Hey everyone! I’m diving into the world of MQTT and smart home automation, and I’m facing a bit of a puzzle with my wall-mounted 433MHz remotes. These remotes are pretty handy, and I’ve managed to write some code to make the most of them. For instance, my code can reliably count pulses to multiply functionality—pressing the same button three times triggers a different action. It’s been a fun challenge!
My latest project was to integrate my kitchen ceiling fans into the home automation system using these wall-mounted buttons instead of the infrared remote that came with the fans. I tried following an MQTT tutorial, but it was hopelessly confusing. After some frustration, I decided to break the problem down into smaller parts and learn MQTT outside of OpenHAB first using MQTT.fx and MQTT Explorer to monitor messages.
I set up one topic per button, which seemed logical at the time. Pressing the left button yielded a specific payload, the middle button another, and holding the middle button for half a second gave yet another. It seemed like a solid approach. However, when I tried to bring OpenHAB into the mix, it felt too piecemeal to create a separate channel and item for each button. I looked for alternatives and found some examples using wildcards, but I ran into issues where I couldn’t determine which topic triggered the channel.
After some research, I found a workaround, but it started feeling clunky. I mean, MQTT is supposed to be flexible and lightweight, right? If I have to subscribe to every single topic and filter in a script, that doesn’t seem efficient. Maybe I’m approaching this the wrong way.
What would you recommend? How do you structure a remote with multiple buttons, each with multiple functions, into MQTT topics and payloads to work well with OpenHAB? I’d love to hear your insights and best practices! Thanks in advance for any help you can offer. 