/rtl_433.conf"...

Registered 149 out of 179 device decoding protocols [ 1-4 8 11-12 15-17 19-21 23 25-26 29-36 38-60 63 67-71 73-100 102-105 108-116 119 121 124-128 130-149 151-161 163-168 170-175 177-179 ]

Found Rafael Micro R820T tuner

Exact sample rate is: 250000.000414 Hz

[R82XX] PLL not locked!

Sample rate set to 250000 S/s.

Tuner gain set to Auto.

Tuned to 433.920MHz.

Allocating 15 zero-copy buffers

baseband_demod_FM: low pass filter for 250000 Hz at cutoff 25000 Hz, 40.0 us

Detected OOK package 2021-02-20 13:13:49

Analyzing pulses...

Total count: 327, width: 2365.20 ms (591301 S)

Pulse width distribution:

[ 0] count: 195, width: 3212 us [3196;3488] ( 803 S)

[ 1] count: 132, width: 4028 us [4016;4292] (1007 S)

Gap width distribution:

[ 0] count: 326, width: 3696 us [3356;4216] ( 924 S)

Pulse period distribution:

[ 0] count: 326, width: 7244 us [6552;8472] (1811 S)

Pulse timing distribution:

[ 0] count: 653, width: 3620 us [3196;4292] ( 905 S)

[ 1] count: 1, width: 42924 us [42924;42924] (10731 S)

Level estimates [high, low]: 7603, 6

RSSI: -3.3 dB SNR: 31.0 dB Noise: -34.4 dB

Frequency offsets [F1, F2]: 1683, 0 (+6.4 kHz, +0.0 kHz)

Guessing modulation: Pulse Width Modulation with fixed gap

Attempting demodulation... short_width: 3212, long_width: 4028, reset_limit: 4220, sync_width: 0

Use a flex decoder with -X 'n=name,m=OOK_PWM,s=3212,l=4028,r=4220,g=0,t=326,y=0'

pulse_demod_pwm(): Analyzer Device

bitbuffer:: Number of rows: 1

[00] {327} ff ff ff ff ff ff ff f0 ff fe 1f ff c3 e0 1f f8 7c 3f ff 87 c3 ff f8 00 7c 3f f0 0f 80 07 c0 3e 00 00 01 f0 f8 00 00 07 fe

Detected OOK package 2021-02-20 13:13:38

Analyzing pulses...

Total count: 327, width: 2365.19 ms (591298 S)

Pulse width distribution:

[ 0] count: 195, width: 3212 us [3196;3472] ( 803 S)

[ 1] count: 132, width: 4028 us [4012;4284] (1007 S)

Gap width distribution:

[ 0] count: 326, width: 3696 us [3352;4224] ( 924 S)

Pulse period distribution:

[ 0] count: 326, width: 7244 us [6560;8468] (1811 S)

Pulse timing distribution:

[ 0] count: 653, width: 3620 us [3196;4284] ( 905 S)

[ 1] count: 1, width: 42844 us [42844;42844] (10711 S)

Level estimates [high, low]: 7536, 3

RSSI: -3.4 dB SNR: 34.0 dB Noise: -37.4 dB

Frequency offsets [F1, F2]: 1693, 0 (+6.5 kHz, +0.0 kHz)

Guessing modulation: Pulse Width Modulation with fixed gap

Attempting demodulation... short_width: 3212, long_width: 4028, reset_limit: 4228, sync_width: 0

Use a flex decoder with -X 'n=name,m=OOK_PWM,s=3212,l=4028,r=4228,g=0,t=326,y=0'

pulse_demod_pwm(): Analyzer Device

bitbuffer:: Number of rows: 1

[00] {327} ff ff ff ff ff ff ff f0 ff fe 1f ff c3 e0 1f f8 7c 3f ff 87 c3 ff f8 00 7c 3f f0 0f 80 07 c0 3e 00 00 01 f0 f8 00 00 07 fe

Detected OOK package 2021-02-20 13:13:33

Analyzing pulses...

Total count: 327, width: 2365.20 ms (591301 S)

Pulse width distribution:

[ 0] count: 195, width: 3212 us [3176;3484] ( 803 S)

[ 1] count: 132, width: 4028 us [4016;4288] (1007 S)

Gap width distribution:

[ 0] count: 326, width: 3696 us [3352;4216] ( 924 S)

Pulse period distribution:

[ 0] count: 326, width: 7244 us [6536;8476] (1811 S)

Pulse timing distribution:

[ 0] count: 653, width: 3620 us [3176;4288] ( 905 S)

[ 1] count: 1, width: 42884 us [42884;42884] (10721 S)

Level estimates [high, low]: 7659, 5

RSSI: -3.3 dB SNR: 31.9 dB Noise: -35.2 dB

Frequency offsets [F1, F2]: 1718, 0 (+6.6 kHz, +0.0 kHz)

Guessing modulation: Pulse Width Modulation with fixed gap

Attempting demodulation... short_width: 3212, long_width: 4028, reset_limit: 4220, sync_width: 0

Use a flex decoder with -X 'n=name,m=OOK_PWM,s=3212,l=4028,r=4220,g=0,t=326,y=0'

pulse_demod_pwm(): Analyzer Device

bitbuffer:: Number of rows: 1

[00] {327} ff ff ff ff ff ff ff f0 ff fe 1f ff c3 e0 1f f8 7c 3f ff 87 c3 ff f8 00 7c 3f f0 0f 80 07 c0 3e 00 00 01 f0 f8 00 00 07 fe

Christian Z.

unread,

Feb 20, 2021, 9:37:40 AM2/20/21

to rtl_433

The data is not showing in the pdv string. Try to record with `-S unknown` then upload a zip of the files. Preview if the files contain good data on https://triq.org/iqs/

Carl Swain

unread,

Feb 20, 2021, 12:12:35 PM2/20/21

to rtl_433

It doesn't look like good data, but I can't work out what's wrong

g001_433.92M_250k.zip

Carl Swain

unread,

Feb 27, 2021, 4:55:56 PM2/27/21

to rtl_433

The Oil Tank Monitor is a Watchman Plus, which seems to be a variant of the Watchman Niveau (circa 2005), and I'm consistently getting the same output from the transmitter.

Signal at 50min intervals during normal operations and every 5 seconds for 10min when the power is cycled.

The serial number of the transmitter is 007353167

Detected OOK package 2021-02-27 21:19:00

Analyzing pulses...

Total count: 331, width: 2364.92 ms (591230 S)

Pulse width distribution:

[ 0] count: 215, width: 3216 us [3192;3488] ( 804 S)

[ 1] count: 116, width: 4032 us [4016;4284] (1008 S)

Gap width distribution:

[ 0] count: 330, width: 3652 us [3352;4216] ( 913 S)

Pulse period distribution:

[ 0] count: 330, width: 7156 us [6548;8480] (1789 S)

Pulse timing distribution:

[ 0] count: 661, width: 3576 us [3192;4284] ( 894 S)

[ 1] count: 1, width: 42844 us [42844;42844] (10711 S)

Level estimates [high, low]: 8725, 17

RSSI: -2.7 dB SNR: 27.1 dB Noise: -29.8 dB

Frequency offsets [F1, F2]: -1194, 0 (-4.6 kHz, +0.0 kHz)

Guessing modulation: Pulse Width Modulation with fixed gap

Attempting demodulation... short_width: 3216, long_width: 4032, reset_limit: 4220, sync_width: 0

Use a flex decoder with -X 'n=name,m=OOK_PWM,s=3216,l=4032,r=4220,g=0,t=326,y=0'

pulse_demod_pwm(): Analyzer Device

bitbuffer:: Number of rows: 1

[00] {331} ff ff ff ff ff ff ff f0 ff fe 1f ff c3 e0 1f f8 7c 3f ff 87 c3 ff f8 00 7c 3f f0 0f 80 07 c0 3e 1f 00 00 f8 7c 03 ff ff c3 e0

g163_433.92M_250k.cu8.zip

photos.zip

Christian Z.

unread,

Feb 28, 2021, 2:31:21 AM2/28/21

to rtl_433

The signal only show the same pulse over and over. No data. Perhaps record at `-s 1024k` and see if there is data visible?

Carl Swain

unread,

Feb 28, 2021, 6:41:27 AM2/28/21

to rtl_433

Only the pulses seem to be detected.

Pulse data: 331 pulses

[ 0] Pulse: 871, Gap: 842, Period: 1713

[ 1] Pulse: 800, Gap: 842, Period: 1642

[ 2] Pulse: 800, Gap: 841, Period: 1641

[ 3] Pulse: 801, Gap: 839, Period: 1640

[ 4] Pulse: 802, Gap: 846, Period: 1648

[ 5] Pulse: 801, Gap: 840, Period: 1641

[ 6] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[ 7] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[ 8] Pulse: 802, Gap: 839, Period: 1641

[ 9] Pulse: 803, Gap: 844, Period: 1647

[ 10] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[ 11] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[ 12] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[ 13] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[ 14] Pulse: 802, Gap: 844, Period: 1646

[ 15] Pulse: 802, Gap: 841, Period: 1643

[ 16] Pulse: 801, Gap: 841, Period: 1642

[ 17] Pulse: 801, Gap: 840, Period: 1641

[ 18] Pulse: 802, Gap: 839, Period: 1641

[ 19] Pulse: 803, Gap: 845, Period: 1648

[ 20] Pulse: 801, Gap: 847, Period: 1648

[ 21] Pulse: 795, Gap: 840, Period: 1635

[ 22] Pulse: 802, Gap: 842, Period: 1644

[ 23] Pulse: 800, Gap: 839, Period: 1639

[ 24] Pulse: 803, Gap: 845, Period: 1648

[ 25] Pulse: 801, Gap: 841, Period: 1642

[ 26] Pulse: 801, Gap: 840, Period: 1641

[ 27] Pulse: 802, Gap: 839, Period: 1641

[ 28] Pulse: 803, Gap: 842, Period: 1645

[ 29] Pulse: 800, Gap: 845, Period: 1645

[ 30] Pulse: 801, Gap: 840, Period: 1641

[ 31] Pulse: 802, Gap: 842, Period: 1644

[ 32] Pulse: 800, Gap: 841, Period: 1641

[ 33] Pulse: 801, Gap: 840, Period: 1641

[ 34] Pulse: 802, Gap: 844, Period: 1646

[ 35] Pulse: 802, Gap: 839, Period: 1641

[ 36] Pulse: 803, Gap: 841, Period: 1644

[ 37] Pulse: 801, Gap: 841, Period: 1642

[ 38] Pulse: 801, Gap: 839, Period: 1640

[ 39] Pulse: 803, Gap: 845, Period: 1648

[ 40] Pulse: 801, Gap: 839, Period: 1640

[ 41] Pulse: 803, Gap: 840, Period: 1643

[ 42] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[ 43] Pulse: 802, Gap: 839, Period: 1641

[ 44] Pulse: 803, Gap: 844, Period: 1647

[ 45] Pulse: 803, Gap: 840, Period: 1643

[ 46] Pulse: 801, Gap: 841, Period: 1642

[ 47] Pulse: 801, Gap: 840, Period: 1641

[ 48] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[ 49] Pulse: 802, Gap: 846, Period: 1648

[ 50] Pulse: 800, Gap: 839, Period: 1639

[ 51] Pulse: 803, Gap: 842, Period: 1645

[ 52] Pulse: 800, Gap: 840, Period: 1640

[ 53] Pulse: 802, Gap: 842, Period: 1644

[ 54] Pulse: 800, Gap: 845, Period: 1645

[ 55] Pulse: 802, Gap: 841, Period: 1643

[ 56] Pulse: 800, Gap: 841, Period: 1641

[ 57] Pulse: 801, Gap: 842, Period: 1643

[ 58] Pulse: 800, Gap: 840, Period: 1640

[ 59] Pulse: 802, Gap: 848, Period: 1650

[ 60] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1045, Period: 2052

[ 61] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1045, Period: 2053

[ 62] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1044, Period: 2052

[ 63] Pulse: 1009, Gap: 1050, Period: 2059

[ 64] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[ 65] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[ 66] Pulse: 802, Gap: 838, Period: 1640

[ 67] Pulse: 803, Gap: 840, Period: 1643

[ 68] Pulse: 803, Gap: 844, Period: 1647

[ 69] Pulse: 804, Gap: 839, Period: 1643

[ 70] Pulse: 803, Gap: 841, Period: 1644

[ 71] Pulse: 800, Gap: 840, Period: 1640

[ 72] Pulse: 802, Gap: 839, Period: 1641

[ 73] Pulse: 803, Gap: 847, Period: 1650

[ 74] Pulse: 801, Gap: 841, Period: 1642

[ 75] Pulse: 801, Gap: 840, Period: 1641

[ 76] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[ 77] Pulse: 802, Gap: 841, Period: 1643

[ 78] Pulse: 801, Gap: 847, Period: 1648

[ 79] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1046, Period: 2053

[ 80] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1046, Period: 2053

[ 81] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1046, Period: 2053

[ 82] Pulse: 1006, Gap: 1051, Period: 2057

[ 83] Pulse: 803, Gap: 840, Period: 1643

[ 84] Pulse: 802, Gap: 842, Period: 1644

[ 85] Pulse: 799, Gap: 840, Period: 1639

[ 86] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[ 87] Pulse: 802, Gap: 846, Period: 1648

[ 88] Pulse: 803, Gap: 840, Period: 1643

[ 89] Pulse: 801, Gap: 840, Period: 1641

[ 90] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[ 91] Pulse: 802, Gap: 844, Period: 1646

[ 92] Pulse: 798, Gap: 846, Period: 1644

[ 93] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[ 94] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[ 95] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[ 96] Pulse: 802, Gap: 841, Period: 1643

[ 97] Pulse: 801, Gap: 847, Period: 1648

[ 98] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1046, Period: 2053

[ 99] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1045, Period: 2052

[100] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1045, Period: 2052

[101] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1051, Period: 2059

[102] Pulse: 866, Gap: 839, Period: 1705

[103] Pulse: 802, Gap: 842, Period: 1644

[104] Pulse: 800, Gap: 842, Period: 1642

[105] Pulse: 800, Gap: 841, Period: 1641

[106] Pulse: 801, Gap: 845, Period: 1646

[107] Pulse: 1072, Gap: 1045, Period: 2117

[108] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1046, Period: 2054

[109] Pulse: 1006, Gap: 1046, Period: 2052

[110] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1050, Period: 2058

[111] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1045, Period: 2053

[112] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1045, Period: 2052

[113] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1046, Period: 2054

[114] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1051, Period: 2058

[115] Pulse: 802, Gap: 841, Period: 1643

[116] Pulse: 801, Gap: 840, Period: 1641

[117] Pulse: 802, Gap: 841, Period: 1643

[118] Pulse: 801, Gap: 840, Period: 1641

[119] Pulse: 802, Gap: 846, Period: 1648

[120] Pulse: 802, Gap: 839, Period: 1641

[121] Pulse: 803, Gap: 839, Period: 1642

[122] Pulse: 803, Gap: 839, Period: 1642

[123] Pulse: 803, Gap: 840, Period: 1643

[124] Pulse: 801, Gap: 846, Period: 1647

[125] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1046, Period: 2054

[126] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1046, Period: 2054

[127] Pulse: 1006, Gap: 1048, Period: 2054

[128] Pulse: 1005, Gap: 1052, Period: 2057

[129] Pulse: 801, Gap: 840, Period: 1641

[130] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[131] Pulse: 802, Gap: 841, Period: 1643

[132] Pulse: 801, Gap: 840, Period: 1641

[133] Pulse: 802, Gap: 846, Period: 1648

[134] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1045, Period: 2053

[135] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1045, Period: 2053

[136] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1044, Period: 2052

[137] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1053, Period: 2061

[138] Pulse: 801, Gap: 839, Period: 1640

[139] Pulse: 802, Gap: 842, Period: 1644

[140] Pulse: 801, Gap: 839, Period: 1640

[141] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[142] Pulse: 802, Gap: 847, Period: 1649

[143] Pulse: 801, Gap: 841, Period: 1642

[144] Pulse: 801, Gap: 840, Period: 1641

[145] Pulse: 802, Gap: 839, Period: 1641

[146] Pulse: 803, Gap: 839, Period: 1642

[147] Pulse: 803, Gap: 844, Period: 1647

[148] Pulse: 867, Gap: 839, Period: 1706

[149] Pulse: 803, Gap: 840, Period: 1643

[150] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[151] Pulse: 802, Gap: 841, Period: 1643

[152] Pulse: 801, Gap: 845, Period: 1646

[153] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1044, Period: 2052

[154] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1045, Period: 2053

[155] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1046, Period: 2054

[156] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1050, Period: 2057

[157] Pulse: 802, Gap: 839, Period: 1641

[158] Pulse: 803, Gap: 840, Period: 1643

[159] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[160] Pulse: 802, Gap: 839, Period: 1641

[161] Pulse: 803, Gap: 846, Period: 1649

[162] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1044, Period: 2052

[163] Pulse: 1009, Gap: 1046, Period: 2055

[164] Pulse: 1006, Gap: 1046, Period: 2052

[165] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1051, Period: 2058

[166] Pulse: 803, Gap: 839, Period: 1642

[167] Pulse: 803, Gap: 840, Period: 1643

[168] Pulse: 801, Gap: 840, Period: 1641

[169] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[170] Pulse: 802, Gap: 846, Period: 1648

[171] Pulse: 803, Gap: 840, Period: 1643

[172] Pulse: 801, Gap: 840, Period: 1641

[173] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[174] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[175] Pulse: 802, Gap: 847, Period: 1649

[176] Pulse: 801, Gap: 840, Period: 1641

[177] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[178] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[179] Pulse: 802, Gap: 839, Period: 1641

[180] Pulse: 803, Gap: 845, Period: 1648

[181] Pulse: 1009, Gap: 1044, Period: 2053

[182] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1045, Period: 2053

[183] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1046, Period: 2054

[184] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1051, Period: 2058

[185] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1046, Period: 2054

[186] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1045, Period: 2052

[187] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1047, Period: 2055

[188] Pulse: 1006, Gap: 1051, Period: 2057

[189] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1044, Period: 2052

[190] Pulse: 1009, Gap: 1044, Period: 2053

[191] Pulse: 1009, Gap: 1046, Period: 2055

[192] Pulse: 1006, Gap: 1051, Period: 2057

[193] Pulse: 866, Gap: 839, Period: 1705

[194] Pulse: 802, Gap: 841, Period: 1643

[195] Pulse: 801, Gap: 839, Period: 1640

[196] Pulse: 803, Gap: 840, Period: 1643

[197] Pulse: 802, Gap: 852, Period: 1654

[198] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1045, Period: 2053

[199] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1046, Period: 2053

[200] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1045, Period: 2052

[201] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1052, Period: 2060

[202] Pulse: 801, Gap: 840, Period: 1641

[203] Pulse: 801, Gap: 840, Period: 1641

[204] Pulse: 802, Gap: 841, Period: 1643

[205] Pulse: 801, Gap: 839, Period: 1640

[206] Pulse: 803, Gap: 847, Period: 1650

[207] Pulse: 801, Gap: 839, Period: 1640

[208] Pulse: 803, Gap: 841, Period: 1644

[209] Pulse: 801, Gap: 841, Period: 1642

[210] Pulse: 801, Gap: 841, Period: 1642

[211] Pulse: 801, Gap: 848, Period: 1649

[212] Pulse: 1006, Gap: 1046, Period: 2052

[213] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1045, Period: 2052

[214] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1044, Period: 2052

[215] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1051, Period: 2059

[216] Pulse: 1009, Gap: 1045, Period: 2054

[217] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1044, Period: 2051

[218] Pulse: 1009, Gap: 1046, Period: 2055

[219] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1051, Period: 2058

[220] Pulse: 802, Gap: 839, Period: 1641

[221] Pulse: 803, Gap: 840, Period: 1643

[222] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[223] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[224] Pulse: 802, Gap: 845, Period: 1647

[225] Pulse: 1009, Gap: 1046, Period: 2055

[226] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1045, Period: 2052

[227] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1046, Period: 2053

[228] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1053, Period: 2060

[229] Pulse: 1006, Gap: 1045, Period: 2051

[230] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1044, Period: 2052

[231] Pulse: 1009, Gap: 1045, Period: 2054

[232] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1051, Period: 2059

[233] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1046, Period: 2053

[234] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1045, Period: 2053

[235] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1047, Period: 2054

[236] Pulse: 1006, Gap: 1052, Period: 2058

[237] Pulse: 865, Gap: 841, Period: 1706

[238] Pulse: 801, Gap: 839, Period: 1640

[239] Pulse: 802, Gap: 842, Period: 1644

[240] Pulse: 800, Gap: 839, Period: 1639

[241] Pulse: 803, Gap: 846, Period: 1649

[242] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1045, Period: 2052

[243] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1047, Period: 2055

[244] Pulse: 1006, Gap: 1045, Period: 2051

[245] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1051, Period: 2058

[246] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1047, Period: 2054

[247] Pulse: 1006, Gap: 1046, Period: 2052

[248] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1046, Period: 2053

[249] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1051, Period: 2058

[250] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[251] Pulse: 802, Gap: 839, Period: 1641

[252] Pulse: 803, Gap: 842, Period: 1645

[253] Pulse: 800, Gap: 839, Period: 1639

[254] Pulse: 802, Gap: 848, Period: 1650

[255] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1046, Period: 2053

[256] Pulse: 1006, Gap: 1047, Period: 2053

[257] Pulse: 1006, Gap: 1047, Period: 2053

[258] Pulse: 1006, Gap: 1051, Period: 2057

[259] Pulse: 802, Gap: 843, Period: 1645

[260] Pulse: 799, Gap: 840, Period: 1639

[261] Pulse: 802, Gap: 842, Period: 1644

[262] Pulse: 800, Gap: 840, Period: 1640

[263] Pulse: 802, Gap: 847, Period: 1649

[264] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1045, Period: 2052

[265] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1045, Period: 2053

[266] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1048, Period: 2055

[267] Pulse: 1005, Gap: 1052, Period: 2057

[268] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1046, Period: 2054

[269] Pulse: 1006, Gap: 1046, Period: 2052

[270] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1047, Period: 2054

[271] Pulse: 1006, Gap: 1052, Period: 2058

[272] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1047, Period: 2054

[273] Pulse: 1006, Gap: 1046, Period: 2052

[274] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1046, Period: 2053

[275] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1051, Period: 2058

[276] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1049, Period: 2057

[277] Pulse: 1004, Gap: 1044, Period: 2048

[278] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1045, Period: 2053

[279] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1050, Period: 2058

[280] Pulse: 866, Gap: 840, Period: 1706

[281] Pulse: 802, Gap: 839, Period: 1641

[282] Pulse: 803, Gap: 841, Period: 1644

[283] Pulse: 801, Gap: 842, Period: 1643

[284] Pulse: 800, Gap: 847, Period: 1647

[285] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1046, Period: 2053

[286] Pulse: 1006, Gap: 1046, Period: 2052

[287] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1045, Period: 2052

[288] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1051, Period: 2059

[289] Pulse: 801, Gap: 840, Period: 1641

[290] Pulse: 802, Gap: 841, Period: 1643

[291] Pulse: 801, Gap: 840, Period: 1641

[292] Pulse: 802, Gap: 841, Period: 1643

[293] Pulse: 801, Gap: 847, Period: 1648

[294] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1046, Period: 2053

[295] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1046, Period: 2053

[296] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1045, Period: 2052

[297] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1052, Period: 2060

[298] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1046, Period: 2053

[299] Pulse: 1006, Gap: 1045, Period: 2051

[300] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1047, Period: 2055

[301] Pulse: 1006, Gap: 1054, Period: 2060

[302] Pulse: 799, Gap: 841, Period: 1640

[303] Pulse: 801, Gap: 841, Period: 1642

[304] Pulse: 801, Gap: 844, Period: 1645

[305] Pulse: 798, Gap: 839, Period: 1637

[306] Pulse: 803, Gap: 846, Period: 1649

[307] Pulse: 802, Gap: 839, Period: 1641

[308] Pulse: 803, Gap: 840, Period: 1643

[309] Pulse: 802, Gap: 839, Period: 1641

[310] Pulse: 803, Gap: 839, Period: 1642

[311] Pulse: 803, Gap: 845, Period: 1648

[312] Pulse: 803, Gap: 839, Period: 1642

[313] Pulse: 803, Gap: 839, Period: 1642

[314] Pulse: 803, Gap: 839, Period: 1642

[315] Pulse: 802, Gap: 840, Period: 1642

[316] Pulse: 802, Gap: 846, Period: 1648

[317] Pulse: 803, Gap: 838, Period: 1641

[318] Pulse: 804, Gap: 840, Period: 1644

[319] Pulse: 801, Gap: 842, Period: 1643

[320] Pulse: 800, Gap: 841, Period: 1641

[321] Pulse: 801, Gap: 846, Period: 1647

[322] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1046, Period: 2054

[323] Pulse: 1007, Gap: 1045, Period: 2052

[324] Pulse: 1008, Gap: 1046, Period: 2054

[325] Pulse: 1006, Gap: 1051, Period: 2057

[326] Pulse: 866, Gap: 840, Period: 1706

[327] Pulse: 802, Gap: 839, Period: 1641

[328] Pulse: 802, Gap: 841, Period: 1643

[329] Pulse: 801, Gap: 841, Period: 1642

[330] Pulse: 801, Gap: 10721, Period: 11522

Analyzing pulses...

Total count: 331, width: 2364.92 ms (591229 S)

Pulse width distribution:

[ 0] count: 215, width: 3212 us [3180;3484] ( 803 S)

[ 1] count: 116, width: 4028 us [4016;4288] (1007 S)

Gap width distribution:

[ 0] count: 330, width: 3652 us [3352;4216] ( 913 S)

Pulse period distribution:

[ 0] count: 330, width: 7156 us [6540;8468] (1789 S)

Pulse timing distribution:

[ 0] count: 661, width: 3576 us [3180;4288] ( 894 S)

[ 1] count: 1, width: 42884 us [42884;42884] (10721 S)

Level estimates [high, low]: 7871, 15

RSSI: -3.2 dB SNR: 27.2 dB Noise: -30.4 dB

Frequency offsets [F1, F2]: -1326, 0 (-5.1 kHz, +0.0 kHz)

Guessing modulation: Pulse Width Modulation with fixed gap

Attempting demodulation... short_width: 3212, long_width: 4028, reset_limit: 4220, sync_width: 0

Use a flex decoder with -X 'n=name,m=OOK_PWM,s=3212,l=4028,r=4220,g=0,t=326,y=0'

pulse_demod_pwm(): Analyzer Device

bitbuffer:: Number of rows: 1

[00] {331} ff ff ff ff ff ff ff f0 ff fe 1f ff c3 e0 1f f8 7c 3f ff 87 c3 ff f8 00 7c 3f f0 0f 80 07 c0 3e 1f 00 00 f8 7c 03 ff ff c3 e0

G.zip

Christian Z.

unread,

Feb 28, 2021, 7:14:14 AM2/28/21

to rtl_433

To convert to OOK use

rtl_433 -s 1024k -w g005_433.92M_1024k.ook g005_433.92M_1024k.cu8

rtl_433 -s 1024k -w g010_433.89M_1024k.ook g010_433.89M_1024k.cu8

Then drop the .ook on https://triq.org/pdv/

Could be PWM with 3200/3400 and 4000/4200 as bits. That looks very unreliable and is probably not the coding.

Also not compatible with the known oil watchman/apollo protocol.

Run

rtl_433 -R 0 -X 'n=name,m=OOK_PWM,s=3000,l=4000,r=6000'

if you like. Note all the codes, then try to find a pattern. But it just looks random so far.

Scott Davidson

unread,

Jul 26, 2022, 7:11:42 AM7/26/22

to rtl_433

Hello all, new here, so I hope this is the correct way to go about my question! I cam across this discussion after searching google for possible answers to my issue. I am having EXACTLY the same issue as Carl - i appreciate this discussion is over a year old, but I wondered if there was ever a resolution to this? I also have a Watchman Plus, with Bund alarm, date stamped 2004, which works correctly with its own plug in receiver. I have replaced the batteries with new to ensure full power is available for the transmitter.

I am new to RF and SDR devices, however after some beginner guides and videos I am getting the hang of things. I have plugged in my RTL-SDR into my windows laptop and run RTL-433 with default settings, and I am successfully picking up what I believe to be 2 of my neighbours Watchman devices, however I am unable to pick up my own device. My Watchman plug in receiver states 433.92 on the back, so I know I'm listening on the correct frequency, however my initial thoughts that this would be FSK, from everything I've read about other people successfully picking up their Watchman Ultrasonic devices, does not seem to be correct, as no other devices are getting picked up by RTL_433. These are the only 2 devices that I am able to pick up -see attached. I unplugged my own transmitter for a couple of hours as I initially thought one of the signals being picked up belonged to my device, however both devices continued to transmit, so my own one isn't getting picked up.

Can anyone offer some guidance on how to try to identify my own devices signal? Many thanks

1658833632113blob.jpg

Christian Z.

unread,

Jul 26, 2022, 8:02:39 AM7/26/22

to rtl_433

Work though https://triq.org/rtl_433/ANALYZE.html#verify-a-transmission to find your signal and record a sample to analyze.

Scott Davidson

unread,

Jul 27, 2022, 12:57:07 PM7/27/22

to rtl_433

Hi Christian, thank you for guiding me to that link. I have been working through it and making some progress. I initially used cubicSDR to inspect any signals around 433MHz and I discovered when initiating my Watchman Plus device that I could finally see the signal being transmitted from it every 5 seconds, but on approx 433.96MHz rather than the expected 433.92MHz as printed on the Watchman Plus receiver!

I've created lots of cu8 and ook files as per the instructions on the site you linked, however this is where I've got a little stuck now. I know the watchman plus blips every 5 seconds, upon turning it on, which I could see in cubicSDR, and my cu8 files indicate a larger file every 5 seconds, normally 1,152KB but sometimes higher, followed by either one or two much smaller files, normally 128KB but sometimes larger:

Spectrogram and Pulse Data for one of the small files 128KB:

yet one of the other small files at 256KB, shows this:

One of the larger files, 1152KB

and a final larger file at 1,536KB

so now I'm a little stuck as these seem to indicate different modulations.....

Christian Z.

unread,

Jul 27, 2022, 1:13:44 PM7/27/22

to rtl_433

Wow, that's all just sync. No data anywhere. Very strange. Maybe that's just a power-on beacon. The regular send intervals are more link 15 minutes, right?

Let it sit after power on, then run the sample grabber 10 minutes later and for 20 minutes. You should catch only very few files. And there should be data -- pulses of differing length.

Angharad

unread,

Jul 27, 2022, 2:51:03 PM7/27/22

to rtl...@googlegroups.com

Ar 27/07/22 18:13, ysgrifennodd Christian Z.:

Just over an hour on mine (and all working fine), so you might need to
wait a bit longer.

{"time" : "2022-07-27 17:17:05", "model" : "Oil-SonicStd", "id" : 31646,
"flags" : 112, "alarm" : 1, "binding_countdown" : 0, "depth_cm" : 78}
{"time" : "2022-07-27 18:19:49", "model" : "Oil-SonicStd", "id" : 31646,
"flags" : 112, "alarm" : 1, "binding_countdown" : 0, "depth_cm" : 78}

--
Sent from Thunderbird for Linux

toli...@yahoo.com

unread,

Jul 27, 2022, 3:52:58 PM7/27/22

to rtl_433

Due to you mentioning seeing other sensors but not your own I offer the following.

When I was troubleshooting a weather xmitter inside my home I had to attenuate the sensor or the antenna to get consistant results. I used an oven pizza platter thingy.

(because it was too strong a signal??? <<-- this is my guess)

The spectrum visualization may be adjustable in CubicSDR to reduce some of the noise (green/yellow) etc.

The first I/Q Spectrogram in your post looks like it has a blip before the white, orange, green, and blue blips.

IMneverHO a level sensor signal would be short like that, not the 3 following it.

David Powell

unread,

Jul 27, 2022, 4:49:49 PM7/27/22

to rtl_433

Also don't forget that rtl_433 seems to prefer that the tuning is slightly off from the actual frequency. Never really understood why.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "rtl_433" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rtl_433+u...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rtl_433/6611bc51-7b7c-4b18-a822-53bcb568880en%40googlegroups.com.

Benjamin Larsson

unread,

Jul 27, 2022, 5:07:02 PM7/27/22

to rtl...@googlegroups.com

On 27/07/2022 22:49, David Powell wrote:
> Also don't forget that rtl_433 seems to prefer that the tuning is

> slightly */off/* from the actual frequency. Never really understood why.
>

It has to do with the tuner technology used. In Zero IF tuners there is
a spike at DC (0Hz) which drowns out actual signals. So you need to tune
a few Hertz below or above to receive the signal.

MvH
Benjamin Larsson

Scott Davidson

unread,

Jul 28, 2022, 5:51:31 AM7/28/22

to rtl_433

Thank you all for your input, appreciated. I left RTL_433 generating cu8 files for around 3 hours yesterday evening in the hope of capturing at least 2 genuine data transmissions. During the capture, I saw the, what I believe to be, 2 neighbourhood Oil Watchman devices transmitting, as well as a generic temperature sensor! I'm probably misunderstanding, but by running the -S unknown mode, I didn't expect to see devices that were able to be decoded. Perhaps RTL_433 shows those transmissions in the cmd window regardless of the capture mode - it just doesn't generate any cu8 files for those known devices that are able to be decoded?

So I am going to trawl through the captures and see if I can find any data, as I would hope, any data that I do find, will be nothing to do with those other watchman devices.

Oddly, I can't find much if anything via Google searches about the Watchman Plus model. Lots of Watchman Sonic, or Watchman Sonic Plus, or Niveau Watchman, which is the closest visually and feature wise to my Watchman Plus.

My Watchman Plus does have a Bund alarm, which is a plastic spiked ball which sits between inner and outer skin of my oil tank, and which detects if oil escapes from the inner tank. This connects via 2 bullet connectors and speaker/bell wire up to the transmitter. I tested that this works by lowering the spiked ball into my oil, and right enough, if turns on the red light on my plug in receiver to indicate alarm. Strangely, after disconnecting the batteries form the transmitter, and reconnecting them, what appears to be some sort of boot up sync, the beeps every 5 seconds actually come from this spiked ball?! I thought they were coming from the transmitter itself, but they definitely come from whatever oil contact sensor is inside the spiked ball.

This makes me wonder if perhaps this signal every 5 seconds after bootup, for several minutes, might actually be on a slightly different frequency, and not being transmitted by the transmitter but the 'speaker' device inside the spike ball. My original recording picked these up successfully, however the regular update/report sent by my actual transmitter may be on the regular and expected 433.92 frequency. All just speculation.

With the 2 other local Watchman devices I am picking up, the one called 'Oil Ultrasonic STANDARD' has an entry for 'alarm' of '0', so that's what I am expecting to see when I can finally pick up my own device, and again I can confirm this changes to, what I expect to be a '1' with the spiked ball submerged in the oil.

I'll report back with findings after trawling through my cu8 files ;)

Scott Davidson

unread,

Jul 29, 2022, 10:47:33 AM7/29/22

to rtl_433

OK so the files from my initial capture didn't contain anything useful :( I've since removed the device form my oil tank so I can get a proper look at everything. Upon initial power up, there is a blipping sound every 5 seconds, which comes from the tiny circuit board inside the plastic spiked ball - this is the bund sensor for detecting fluid - which shorts out the contact and turns on the red warning light on the plug in Watchman Plus receiver. Two simply wires, which I have connected together, and which works correctly in turning the red light on.

Also at the same time as the blipping sound every 5 seconds, the ultrasonic sensor clicks, meaning it is taking a reading.

This continues for 10 minutes after power up, at which point the blipping/clicking only happens around once an hour (1hr 5 minutes approx).

For the life of me I can't seem to capture these hourly check ins, only the 5 second power up blips. Looking closer at my spectrum analyser it looks like the frequency is 433.97MHz, so I have changed frequency to both 433.96 and 433.98 based on advice here. The only files that contain any identifiable pulses, are the smallest 128k files, which generate every 5 seconds. The larger 1280k files on alternate 5 second intervals don't seem to show any identifiable columns/pulses, just lots of tiny blips on middle frequency. Sorry for lack of technical terms!

An example taken using rtl_433 -f 433.97M -S unknown

So not really anything that looks any different to my initial captures, to my complete amateur eye. The transmitter is definitely transmitting to the Watchman Plus plug in receiver, I can't can't seem to capture any data. Can anyone suggest anything else that I can try in order to capture this data?

Christian Z.

unread,

Jul 29, 2022, 11:10:08 AM7/29/22

to rtl_433

It's a clean and good signal, just no data? All pulses are uniform, no way to carry bits?

I went back to your sample uploads and looked with *very* closely. Turns there is data. It's just awefully close to just tolerances.

The pulses are *not* just all ~4 ms. There are 3.2 ms and 4 ms pulses!

On a sample file or live try:

rtl_433 -R 0 -X 'n=name,m=OOK_PWM,s=3200,l=4000,g=5000,r=9000'

I get codes like {55}81f0f8000007fe

(the tools, analyzer and pulse viewer, compress the signal and lump close timings together into one "class", that's why we didn't see it.)

Scott Davidson

unread,

Jul 29, 2022, 12:17:04 PM7/29/22

to rtl_433

Thank you! I have just tried that command live, after initiating a power cycle of the Watchman transmitter, and it certainly picks something up every 6 seconds, which feels like progress!!

This is an example of the output which shows the 6 second timing, and the data pops up after each blip/click form the device

I've attached a txt file with the full output that I captured over approx 4 minutes during the initial power up and sync between the Watchman Plus transmitter and receiver.

flexoutput.txt

Scott Davidson

unread,

Jul 29, 2022, 12:48:20 PM7/29/22

to rtl_433

Further testing reveals that I get codes with a prefix of {329} when the bund alarm is on (purposely shorted out) and a prefix of {283} when the bund alarm is off

Christian Z.

unread,

Jul 29, 2022, 1:39:14 PM7/29/22

to rtl_433

Yes, opposite problem now: too much data :)

(and only two distinct codes to look at.)

You might need to capture a series of codes while slowly changing the distance. That way we can hopefully spot where that field is located. It's unusually much data in those codes and no obvious pattern.

Karl Lohner

unread,

Jul 29, 2022, 3:29:37 PM7/29/22

to Christian Z., rtl_433

FWIW, it looks like the signal may have some kind of short optional/flexible header, and then data bits encoded over periods of 32862.4 μs. Inside each of these periods are either 4 regular longer pulses+gaps (which I'll call a "1" data bit) or 5 regular shorter pulses+gaps (which I'll call a "0" data bit).

Looking at decodes of the .cu8 samples sent by Carl Swain (sorry, Scott, I don't seem to have your .cu8 samples) using a flex decoder of "-X n=Watchman,m=OOK_PWM,s=3299,l=4107,r=5000,invert" I get this data:

rtl_433 -r g005_433.92M_1024k.cu8 -X n=Watchman,m=OOK_PWM,s=3299,l=4107,r=5000,invert
{176}41e0003ffc1e007f83ffc1fe0f07fff83c1fe00001e0

rtl_433 -r g010_433.89M_1024k.cu8 -X n=Watchman,m=OOK_PWM,s=3299,l=4107,r=5000,invert
{171}3c0007ff83c00ff07ff83fc1e0ffff0783fc00003c0

rtl_433 -r g030_433.92M_250k.cu8 -X n=Watchman,m=OOK_PWM,s=3299,l=4107,r=5000,invert
{55}7e0f07fffff800

rtl_433 -r g031_433.92M_250k.cu8 -X n=Watchman,m=OOK_PWM,s=3299,l=4107,r=5000,invert
{55}7e0f07fffff800

rtl_433 -r g163_433.92M_250k.cu8 -X n=Watchman,m=OOK_PWM,s=3299,l=4107,r=5000,invert
{331}000000000000000f0001e0003c1fe00783c000783c0007ff83c00ff07ff83fc1e0ffff0783fc00003c0

(Note that g030_433.92M_250k.cu8 and g163_433.92M_250k.cu8 seem almost the same and are pre-truncated. Also note that g005_433.92M_1024k.cu8 and g010_433.89M_1024k.cu8 seem to have some kind of header of two "pulse+gap"s of unknown meaning, and this header is slightly different in those two .cu8 files)

In these decodes, a "0" bit relates to the shorter pulse+gap, so each group of 5 "0"'s might be a logical "0" data bit, and a "1" bit relates to the longer pulse+gap, so each group of 4 "1" bits might be a logical "1" data bit.

Taking the binary data in those rtl_433 decodes and grouping every five 0's as a logical "0" bit, and every four 1's as a logical "1" bit (discarding the bits of header date in a couple of those samples), I get something like:

0y010001110100110111011010111101011000010 [g005_433.92M_1024k]
0y10001110100110111011010111101011000010 [g010_433.89M_1024k]
0y1101011111100 [g030_433.92M_250k and g031_433.92M_250k]
0y000000000000100010001011001010001010001110100110111011010111101011000010 [g163_433.92M_250k]

I also took the two distinct decodings in Scott's flexoutput.txt file:

{329}fffffffffffffff0f87c03ffffc3fff87fff0f8007c3e001f0f87fe0001f00f87c0003e1f00fffff0f8
{283}fffffffffffffff0f87c03ffffc3fff87fff0f8007c3e001f00f87c0003e01ff80007fe

And inverted them and decoded to logical bits to get the two decodings:

0y000000000000101011000010001000101110101110101001111011010111101011000010 [Scott flex decode 1]
0y00000000000010101100001000100010111010111011010111101100111100 [Scott flex decode 2]

Not sure what any of this means, but hopefully this will further the decoding effort...

bitbench representation

--Karl.

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "rtl_433" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rtl_433+u...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rtl_433/d7514b56-ba9a-478c-985e-e58b400b350en%40googlegroups.com.

Christian Z.

unread,

Jul 30, 2022, 5:52:22 AM7/30/22

to rtl_433

periods are either 4 regular longer pulses+gaps (which I'll call a "1" data bit) or 5 regular shorter pulses+gaps (which I'll call a "0" data bit).

Once again your keen eye to spot these things is amazing! I can confirm that "coding".

Also if we read the data as PCM: rtl_433 -R 0 -X 'n=Watchman,m=OOK_PCM,s=800,l=800,r=5000,invert'

we then get 40 "bits" per proper bit (5 repeats of 4 low/high or 4 repeats of 5 low/high "bits")

View in BitBench like this to confirm the coding. Use A format for the 40 "bits" like e.g. 8xb31x to show it decoded.

Arfon Davies

unread,

Jul 30, 2022, 10:59:41 AM7/30/22

to rtl_433

Hello all, I'm a newbie to rtl_433 since I moved into a house with an oil tank.... Searching for ways to monitor oil levels in openhab I came across rtl_433. I'm all setup, sucessfully reading a temperature sensor and what appears to be 3 watchman sonic sensors from my neighbours, but not my own... I've worked out it's a watchman plus. Searching has brought me to this thread and I'm sorry to say I'm struggling to follow. Any step by step instructions anyone can provide would be much appreciated. My other option is to remove the watchman plus and replace it with a sonic unit, which I'm able to read just fine. Thank you in advance.

Greg Troxel

unread,

Jul 30, 2022, 11:21:22 AM7/30/22

to Arfon Davies, rtl_433

Arfon Davies <arfon.a...@gmail.com> writes:

> Hello all, I'm a newbie to rtl_433 since I moved into a house with an oil
> tank.... Searching for ways to monitor oil levels in openhab I came across
> rtl_433. I'm all setup, sucessfully reading a temperature sensor and what
> appears to be 3 watchman sonic sensors from my neighbours, but not my
> own... I've worked out it's a watchman plus. Searching has brought me to
> this thread and I'm sorry to say I'm struggling to follow. Any step by step
> instructions anyone can provide would be much appreciated. My other option
> is to remove the watchman plus and replace it with a sonic unit, which I'm
> able to read just fine. Thank you in advance.

First, welcome to rtl_433. A lot about this subject is complicated but
it's a great community that helps people, and you are in the right
place.

0) I am not familiar with the Watchman (but probably others are). Could
you link to manufacturer pages for "watchman plus" and "watchman sonic"?

1) The code says sonic and doesn't mention plus:
https://github.com/merbanan/rtl_433/blob/master/src/devices/oil_watchman.c
See also
https://github.com/merbanan/rtl_433/blob/master/src/devices/oil_standard.c

2) Do you have a display unit that came with it, and is that working?

3) Are you able to figure out from any other sources what frequency the
plus is operating on?

4) You didn't say if you compiled rtl_433 from source. The latest
release is old, and the version in any packaging system is likely to be
really old. So if not, please do that before worrying too much.

5) Sometimes things are on a frequency higher or lower than they are
supposed to be. Try running high and low. Put the dongle near the tank
(20' same room is probably fine).

11) After that, you may be in to figuring things out. People here like
doing that. You probably want "-S unknown". There's a lot at
https://triq.org/ that will help. You might want to put the dongle
really near the tank and maybe even wrap a bit of tinfoil to reduce
other signals.

Good luck and probably others will have some suggestions.

signature.asc

Scott Davidson

unread,

Jul 30, 2022, 11:33:24 AM7/30/22

to Greg Troxel, Arfon Davies, rtl_433

Welcome Arfon, I'm new here too and am currently trying to work through the process of decoding my Watchman Plus, so I would stick with that device if you can for now - hopefully with the help of the very knowledgeable people here we can get the decoder for this device eventually added to RTL_433 like the Watchman Standard and Watchman Sonic are.

Regards

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "rtl_433" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rtl_433+u...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rtl_433/rmi7d3ud3te.fsf%40s1.lexort.com.

Christian Z.

unread,

Jul 30, 2022, 11:37:21 AM7/30/22

to rtl_433

The decoders we have for Watchman/Apollo/Beckett are using a standard PCM coding. This Plus device has a rather different and unusual coding, but Karl already figured out the coding ;)

What we need now are tables of codes with coresponding readings from a display unit or estimates.

If you could run a slow change of distance on startup (otherwise transmissions are only hourly) and note all codes, that would be great.

The device is sending PWM, but raw PCM would be easier to work with for now, use (and further on always note the command used):

rtl_433 -R 0 -X 'n=Plus,m=OOK_PCM,s=800,l=800,r=5000'

The codes we need are like:

{2882}f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f00

Every ten chars is one bit of data, you will only ever see f0f0f0f0f0 or f83e0f83e0.

If possible I would like to get the results in an new Issue on the rtl_433 GitHub -- much easier to track and reference.

Arfon Davies

unread,

Jul 30, 2022, 12:05:40 PM7/30/22

to rtl_433

Thank you all, what a great community. As requested, I've opened a new issue in GitHub.

For info, here is what I get running the command, noting I haven't done anything with the device yet. Can I ask - what is a "slow change of distance on startup". Is it unplugging the display plug and moving the antena further away?

[16:58:44] root@openhab:~# rtl_433 -R 0 -X 'n=Plus,m=OOK_PCM,s=800,l=800,r=5000'
rtl_433 version 21.12-103-g8cdb233b branch master at 202205181328 inputs file rtl_tcp RTL-SDR
Use -h for usage help and see https://triq.org/ for documentation.
Trying conf file at "rtl_433.conf"...
Trying conf file at "/root/.config/rtl_433/rtl_433.conf"...
Trying conf file at "/usr/local/etc/rtl_433/rtl_433.conf"...
Trying conf file at "/etc/rtl_433/rtl_433.conf"...
Reading conf from "/etc/rtl_433/rtl_433.conf".
Publishing MQTT data to localhost port 1883
Publishing device info to MQTT topic "rtl_433/P[protocol:255][/id]/C[channel:0]".
Disabling all device decoders.
Registered 1 out of 218 device decoding protocols [ ]
Found Rafael Micro R820T tuner
Exact sample rate is: 250000.000414 Hz
[R82XX] PLL not locked!
Sample rate set to 250000 S/s.
Tuner gain set to Auto.
Tuned to 433.920MHz.
Allocating 15 zero-copy buffers
MQTT Connected...
Estimated noise level is -17.0 dB, adjusting minimum detection level to -14.0 dB
MQTT Connection established.
Estimated noise level is -18.7 dB, adjusting minimum detection level to -15.7 dB
Estimated noise level is -20.1 dB, adjusting minimum detection level to -17.1 dB
Estimated noise level is -21.4 dB, adjusting minimum detection level to -18.4 dB
Estimated noise level is -22.6 dB, adjusting minimum detection level to -19.6 dB
Estimated noise level is -24.4 dB, adjusting minimum detection level to -21.4 dB
Estimated noise level is -25.9 dB, adjusting minimum detection level to -22.9 dB
Estimated noise level is -27.0 dB, adjusting minimum detection level to -24.0 dB
Estimated noise level is -28.2 dB, adjusting minimum detection level to -25.2 dB
Estimated noise level is -29.3 dB, adjusting minimum detection level to -26.3 dB
Current noise level -30.7 dB, estimated noise -29.3 dB
Estimated noise level is -30.3 dB, adjusting minimum detection level to -27.3 dB
Current noise level -30.8 dB, estimated noise -30.7 dB
Current noise level -31.0 dB, estimated noise -30.9 dB
Current noise level -31.0 dB, estimated noise -31.0 dB

Arfon Davies

unread,

Jul 30, 2022, 2:00:44 PM7/30/22

to rtl_433

https://github.com/merbanan/rtl_433/issues/2133

Scott Davidson

unread,

Jul 30, 2022, 2:28:39 PM7/30/22

to Arfon Davies, rtl_433

I'm having a bit of trouble trying to capture signals now for some reason. I'm not sure if it's that I need to leave the transmitter powered down for longer before reconnecting perhaps. I've tried draining the residual power after removing the batteries, then reconnecting, but although it starts clicking every 5 seconds like normal power on, I'm not picking up any transmissions oddly, and the plug in receiver isn't updating either. It did update once, and showed Zero as the level, which i expected based on the position I had the sensor above the oil (around 90cm away), so I grabbed the code for that reading, but since then, I've not seen anything transmitted.

Hopefully I don't have an intermittent electrical problem internally on the transmitter - I've checked the coax cable TNC terminations which are fine, and when plugged in, the u/s sensor clicks, so it's getting power, just seemingly not transmitting. I'll leave it powered down for a couple of hours and try again as I'm sure that's all it is...

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "rtl_433" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rtl_433+u...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rtl_433/43ea05d2-e12f-4877-822a-cb4ae58b0c40n%40googlegroups.com.

Arfon Davies

unread,

Jul 31, 2022, 3:23:09 AM7/31/22

to rtl_433

Morning. Making some progress. Yesterday I was receiving nothing, then overnight thought I'd better take our the conf file, instead running rtl_433 -R 0 -X 'n=Plus,m=OOK_PCM,s=800,l=800,r=5000' without a config file. I'm now getting codes and quite a few. Question -- should I be tuned to 433.92 (which I am at the moment by default) or 433.96 as suggested by Scott?

Example of what I'm getting. I will post the correct codes on git when we're sure I have the correct ones.

time : 2022-07-31 08:20:26
model : Plus count : 1 num_rows : 1 rows :
len : 2084 data : 8aaaa2a2aa228a22222228a88a2aaaaaaaa08aaaa2a2aa228a22222228a88a2aaaaaaaa08aaaa2a2aa228a22222228a88a2aaaaaaaa08aaaa2a2aa228a22222228a88a2aaaaaaaa08aaaa2a2aa228a22222228a88a2aaaaaaaa08aaaa2a2aa228a22222228a88a2aaaaaaaa08aaaa2a2aa228a22222228a88a2aaaaaaaa08aaaa2a2aa228a22222228a88a2aaaaaaaa08aaaa2a2aa228a22222228a88a2aaaaaaa8aa8026474d3a55401323a69d2aa00991d34e955004c8e9a74aa8026474d3a55401323a69d2aa00991d34e955004c8e9a74aa8026474d3a55401323a69d2aa00991d34e955004c8e9a74aa8026474d3a55401323a69d2aa00991d34e955004c8e9a74aa
codes : {2084}8aaaa2a2aa228a22222228a88a2aaaaaaaa08aaaa2a2aa228a22222228a88a2aaaaaaaa08aaaa2a2aa228a22222228a88a2aaaaaaaa08aaaa2a2aa228a22222228a88a2aaaaaaaa08aaaa2a2aa228a22222228a88a2aaaaaaaa08aaaa2a2aa228a22222228a88a2aaaaaaaa08aaaa2a2aa228a22222228a88a2aaaaaaaa08aaaa2a2aa228a22222228a88a2aaaaaaaa08aaaa2a2aa228a22222228a88a2aaaaaaa8aa8026474d3a55401323a69d2aa00991d34e955004c8e9a74aa8026474d3a55401323a69d2aa00991d34e955004c8e9a74aa8026474d3a55401323a69d2aa00991d34e955004c8e9a74aa8026474d3a55401323a69d2aa00991d34e955004c8e9a74aa
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
time : 2022-07-31 08:20:28
model : Plus count : 1 num_rows : 1 rows :
len : 389 data : 8026474d3a55401323a69d2aa00991d34e955004c8e9a74aa8026474d3a55401323a69d2aa00991d34e955004c8e9a7400
codes : {389}8026474d3a55401323a69d2aa00991d34e955004c8e9a74aa8026474d3a55401323a69d2aa00991d34e955004c8e9a7400

Arfon Davies

unread,

Jul 31, 2022, 4:13:30 AM7/31/22

to rtl_433

Update, got someting

time : 2022-07-31 09:05:16

model : Plus count : 1 num_rows : 1 rows :

len : 2482 data : f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f00
codes : {2482}f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f00

Scott Davidson

unread,

Jul 31, 2022, 4:36:56 AM7/31/22

to rtl_433

Good news that you are able to capture some data :) I'm about to try again with my transmitter to see if I can pick anything up this morning after leaving it disconnected overnight.

I believe we will need to populate a table something like this:

Can someone confirm? I've attached the spreadsheet here but can update it with extra columns etc if required.

You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "rtl_433" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rtl_433/VJSPl7h0848/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to rtl_433+u...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rtl_433/f187ea4a-f012-4ad9-987c-d1ae8bd22c89n%40googlegroups.com.

Watchman Plus testing.xlsx

Christian Z.

unread,

Jul 31, 2022, 4:56:02 AM7/31/22

to rtl_433

Scott, you can convert your two codes as follows:

use BitBench on the codes

{283}fffffffffffffff0f87c03ffffc3fff87fff0f8007c3e001f00f87c0003e01ff80007fe

{329}fffffffffffffff0f87c03ffffc3fff87fff0f8007c3e001f0f87fe0001f00f87c0003e1f00fffff0f8

with a format string of: b

then copy the result and group every five 1's an four 0's.

The following are equivalent:

- `11111` from the PWM codes, `f0f0f0f0f0` from the PCM codes, a logical `1` bit

- `0000` from the PWM codes, `f83e0f83e0` from the PCM codes, a logical `0` bit

The alternate representations thus are:

- f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0

- f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f0f83e0f83e0f0f0f0f0f0

- 11111111111101010011110111011101000101000100101000010011000011

- 111111111111010100111101110111010001010001010110000100101000010100111101

Converted to hex this is:

- fff5 3ddd 144a 1303 [F with Bund alarm ON]

- fff5 3ddd 1456 1285 3d [F with Bund alarm OFF]

Scott Davidson

unread,

Jul 31, 2022, 5:05:19 AM7/31/22

to rtl_433

Thanks Christian, appreciate the explanation - I think I'm starting to follow a bit better now :)

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "rtl_433" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rtl_433/VJSPl7h0848/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to rtl_433+u...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rtl_433/9d0533fc-6e6d-4050-b02a-a3215f0c123cn%40googlegroups.com.

Reply all

Reply to author

Forward

Newbie - Watchman Oil Tank Monitor - Not Receiving

Carl Swain

Christian Z.

Carl Swain

Carl Swain

Christian Z.

Carl Swain

Christian Z.

Scott Davidson

Christian Z.

Scott Davidson

Christian Z.

Angharad

toli...@yahoo.com

David Powell

Benjamin Larsson

Scott Davidson

Scott Davidson

Christian Z.

Scott Davidson

Scott Davidson

Christian Z.

Karl Lohner

Christian Z.

Arfon Davies

Greg Troxel

Scott Davidson

Christian Z.

Arfon Davies

Arfon Davies

Scott Davidson

Arfon Davies

Arfon Davies

Scott Davidson

Christian Z.

Scott Davidson