Re: DIY motorized shade... a few questions...

[Marc_F_Hult <MFHult@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 19 Mar 2007 10:51:01 -0700, "skipjack" <skipjack2001@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in
message  <1174326661.167440.272420@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

>Hi all, noob here.
>
>Okay, I've got an unreachable window in my foyer that is now facing a
>newly-built house across the street and I feel as if I'm being watched
>at night. ;)
>
>I shopped around for some remote controlled blinds and was knocked
>over by the price and I wasn't particularly enchanted by the
>selection.
>
>Here are my questions:
>
>What sort of motor should I be looking at and where can I get it?  It
>needs to run off of DC power (battery) and pull a 74" wide cellular
>blind.  AC power isn't out of the question, just a major PITA to hook
>up.
>
>What sort of control mechanism do I need?  I'm not interested in the
>ability to stop it part way;  fully open or fully closed is all I
>need.  Also, remote control would be awesome (again, wiring a control
>switch would be a PITA)
>
>Also, I thought: why not take it one step further and have a photo
>sensor automatically open and close the blinds when it gets dark or
>light outside?
>
>Anyone have any diagrams/resources for a project like this?  I would
>greatly appreciate any input.


This is a frequently asked question. You would benefit from a google of the
newsgroup.

What blinds do you have?

I used Hunter IIRC) vertical blinds for the discussion below that I posted
six years ago. I can still recommend with reservations as noted below:

"I bought two model AAM80 Add-A-Motor's  at Worthington
http://www.worthdist.com/drape.htm "

[ url still works after 6 years!  ]

" They were easier to install than I thought they would be in part because
they aligned easily. In general they work well for my purpose
(12-foot-wide, ceiling-height, vertical blinds with pull-cords for both the
open-close and swivel functions). "

"Our blinds worked easily, quietly, and intuitively _without_ the
motors ... but once you add the motors, the drapes _cannot_ be operated
manually, so be sure to have your solution at hand,  and others in the
household prepared for what could be yet another HA irritation.  "

"And they make a cheap-sounding, high-pitched, buzzwhirrrr sound for
the 25 seconds it takes to open or close 12 feet. "

"Note that is one thing to add remote control to the blinds and a different
thing to add _automated_ control. When automating blinds that have a
swivel/tilt mechanism, you will need to add additional switches/sensors and
a second motor so that the sequence of events is correct if you want to
avoid jamming and possible damage. "


" The add-a-motors that I have perform a cycle (open or close) whenever
there is a power failure/reset. So if before a power failure they are
swiveled open, when power is restored they will try to swivel closed.  But
blinds cannot physically be drawn open (retracted) when they are swiveled
closed, or swiveled open before they are at least partly drawn closed
(extended), so the mechanisms can jam. In my opinion, one can't add
reliably unattended draw/close + swivel control without some sort of
open/close sensing or backup  DC power. "


" The factory remote that I received from Worthington was not useful for my
purposes as it solved none of the problems above. All it did was interrupt
the DC power to the motor by switching the AC to the transformer. The
http://www.add-a-motor.com/ url that Dan cites indicates that the company
now  supplies a different model of remote than what I received, so my
experiences with the remote may not apply. But if the new rf receiver isn't
in the motor, the position-sensing problems would not appear to be solved
by the new remote. "


HTH ... Marc
Marc_F_Hult
www.ECOntrol.org