433 Mhz receiver: How to get a better reception?

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Hi,

I currently have those two devices attached to my Pi: http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00ATZV5EQ/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1638&creative=19454&creativeASIN=B00ATZV5EQ&linkCode=as2&tag=sweetpi-21
The device on the left is the receiver and I hope some of you use it as well, because I need some advice on that device. I was wondering if there is a way to improve the reception of the receiver. I know that you can attach an antenna to the sender (and I’ve done that already) but what about the receiver?

Thanks in advance
ituri

You can attach an antenna to the receiver also.
Even a simple 17,3cm straight wire improves the reception.
It ist recommend to filter the output of this receivers with an attiny or arduino nano because they produce a lot of noise.

Thanks! Where exactly would I attach the antenna then? I don’t see any “ANT”-label on it.

On the amazon picture of the receiver its in the upper right corner, next to the coil.

Thanks! I’ll try that out.

this receiver is not the best one. i tried this one too but haven’t had good receiving results at all.

now I’m using this one here from the ebay china man with very good receiving results!
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Geeetech-433Mhz-Superheterodyne-3400RF-Transmitter-and-Receiver-Link-Kit-Arduino-/361118459506

for better receiving results with homeduino use the RFControl lib from icesory
https://github.com/Icesory/RFControl/tree/development
it improved the results for me.

regarding your hardware and soldering antennas, have a look here.
Solder 17.5cm staight wire here

Quick update:
I’m using a Arduino Nano with homeduino and Icesory’s library now. The good thing is that I no longer depend on pilight. The reception, however, is still as bad as before (or just slightly better). I’ve now ordered the 3400RF-receiver and hope for better results with this piece of hardware.

The receiver you have are know for their bad reception. I have like 5 3400rf receivers and they all work very good.

@sweebee said:

The receiver you have are know for their bad reception. I have like 5 3400rf receivers and they all work very good.

Can u tell us which antenna ur using for rx and tx? simple 0.6mm wire? I’m already using this crap receiver (17.5cm 0.6mm wire as antenna) with bad range (max 1-4meter). But i’m ordered 2 kits of Geeetech-433Mhz-Superheterodyne-3400RF (delivery in 4-6weeks) and one aurel rx-4m50rr30sf (delivery morning). Just now I’m thinking which rx antenna are the best with max range and little noises.

http://www.conrad.de/ce/de/product/190264/Aurel-650200527-AM-Empfaengermodule-43392-MHz-Baustein-5-VDC

I’m using simple 17,3cm wire.

But today i made a arduino nano with a tx and rx. But I can’t receive my weather stations (ws0002) most of the time. When i hold up the weather station i can receive it, but when i move it only 5 cm the reception is gone.

I don’t have this problem with my arduino uno.

Kaku sensors like pir, wallswitch and a doorbell are no problem at all. Just the weather sensors. Does some1 have any idea why?

im using the same receiver module as the threadstarter… and, as you know, the receiver range is very bad…
so… since i will ordering many other partzs at pollin.de i want to ask you, which is a good alternative to the 3400RF module… pollin offers these modules:

• RFM01
• RFM69CW
• RFM64W
• RFM69HCW
• RFM24W
• RFM26W
• RFM12BP

all are in an acceptable pricerange for me… i don´t want to wait several weeks for packages from china… but if those modules are not a simple replace, but need more konfiguration then the module shown in the first post or 3400RF… then maybe i could wait for a package from china
btw… soldering is not a problem

and there is also a “conrad” in my town… so if you recommend a module of conrad lower then 10 euro… that would also be nice…

for example:

• Velleman 433 MHz Empfängerplatine
• Aurel AM Empfängermodule

Have a look at the pilight-wiki. There’s a good overview of many available receivers and their price/quality: http://wiki.pilight.org/doku.php/receivers

In other news, I’ve received my 3400RF a few weeks ago and it is WAY better than the amazon piece. It’s definitely worth waiting for.

i tried the aurel receiver you’ve stated last. in my opinion this is like the cheap china crap.
Go for the 3400RF since this seems a very god receiver for a fair price.

some days ago I ordered this one from china, looks almost exactly like the good 3400RF:

http://www.ebay.de/itm/201243355169

It will take 1-2 weeks I think.
I also ordered 10 of these antennas for 2,35 EUR from same vendor:

http://www.ebay.de/itm/181635034786

Sadly you can’t get any good receiver from a german vendor (at least I didn’t find one), and the Conrad stuff is heavily overpriced.

this is the correct receiver. i’m also using this RXB6 - that came when i ordered the 3400RF set consisting of this receiver and the KXD10036 transmitter.
Think you’re on the right way

regarding the antenna, just try that and you should also try a 17.5cm straight wire. I get the best results with it.

@Ralf-H said:

Sadly you can’t get any good receiver from a german vendor (at least I didn’t find one), and the Conrad stuff is heavily overpriced.

i’m currently using a Aurel RX-4M50RR30SF because my ordered RXB6 have had to wait to be over 8 weeks for shipping and in the meantime i’m order the aurel from a german vendor. Yes, the receiver is very expensive and i paid nearly 20€ for one receiver but after the RXB6 is coming i can say the aurel has a better range

With the RX-4M50RR30SF i’m receive RFdata from a range of 35-40 meters and with the 3400RF and same setup/antenea i’m receive RFdata only from a range of 30 meters.

Hi,

My reception is bad too.
I use the arduino en the right receiver, the 3400RF set (I tried ever two of the same receivers but no difference).
Sending is good.

Receiving not more than 6 meters open air. Receiving was better when it was directly on the gpio pins of the raspberry.

Here is my hardware: my hardware

Has anyone any idea? Is my antenna wire to thick or doesn’t that matter?

Thanks in advance…

@lschip said:

3400RF

Have you tried to provide the 3400RF with a separate power supply? According to the specs I found the input voltage is 5.0VDC and I read somewhere it is sensitive to undervoltage. If it is connected to the Arduino the voltage may be less than 5V. Some Nano models (like mine) only provide 4,6V. Give it a try in case.

Some people recommend using expensive antennas, like one guy was recommending a GSM antenna. I would not count on this. Just use a solid wire and cut it to the appropriate length. Well, this is a bit of black magic and you may try different lengths to get the best results for your application (short range versus long range detection). For example, see http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/132051/433mhz-quarter-wave-length-antenna-longer-is-better

It may also help to shield the receiver. At least, I noticed some receivers have a HF-shield.

Thanks for your reply.

Yes the voltage is 4.6volt. But when it was connected to de gpio pins of the raspberry the voltage was 3.3volt. Then the reception was even better.

I will try an external powersupply but I am not sure how to connect this. I think de GND is common and the 5 Volt on the recever and transmitter is sepparated from the arduino?

Can I steal 5 volt from the usb cable to the arduino?

Thanks in advance…

These cheap 433MHz receivers are all very sensitive when it comes to noise etc. on the voltage lines.

What you could try is to use something like a 100nF ceramic capacitor as decoupling capacitor, this should filter out some the noise high frequent noise.
On the other hand you should see that the receiver really gets stable 5V, maybe not feeding it from the Arduino but giving it a direct power supply line could help. But mwittig already wrote that.